About the exhibition and its inspirers
On the eve of the 400th anniversary of the mechanical calculator, the idea was born to create a small exhibition illustrating mechanical calculation through the ages, using the collections of Paul Levrie, Erwin Smet and Cris Vande Velde. The exhibition will run from 22 September 2023 to 6 September 2024, a period spanning the anniversary of the two letters from Schickard to Kepler in which the first machine is sketched and described.
Prof. Dr. Paul Levrie is a mathematician and lecturer at the Faculty of Applied Sciences. For decades he has been fascinated by prime numbers and irrational numbers such as π. He can never be caught out calculating an algorithm for a mechanical calculator for a sine or logarithm - usually via a series that converges as quickly as possible.
Prof. Ing. Erwin Smet teaches robotics and mechanical design to electromechanical engineers and has built up a collection of calculating aids over several decades. His annual trips to Berlin, even when it was still an enclave inside the communist GDR before the fall of the Wall, have contributed greatly to his finding of machines and tools with an Eastern European flavour.
Prof. Dr. Christophe Vande Velde teaches the (bio)chemical industrial engineers and has been fascinated for more than 20 years by mechanical calculators, with a focus on non-electric four-function machines, with the occasional excursion to the electric and automatic machines. The full collection is digitized on www.crisvandevel.de.
on the photo in that order, from left to right
Thank you
It is a pleasure to be able to put together a small but perfectly formed overview of mechanical calculation in the atmospheric exhibition space "In the spotlight" in the T-Hall on the Groenenborger Campus of the University of Antwerp. We would like to thank all the lenders of materials and machines, in particular Werner Starzl, the Arithmeum, Dirk Leurs, Continental Automotive Benelux BV, Pierre Vlerick and Luc Hoorelbeke.
Many thanks also to the University of Antwerp's academic heritage team, Daniël Ermens and Marc Demolder, the legal team, Jantine De Kock and Patrick Ingelaere, the technical service, Herwig Kersschot and his team, and the Dean's office of the Faculty of Applied Engineering for their support.
We are also indebted to Hilde Missinne for the graphic design of the catalogue and printed matter, and to Carla Somers for her help with the photo editing.
We would like to thank Sanne Van Bellingen (ETWIE) and Prof. Dr. Ina Prinz (Arithmeum) for their input on the design and content of the exhibition.
For any errors, omissions and inaccuracies, we gladly accept responsibility.