Torres Quevedo's algebraic machines
Máquinas algébricas de Torres Quevedo
- Date
- 1893-1914 · confidence medium
- Place
- Madrid, Community of Madrid, Spain
- Credited to
- Leonardo Torres Quevedo
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
A series of analogue machines that solve algebraic equations with real and complex coefficients by representing quantities as lengths and logarithmic scales driven by endless screws. Torres Quevedo set out the theory in 1893-1895 and built several prototypes from 1910.
The paper on algebraic machines was presented to the Royal Academy of Sciences in Madrid (1893) and to the Association française pour l'avancement des sciences (1895). The devices were built for demonstration, not commercial use.
What it led to
- a general theory of analogue calculating machines
- international recognition of Torres Quevedo (Paris Académie des sciences)
- the basis of his Essays on Automatics (1914)