X-Nico

unusual facts about mechanical computer



Billiard-ball computer

A billiard-ball computer, also known as a conservative logic circuit, is an idealized model of a reversible mechanical computer based on Newtonian dynamics, proposed in 1982 by Edward Fredkin and Tommaso Toffoli.


see also

Cuming Museum

On this site, Charles Babbage, the Victorian mechanical computer pioneer, was born in 1791, although the original house has been demolished.

Height finder

In World War II, a height finder was an optical rangefinder used to determine the altitude of an aircraft (actually the slant range from the emplacement which was combined with the angle of sight, in a mechanical computer, to produce altitude), used to direct anti-aircraft guns.