For kids interested in mechanical devices, for kids interested in history and how dire circumstances can still bring remarkable innovation, for kids wondering how calculators worked before the era of solid-state circuitry...
the Curta! Follow this link for some remarkable links on a page dedicated to this calculator. Scroll past the posters to find the good stuff.
This is a remarkable piece of machinery (I have a bias toward Old World design and craftsmanship), and the story behind it is amazing.
The short version is this: Curt Herzstark was born in Austria, the son of a man in the business of manufacturing calculators. He learned the trade and became a skilled craftsman - which likely saved his life. After the annexation of Austria by Germany in 1938, his life changed dramatically - the more so after he was sent to Buchenwald. His ability to work on precision calculators was of value to the war effort, and when it was learned he was working on a portable four-function calculator, he was provided the means to continue and complete that work - to be a gift to the Fuhrer after the war.
At any rate, a remarkable man, and a remarkable story - and a remarkable design. Well, I'm off to eBay to try and find one (if I can afford it).
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