| Reference number | AP/23/24 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Unpublished paper, 'Description of a calculating machine, invented by Mr Thomas Fowler, of Torrington in Devonshire [England]' by Augustus de Morgan |
| Creator | Morgan; Augustus de (1806-1871); British mathematician; logician; Professor of Mathematics at University College London |
| Date | June 1840 |
| Description | De Morgan describes how Fowler was employed to find a way to distribute a given amount of money across parishes within Devonshire. He details the binary system used by Fowler to complete this task, and the 'multiplier' or calculating machine invented by Fowler, which consists of a moveable frame with rods on it, perhaps similar to an abacus.
Subject: Mathematics / Arithmetic
Received 18 June 1840. Communicated by Francis Baily.
Whilst the Royal Society declined to publish this paper in full, an abstract of the paper was published in volume 4 of Abstracts of the Papers Printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London [later Proceedings of the Royal Society] as 'Description of a calculating machine invented by Mr. Thomas Fowler, of Torrington in Devonshire'. |
| Extent | 4p |
| Format | Manuscript |
| Physical description | Ink on paper |
| Digital images | View item on Science in the Making |
| Access status | Open |
| Related material | DOI: 10.1098/rspl.1837.0130 |
| Related records in the catalogue | AP/23/26 |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | Name | Dates |
| NA6486 | Baily; Francis (1774 - 1844); astronomer | 1774 - 1844 |