calculator – Shady Characters

Shady Characters advent calendar 2023: Chinese counting rods

December 3, 2023

Welcome to the first ever Shady Characters advent calendar! I’m counting down to Christmas by way of a collection of beautiful, clever, important, and/or outright odd calculators and calculating devices. Some come from the pages of Empire of the Sum, some are part of my Calculator of the Day series, and some will be new to the blog. I won’t manage twenty-four posts, but I do hope to hit at least one every other day. I hope you enjoy the series!

Shady Characters advent calendar 2023: the tally stick

December 1, 2023

Welcome to the first ever Shady Characters advent calendar! This is all a little experimental, but I plan to count down to Christmas by way of a collection of beautiful, clever, important, and/or outright odd calculators and calculating devices. Some come from the pages of Empire of the Sum, some are part of my Calculator of the Day series, and some will be new to the blog. I won’t manage twenty-four posts, but I do hope to hit at least one every other day. I hope you enjoy the series!

Shady Characters at the WSJ: Five Best Books on Great Inventions

October 4, 2023

The following was published in the Wall Street Journal on August 18th, 2023, under the title “Five Best: Books on Great Inventions”. It comprises short reviews of five books I read in the course of researching Empire of the Sum. Enjoy, and please leave your own recommendations for good books on inventions, computing, and calculators in the comments!

Calculator of the day: the Casio QL-10 Calculighter

August 29, 2023

It’s out! Empire of the Sum is now available in the US, and to mark the occasion I’ve been posting about a few of my favourite calculators. I’m closing this series for now with perhaps the apotheosis of 1980s calculator design: the 1981 Casio QL-10 Calculighter.

We have winners – and a new competition!

August 27, 2023

Congratulations to Mary Ann Atwood and John W. Stuart, winners of the first round of the Empire of the Sum giveaway! Their names were picked at random from the set of all entrants who replied the original post about the competition. Thank you all for entering! If you won, congratulations, and look out for an email from me arranging delivery of your copy of Empire. If not, read on.