Electronic Calculators—Handheld

Introduction

In the course of the 1970s, handheld electronic calculators transformed the way tens of millions of people did arithmetic. Engineers abandoned slide rules, business people gave up desktop calculating machines, and shoppers replaced simple adding machines and adders. Educators asked how much students should even learn written procedures for multiplication, division, and taking square roots. Parents bought new toys that offered both instruction in arithmetic and other games for their children.

A few calculators were programmable, offering an alternative to large computers and to the microcomputers introduced in the same decade. Like microcomputers, they incorporated changes in microprocessor technology and displays. Many companies that sold calculators, such as Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, Tandy Corporation, and Commodore, would also market microcomputers and digital watches, other novelties of interest at the time. Business patterns established with calculators such as design in one country, manufacture in another, distribution by third parties, rapid introduction of new models, and decreasing cost also would appear with other electronic devices.

Handheld calculators were introduced into the United States in 1970 and 1971 by the Japanese firms of Busicom (Nippon Calculating Machine Corporation) and Sharp (Hayakawa Electric) as well as the American firm of Bowmar. Chips in early Busicom calculators were made in the United States by Mostek, while those in the Bowmar and Canon were by Texas Instruments. Hewlett-Packard Corporation joined the market in early 1972 with the HP-35 scientific calculator.  It could not only add, subtract, multiply, and divide but compute trigonometric functions, logarithms, and exponents. In other words, it did the work of a slide rule and more. The calculator sold for $395. Not to be outdone, Texas Instruments introduced its first calculator, the Datamath (or TI-2500), later that year. The device carried out basic arithmetic and sold for $149.95. In 1973, TI introduced the SR-10, its answer to the HP-35. It did not give values for trigonometric functions, but cost only $150. The TI-50 (introduced in 1974 for $170) and the HP-21 (introduced in 1975 for $125) both performed the calculations possible on a slide rule for a somewhat more reasonable price.


Inexpensive Four-Function Calculators

Early handheld electronic calculators could be ordered from manufacturers or dealers. They also sold as relatively expensive goods in department stores. In the course of the 1970s, better chips made it possible to reduce the number of components required in calculators. Liquid crystal displays required significantly less power, making it possible to operate a calculator on tiny batteries – or operate on sunlight alone. Moreover, membranes replaced individual keys on some instruments. With all of these changes, cost of the devices plummeted. By 1977, a liquid crystal display calculator known as the Teal LC811 sold regularly for $24.95, with a sale price of $19.95. By 1985, the solar-powered Sharp EL-345 sold for $5.95. Both of these calculators were made in Japan. The Sharp not only carried out arithmetic and found percentages, but had a square root key. Both calculators had limited memory for results of computations.


Programmable Handheld Calculator

Desktop electronic calculators that could be programmed were available from the mid-1960s. Prominent American manufacturers included Wang Laboratories in Massachusetts and Hewlett-Packard Company in California. By 1974, Hewlett-Packard had developed a more compact programmable device, the HP-65. Advertisements dubbed it a “personal computer,” not just a calculator. The instrument sold for $795 – plus an extra sum for a special “security cradle” that allowed one to attach it to a desk.

The HP-65 was specifically designed to assist in repeated calculations required in such disciplines as science, engineering, finance, statistic, mathematics, navigation, medicine and surveying. Toward that end, it contained a small magnetic card reader and recorder. Users who had worked out a series of commands they wished to reuse could save the program to a magnetic card. A variety of prewritten programs were available for purchase.

HP also published a newsletter where owners of the calculator exchanged information about programs. One owner of a HP-65 (not the instrument in the Smithsonian collections) was programmer Barry S. Berg. Berg used programming in many aspects of his life. The programs for his HP-65 device relate to aerial navigation, he consulted them when flying an airplane. Other, less expensive, programmable calculators soon followed, first from General Instrument and Texas Instruments and then from Hewlett-Packard itself. At the same time, the diffusion of sturdy personal computers decreased demand from computer programmers for these particular handheld devices.


Educational Games

In 1971, Jerome C. Meyer and James A. Tillotson III of Sunnydale, California received a patent for a “teaching device having means producing [sic] a self-generated program.”  Here questions for drill were selected using a random signal generator. Meyer and Tillotson thought such a machine might have many uses, but specifically showed an instrument for generating simple arithmetic problems. Given a problem, a student entered the answer. The machine checked its accuracy, with a correct answer generating a new problem. Ideas in this patent were reflected in an electronic teaching machine for drilling children in basic arithmetic called the Digitor, a device introduced by the California firm of Centurion Industries in 1974. The Digitor was a desktop, not a handheld, device. It sold to schools, not individuals.

