Animation produced in collaboration with the Musée des Arts et Metiers - Paris.

The arithmetic machine created by Blaise Pascale (1623-1662) - the Pascaline - was one of the first mechanical calculating devices (first model 1642). It's a calculating machine because the carrying over across places occurs automatically.

It enables one to directly add and subtract. It is also possible to multiply and divide using successive additions and subtractions.