In 1878, Spanish journalist and inventor Ramón Verea patented an incredibly innovative direct-multiplying calculator. His machine could instantly multiply large numbers with just a single turn of its crank per digit, vastly exceeding the speed of prior calculators. Though ultimately not a commercial success, Verea‘s invention demonstrated remarkable mechanical ingenuity and presaged later multiplying machines by years. So let‘s explore the fascinating story of Verea and his technological achievement!
Verea‘s Wide-Ranging Background
Before diving into his most celebrated invention, it‘s worth learning about Verea‘s earlier adventures that shaped his unconventional path…
Verea was born in 1833 in Galicia, Spain. After spending his 20s living in Havana, Cuba, he settled in New York City in 1865. There, Verea made his living publishing Spanish-language newspapers and magazines. This work as a journalist brought Verea into regular contact with the business and financial industries. From merchants calculating transactions to bankers tracking ledgers, he saw professionals constantly performing tedious mathematical tasks by hand.
Verea also had experience trading Spanish currency from his time abroad. And he worked as a broker for various new inventions coming to market. Through these business dealings, Verea recognized the enormous demand for faster, more powerful calculating capabilities. The pain points he observed firsthand inspired his ambition to create a better multiplying machine.
The Limitations of Early Calculating Machines
To understand why Verea‘s invention was so transformational, you need to know what came before it. Most early calculating machines could only add, subtract, and perform multiplication through repeated addition…
So for instance, to multiply 16 x 7, the operator would:
- Set the calculator for 16
- Fully turn the crank 6 times to add 16 to itself 6 times
- Shift the carriage one position left
- Turn the crank once more to add 16 a final time
This mimics how you might multiply by hand, but requires considerable effort and time just for small numbers. For calculations with larger digit figures, the process became exponentially tedious.
Inventors worked for years trying to configure systems of gears and levers to directly calculate product digits. But the mechanical complexity to solve multiplication directly proved incredibly formidable. New ways to engineer this process were desperately needed!
Verea‘s Pioneering Direct-Multiplying Approach
By studying mathematics and machinations, Verea envisioned an innovative direct-multiplying machine:
"My ambition was driven by:
- A little egoism;
- Much patriotism… the desire to prove that in inventive genius a Spaniard can leave behind the eminences of the most cultured nations;
- The innate eagerness to contribute something to the advancement of science"
In 1878, Verea was awarded US Patent No. 207,918 for his direct-multiplying calculator design. The key components inside were:
- Two 10-sided metal cylinders marked with holes representing digits 0-9. Hole size corresponded to the digit value.
- Tapered pins that could insert into the digit holes at varying depths
- Connected racks and gears that would rotate to calculate products based on pin positions
Now to multiply, you would:
- Rotate the cylinders to align multiplicand digit values against the pins
- Raise pins so they fit into holes per multiplier digit
- Turn main crank to rotate cylinders – pins engage holes and drive result gears
Rather than repeated additions, Verea‘s calculator could derive product digits in a single mechanical sequence. And most remarkably, it worked for multiplying large multi-digit figures!
| Feature | Verea‘s Machine | Earlier Calculators |
|---|---|---|
| Max Digits in Multiplicand | 9 | around 5 |
| Max Digits in Multiplier | 6 | around 3 |
| Max Digits in Product | 15 | around 8 |
So while preceding machines struggled with numbers over xxx xxx x xx, Verea‘s could effortlessly handle xx xxx xxx x xx xxx xxx! This was an enormous capability leap.
Widespread Excitement and Praise
Word of Verea‘s breakthrough invention quickly spread across scientific circles. The 1878 Paris World‘s Fair displayed the prototype he submitted to proudly exhibit Spain‘s ingenuity. Leading publications like Scientific American and the New York Herald touted the machine‘s abilities:
"A turn of a small crank once for each figure in the multiplier displays the product on a disc. The work is almost instantaneous and the accuracy of it unimpeachable."
Imagine the incredulity at seeing this compact metal box rapidly multiplying large digits in seconds! Reporters relayed how the device could outpace a team of humans computing the same figures by hand. Verea‘s direct mechanical multiplier represented a tremendously important advancement.
The Lone Visionary Who Moved On
Unfortunately, Verea‘s invention never progressed beyond his two initial prototypes. As he told reporters when asked about production plans:
"I did not make the machine either to sell its patent or to put it into use, but simply to show that it was possible and that a Spaniard can invent as well as an American."
Essentially, Verea was satisfied just demonstrating his own inventiveness, with no desire to commercialize the machine. This makes him quite a historical anomaly – an ingenious mind who advanced technology yet shunned business application!
Verea‘s disinterest didn‘t diminish his legacy however. One of his prototypes was preserved for decades as an inspirational early artifact. And many of the direct-multiplying machines that followed owed credit to the pioneering foundations he laid.
So while this eccentric Spaniard refused fortune from his creation, we still celebrate Ramón Verea today as the visionary mind who mechanized multiplication!