Educational electronic games in the form of handheld electronic calculators, designed for home use, soon followed. For example, the Novus (also National Semiconductor) Quiz Kid, was designed and priced for the home market. An advertisement published in the New York Times just before Christmas in 1975 indicates that its small four-function instrument sold for only $15.00. The calculator had no display, but the keyboard was decorated with an image of an owl with two large eyes, one green and one red. Children entered both a problem and their answer to it. If the answer was correct, the green eye flashed reinforcement. If not, the red eye lit up. The ad proclaimed that “The Novus ‘Quiz Kid’ just might make a Whiz Kid out of Jr [sic]!”  At least it would “provide hours of fun and interest” (New York Times, December 23, 1975, 4.  Novus had entered the calculator business by buying out the calculator division of National Semiconductor, and some devices were sold as the National Semiconductor Quiz Kid). A report from late May of 1976 indicates that by then some 600,000 of the toys had been shipped (New York Times, May 23, 1976, F3).

Texas Instruments had responded to the popularity of four-function calculators by producing the Datamath 2500, and to the HP-35 with the SR-10. Its answer to the Quiz Kid and similar toys was the Little Professor. Introduced in mid-1976, it was a calculator that had been altered to present simple arithmetic problems to a child. A correct answer led to another problem, a wrong answer to the message “EEE.”  The keyboard was decorated with an image of a bewhiskered and bespectacled professor holding a book. Questions and answers appeared on a red LED screen that, in combination with the top of the instrument, looked like a mortar board. In early examples of the toy, the on-off switch was on the right side near the professor’s face, and looked rather like a tassel from a mortar board. The machine sold for about $18 early in 1977, with the price dropping to $13 by the middle of the year. The Little Professor sold in the millions.  It is produced, in modified form, to this day. The Quiz Kid and the Little Professor were later joined by a range of games that included Coleco Digits (ca. 1978), Invicta’s Electronic Mastermind (ca. 1980), and an Electronic Backgammon Game by Tyrom (ca. 1981).


Graphing Calculators

The first commercial graphing calculator was introduced by the Japanese firm of Casio Computer Company. Casio, founded in 1946, had sold electric desk calculators since the 1960s, and introduced a transistorized form of the machine in 1965. In the 1970s and 1980s, it released a variety of microprocessor-based consumer products including handheld calculators, digital watches, electronic musical instruments, and televisions.  Its fx-7000G graphing calculator, introduced in 1985, sold for a price that settled around seventy-five dollars. By the following year, it had been adopted by a program in Ohio schools, and other states soon followed.

Other calculator manufacturers soon took up the challenge of designing graphing calculators. In 1987, Hewlett-Packard Corporation introduced its HP-28C calculator. It featured not only graphing but symbolic manipulation, as well as limited integration and differentiation. Indeed, Hewlett-Packard soon was ready to launch a version of the HP-28C with expanded memory, known as the HP-28S. It chose to do so at the January 1988 centennial meeting of the American Mathematical Society. Those attending the annual banquet of the society traditionally received a useful trinket such as an alarm clock. At the centennial party, the favor was an HP-28S. It came with an extra charge of $60 (the banquet alone was $30). However, considering that the list price of the calculator was $235, the fee was not unreasonable. The example of the HP-28S shown was owned by Andrew Gleason, who was among those working on the reform of calculus teaching as part of the Harvard Consortium. Other manufacturers soon offered graphing calculators.

With the widespread availability of other handheld devices for communication and for access to the web, the role of the electronic calculator has changed. Within mathematics education, calculators are now sold as much for what they do not do as for what they do. That is to say, calculators do not allow students to spend time texting, web surfing, or consulting with unauthorized sources. They are sometimes built so as NOT to evaluate certain functions.  In the larger world, although inexpensive four-function calculators are still available for purchase, they also appear virtually on a desktop, laptop, and handheld computers.


Acknowledgments
This object group reflects the contributions of numerous donors to the Smithsonian Institution, and the work of numerous museum and library staff. A grant from the Lemelson Center for Invention and Innovation and generous assistance from scholars at the Whipple Museum for the History of Science at Cambridge University are gratefully acknowleged.
 

