Form is temporary, function is permanent. The most important inventions are the ones that relate to the human condition, and they crop up over and over again. Below, Houston shares five key insights ...

IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more. This pocket-sized sheet metal ...

When is a pocket calculator more than just a calculator? [Andrew Menadue] has been pushing the limits of his 1970s Casio FX-502P by adding all sorts of modern functionality via the calculator’s ...

Before there were pocket calculators there were nuclear-age slide rules. These circular cardboard calculators, shown on the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Web site , measure all kinds of things ...

We’ve seen so many explorations of older semiconductors at the hands of [Ken Shirriff], that we know enough to expect a good read when he releases a new one. His latest doesn’t disappoint, as he ...

In his lively “Empire of the Sum,” Keith Houston looks at the best — and worst — years of the pocket calculator’s life. By Alexander Nazaryan When you purchase an independently reviewed book through ...

Jerry Merryman, a self-taught electrical engineer who helped design the first pocket calculator, died on Feb. 27 in Dallas. He was 86. His wife, Phyllis (Lee) Merryman, said the cause was heart and ...