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• Early calculators
• Electronic calculators

The calculator is a computing machine. Basic calculators perform basic mathematical functions (addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication). More sophisticated calculators can perform functions of the higher-based mathematical branches of trigonometry and calculus. The odometer, or mileage counter, in an automobile is a counting machine, as is the pocket calculator and the personal computer. They may have different ability levels, but they all tally numbers.

Early calculators

Although the abacus, the first tool of calculation, has existed since ancient times, advanced calculating machines did not appear until the early 1600s. Blaise Pascal, a French scientist and philosopher, developed in 1642 the

Pascaline, a machine capable of...