This spiral-bound 341-page document gives detailed instructions on operating the HP-67 programmable electronic calculator.Currently not on view
Description
This spiral-bound 341-page document gives detailed instructions on operating the HP-67 programmable electronic calculator.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1976
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
1982.0222.04
catalog number
1982.0222.04
accession number
1982.0222
Professional computer programmer Barry S. Berg was much interested in the using programming in many aspects of his life. During the 1970s he acquired an HP-65 electronic calculator and this notebook of programming strips for it.
Description
Professional computer programmer Barry S. Berg was much interested in the using programming in many aspects of his life. During the 1970s he acquired an HP-65 electronic calculator and this notebook of programming strips for it. They programs relate to aerial navigation and he used them when flying a plane.
For other documentation that relates to the HP-65 and was received from Berg, see 2012.3060.39. An example of the calculator (not used by Berg) is 2011.0023.01.
Reference:
Non-accession file.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1976
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
2012.3060.07
nonaccession number
2012.3060
catalog number
2012.3060.07
This pamphlet has the full title: TI Programmable 58/59 Leisure Library Using the power of your Solid State Software module.It describes in detail the operation of twenty-one programs in the entertainment library for the TI 58 and 59 calculators.
Description
This pamphlet has the full title: TI Programmable 58/59 Leisure Library Using the power of your Solid State Software module.
It describes in detail the operation of twenty-one programs in the entertainment library for the TI 58 and 59 calculators. In addition to the first diagnostic program, it discusses programs relating to photography, sports (football, bowling, and golf), chess, and bridge. It also introduces programs for breaking calculator-generated codes and attempting games like blackjack, acey-deucy, craps, hangman, and Nim.
Received with TI Programmable 59 calculator 1990.0609.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1977
maker
Texas Instruments
ID Number
1990.3166.03
catalog number
1990.3166.03
nonaccession number
1990.3166
This white folder contains a series of documents used in programming the TI Programmable 59 calculator. Included are thin sheets listing programs, coding sheets, related jottings, and photocopies of magazine articles.
Description
This white folder contains a series of documents used in programming the TI Programmable 59 calculator. Included are thin sheets listing programs, coding sheets, related jottings, and photocopies of magazine articles. Received with TI Programmable 59 calculator 1990.0609.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1979-1980
maker
Texas Instruments
ID Number
1990.3166.04
catalog number
1990.3166.04
nonaccession number
1990.3166
This small pamphlet of instructions was published by Sinclair Radionics Limited of St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, England, for use with a Sinclair Cambridge handheld electronic calculator. For an example of the calculator, see 1981.0403.01.Currently not on view
Description
This small pamphlet of instructions was published by Sinclair Radionics Limited of St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, England, for use with a Sinclair Cambridge handheld electronic calculator. For an example of the calculator, see 1981.0403.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1974
maker
Sinclair Radionics Ltd.
ID Number
1981.0403.01.2
catalog number
1981.0403.01.2
accession number
1981.0403
A mark on this turquoise envelope reads: Important (/) Warranty (/) Information (/) Inside.
Description
A mark on this turquoise envelope reads: Important (/) Warranty (/) Information (/) Inside. The envelope includes a packing slip, a warranty card, a pamphlet entitled Accessories for Hewlett-Packard Pocket Calculators, a cancelled check for the purchase of the calculator, and a slightly used sheet of property stickers. These materials all relate to HP-45 handheld electronic calculator 2004.3053.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1973
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
2004.3053.07
nonaccession number
2004.3053
catalog number
2004.3053.07
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1987
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
1999.0291.02
catalog number
1999.0291.02
accession number
1999.0291
This fifty-nine page manual describes the operation of the HP-45 handheld electronic calculator. A service card is at the back. For the calculator, see 2004.3053.01. For another example of the manual, see 1982.0222.02.Currently not on view
Description
This fifty-nine page manual describes the operation of the HP-45 handheld electronic calculator. A service card is at the back. For the calculator, see 2004.3053.01. For another example of the manual, see 1982.0222.02.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1973
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
2004.3053.06
nonaccession number
2004.3053
catalog number
2004.3053.06
This small notebook gives quick information about running the HP-55 programmable handheld electronic calculator. For a related object see 1980.0813.01.Currently not on view
Description
This small notebook gives quick information about running the HP-55 programmable handheld electronic calculator. For a related object see 1980.0813.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1975
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
1980.0813.04
catalog number
1980.0813.04
accession number
1980.0813
This well-worn paper manual gives detailed instructions for use of the Casio FX-700P programmable electronic calculator. The paper manual is stapled together and has a warranty taped to the front. It is signed by Richard C.
Description
