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During the 1930s, the smallest calculator weighed several pounds. Austrian engineer Curt Herzstark (1902–1988) conceived of a pocket-sized calculator that could add, subtract, multiply, and divide. The son of a Catholic mother and Jewish father, Herzstark was imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany during World War II where despite all odds, he continued designing his calculator. After being liberated by U.S. troops in April 1945, Herzstark began manufacturing the Curta—the world’s first pocket calculator—in Liechtenstein, Europe. From 1947 to 1972, the Curta calculator sold for around $125.00 and graced the pockets of engineers, accountants, surveyors, and pilots. It does everything that a pocket calculator can do except that it is entirely mechanical—no battery, no keypad, no liquid-crystal display. To add numbers, users simply turn a crank. Collectors cherish its meticulous engineering, likening the Curta to a fine pocket watch. See “Mathematics: Vintage and Modern” on display, post-security, in Terminal 2 and online at: https://bit.ly/MathAtSFO
This image was posted on February 16, 2022.