This well-worn paper manual gives detailed instructions for use of the Casio FX-700P programmable electronic calculator. The paper manual is stapled together and has a warranty taped to the front. It is signed by Richard C. Roberts, who owned the calculator and taught mathematics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
For related object, see 2012.0136.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1982
maker
Casio Computer Company
ID Number
2012.3068.01
catalog number
2012.3068.01
nonaccession number
2012.3068
This fifty-nine-page manual describes the operation of the HP-45 handheld electronic calculator. For an example of the calculator, see 2004.3053.01. For another version of the manual, see 2004.3053.02.Currently not on view
Description
This fifty-nine-page manual describes the operation of the HP-45 handheld electronic calculator. For an example of the calculator, see 2004.3053.01. For another version of the manual, see 2004.3053.02.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1973
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
1982.0222.02
catalog number
1982.0222.02
accession number
1982.0222
Hewlett-Packard Company encouraged owners of the HP-65 programmable calculator to write programs and share them with other users. These documents, donated by professional programmer Barry S. Berg, illustrate aspects of this process.
Description
Hewlett-Packard Company encouraged owners of the HP-65 programmable calculator to write programs and share them with other users. These documents, donated by professional programmer Barry S. Berg, illustrate aspects of this process. Included are a contributor’s guide to the HP-65 user’s library, a sheet listing HP-65 application pacs [sic] from March of 1975, a set of HP-65 program forms from 1974, an HP-65 accessory order form from 1975, two issues of HP-65 Key Note for HP-65 Owners from 1976, and an issue of HP Key Notes from 1977. Several of the programs in 2012.3060.07 are listed in the 1977 issue of HP Key Notes.
An example of the HP-65 calculator (not used by Berg) is 2011.0023.01.
Reference:
Non-accession file.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1974-1976
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
2012.3060.39
catalog number
2012.3060.39
nonaccession number
2013.3060
This spiral-bound manual has a green and white cover. It describes the use of the HP-55 programmable handheld electronic calculator. This version is dated February 1975. Compare with a slightly earlier version from December of 1974 (1980.0813.02).
Description
This spiral-bound manual has a green and white cover. It describes the use of the HP-55 programmable handheld electronic calculator. This version is dated February 1975. Compare with a slightly earlier version from December of 1974 (1980.0813.02). For an example of the calculator, see 1980.0813.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1975
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
1980.0813.03
catalog number
1980.0813.03
accession number
1980.0813
This twenty-two-page spiral-bound booklet gives basic information about the HP-45 handheld electronic calculator. It fits in the carrying pouch for the calculator. For the calculator, see 2004.3053.01; for the carrying pouch, see 2004.3053.03.Currently not on view
Description
This twenty-two-page spiral-bound booklet gives basic information about the HP-45 handheld electronic calculator. It fits in the carrying pouch for the calculator. For the calculator, see 2004.3053.01; for the carrying pouch, see 2004.3053.03.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1973
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
2004.3053.05
nonaccession number
2004.3053
catalog number
2004.3053.05
This spiral-bound manual has a green and white cover. It describes the use of the HP-55 programmable handheld electronic calculator. This version is dated December 1974. Compare with a slightly later version from February of 1975 (1980.0813.03).
Description
This spiral-bound manual has a green and white cover. It describes the use of the HP-55 programmable handheld electronic calculator. This version is dated December 1974. Compare with a slightly later version from February of 1975 (1980.0813.03). For an example of the calculator, see 1980.0813.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1974
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
1980.0813.02
catalog number
1980.0813.02
accession number
1980.0813
This pamphlet has the full title: TI Programmable 58/59 Master Library Using the power of your Solid State Software module. It describes the operation of twenty-five programs sold as modules for the TI 58 and 59 calculators.
Description
This pamphlet has the full title: TI Programmable 58/59 Master Library Using the power of your Solid State Software module. It describes the operation of twenty-five programs sold as modules for the TI 58 and 59 calculators. In addition to the first diagnostic program, programs accomplished a varied of mathematical, statistical, and financial operations, as well conversions of units of measure. Also included was a program for computing the day of the week for any date after the year 1582 (in the Gregorian calendar) and the number of days between any two calendar dates. One program, the HI-LO Game, allowed a player to guess a number between 1 and 1023, given information about whether any guess was too high, too low, or accurate. Received with TI Programmable 59 calculator 1990.0609.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1977
maker
Texas Instruments
ID Number
1990.3166.02
catalog number
1990.3166.02
nonaccession number
1990.3166
Texas Instruments described this softcover book as “A complete owner’s manual for TI Programmable 58/59.” It contains a detailed description of the calculator and methods of programming it by setting up series of functional operations.
Description
Texas Instruments described this softcover book as “A complete owner’s manual for TI Programmable 58/59.” It contains a detailed description of the calculator and methods of programming it by setting up series of functional operations. Received with TI Programmable 59 calculator 1990.0609.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1977
maker
Texas Instruments
ID Number
1990.3166.01
catalog number
1990.3166.01
nonaccession number
1990.3166
This small orange spiral-bound notebook offers instructions on using the HP-65 calculator. It was received independent of a calculator. For an example of an HP-65, see 2011.0023.01. For other documentation on this calculator see 2012.3060.07 and 2012.3060.39.Currently not on view
Description
This small orange spiral-bound notebook offers instructions on using the HP-65 calculator. It was received independent of a calculator. For an example of an HP-65, see 2011.0023.01. For other documentation on this calculator see 2012.3060.07 and 2012.3060.39.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1974
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
1982.0222.03
catalog number
1982.0222.03
accession number
1982.0222
This is the operating manual for an HP-35 calculator. For the calculator, see 1991.0210.01.1.Currently not on view
Description
This is the operating manual for an HP-35 calculator. For the calculator, see 1991.0210.01.1.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1972
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
1991.0210.02
catalog number
1991.0210.02
accession number
1991.0210
This spiral-bound manual contains mathematics programs to be run on the HP-55 electronic calculator.
Description
This spiral-bound manual contains mathematics programs to be run on the HP-55 electronic calculator. According to the cover, it is a comprehensive guidebook, with "74 common programs in such areas as complex arithmetic and functions, linear algebra, trigonometry, geometry, business, and others.” It cost $10.00. A line on the back page reads in part: Rev C 5/75.
For an example of the HP-55, see 1980.0813.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1975
maker
Hewlett-Packard Company
ID Number
1982.0222.05
catalog number
1982.0222.05
accession number
1982.0222
This small paperback book describes the operation of the Casio fx-7000GA graphing calculator. The undated publication is well illustrated. The calculator shown closely resembles the Casio fx-7000G, an example of which is 2000.0146.01.
Description
This small paperback book describes the operation of the Casio fx-7000GA graphing calculator. The undated publication is well illustrated. The calculator shown closely resembles the Casio fx-7000G, an example of which is 2000.0146.01. Both that calculator and the manual were used at San Juan High School in Citrus Heights, California.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1990
maker
Casio Computer Company
ID Number
2000.3037.01
nonaccession number
2000.3037
catalog number
2000.3037.01
Casio Computer Company introduced its fx-7000G graphing calculator in 1985. By 1989, when this monograph was published, other graphing calculators were available, not only from Casio, but from Sharp and Hewlett-Packard.
Description
Casio Computer Company introduced its fx-7000G graphing calculator in 1985. By 1989, when this monograph was published, other graphing calculators were available, not only from Casio, but from Sharp and Hewlett-Packard. However, because of its low cost, relatively large viewing screen, versatility, and ease of operation, the authors of the manual chose to focus on use of the Casio fx-7000G. George Kitchen of the Portage public schools persuaded Paul Eckert of the Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center and Cameron Nichols of the Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center to coauthor the book with him. They recruited Charles Vonder Embse of Central Michigan University to write the section on programming. The detailed text also describes basic operations of the calculator, graphical solutions to equations, a variety of functions, and applications in modeling in statistics. It was distributed by the Michigan Section of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1989
publisher
Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics
ID Number
2000.3037.02
nonaccession number
2000.3037
catalog number
2000.3037.02
In addition to publishing textbooks that required use of a graphing calculator, Addison-Wesley published a manual describing the use of computer software, Casio graphing calculators, and Sharp graphing calculators with those textbooks.
Description
In addition to publishing textbooks that required use of a graphing calculator, Addison-Wesley published a manual describing the use of computer software, Casio graphing calculators, and Sharp graphing calculators with those textbooks. This document by Alan Osborne and Gregory D. Foley of Ohio State University accompanied a series of textbooks by Franklin Demana and Bert K. Waits.
For one of the related textbooks, see 2000.3037.04.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1990
maker
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company
ID Number
2000.3037.03
nonaccession number
2000.3037
catalog number
2000.3037.03
The advent of the graphing calculator and the personal computer transformed the way many students in the United States learned mathematics.
Description
The advent of the graphing calculator and the personal computer transformed the way many students in the United States learned mathematics. In 1989, the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics, published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, assumed that all students in grades nine through twelve would have access to a graphing calculator. Franklin Demana and Bert K. Waits of The Ohio State University had been interested in the use of graphing calculators in mathematics education since for some years. In 1990, they published this textbook for high school use.
Reference:
P. A. Kidwell, A. Ackerberg-Hastings, and David L. Roberts, Tools of American Mathematics Teaching, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1990
maker
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company
ID Number
2000.3037.04
nonaccession number
2000.3037
catalog number
2000.3037.04

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