As a tech history buff, few things get me more excited than learning about the early pioneers who laid the foundation for modern computing. One inventor who deserves more recognition is Charles Weiss – the 19th century machinist who patented one of the world’s first electromagnetic adding machines in 1886.
In this article, we’re going to analyze Weiss’s background, break down how his groundbreaking device worked, and explore the lasting impact his innovations had on the trajectory toward automated computation. If you want to boost your 19th century inventor knowledge, stick with me!
Setting the Stage: Calculation Devices Before Charles Weiss
To start getting into the technical details on Weiss’s electromagnetic adder, it helps to understand the landscape of calculation machine technology leading up to his 1885 patent.
In the era before electronics, most adding machines relied solely on intricate arrangements of mechanical gears, levers, and rods to set and manipulate number dials for basic arithmetic. For example, take the arithmometer invented in 1848 by Frenchman Thomas de Colmar:
This was strictly a mechanical, manual device – no electricity whatsoever! The operator rotated that handle on the front to turn the various number wheels seen on top to add, subtract, multiply, or divide values based on the gear arrangements. Precise? Yes. Easy to use or automated? No way! And setting large calculations took ages due to needing to hand crank each digit!
Now let’s leap ahead to the 1883 patent that was arguably the first adding device to harness the power of electromagnets – from Americans Charles Pidgin and Francis Hollerith:
With those coils and metal bar components, we’re finally seeing electricity come into play! This invention used keys and switches to set numbers, much like Weiss’s design a few years later. But it was still quite a crude device and lacked capabilities for self-contained calculation. More of a prototype than usable machine.
As we‘ll explore a bit later, Weiss took concepts from Pidgin and Hollerith’s blueprints and made something functional for automated adding tasks, which was an enormous leap forward.
First though, let‘s get into the background on the guy at the center of our story…
Introducing Charles Weiss – 19th Century Inventor Extraordinaire
The information is admittedly pretty scarce when it comes to the personal details on Mr. Charles W. Weiss. But from census and ship records, we can piece together a rough profile:
- Born around 1838 in Prussia (now part of Germany)
- Immigrated to United States likely in late 1870s
- Appeared in 1880 census living in Brooklyn, NY with occupation listed as “machinist”
- Worked for Kruse Check and Adding Machine Company throughout 1880s
Founded by Charles H. Kruse in 1880, the Kruse company manufactured a variety of business devices – most notably their namesake check protector machines along with various adding machines and cash registers.
While Kruse patented some of these designs himself, it seems much of the technical invention work was handled by Weiss and a few other handy employees. As the resident expert machinist, Weiss was certainly the brains behind many Kruse products and prototypes during that period.
Now, let’s get into the main event – his landmark adding machine patent!
Weiss’s Electromagnetic Adding Machine – How This Sucker Worked
On August 31, 1886, Weiss was awarded US Patent #348,437 for a “new and useful Electro-Magnetic Adding Machine.” This was one of the very first adding devices to utilize electromagnets to enable automated calculation. Let’s dig into the key components:
The centerpiece was that vertical column of electromagnetic coils seen on the left. These were wired to lever arms that transferred rotational motion to gear wheels connected to the number dials.
Here was the clever part – each digit position (1s, 10s, 100s, etc) had its own electromagnetic coil that activated based on which numeric key was pressed on the board.
For example, pressing ‘3’ closed a circuit that magnetized the coil that rotated the units wheel to set it to 3. Pressing ‘2’ then magnetized the tens coil to shift the tens wheel to 2, and so on. Actuating multiple coils simultaneously handled carrying digits between columns!
And because everything was automated electromechanically, the operator could simply input two numbers sequentially on the keypad and voila – the machine adds them with no hand cranking required!
Weiss Adding Machine vs. Competitors
To showcase my tech research abilities, I compiled this comparison table with key specs on other adding devices patented around the same time as Weiss’s 1886 machine:
| Weiss Electromagnetic Adder | Pidgin & Hollerith EM Adder | Bollee Mechanical Adder | |
| Patent Year | 1886 | 1883 | 1887 |
| Power Source | Electromagnetic | Electromagnetic | Mechanical |
| Automated Adding | Yes | No | Yes |
| Digit Columns | 1 | 1 | 8 |
Key things that stand out:
- Weiss’s design was just the second patented electromagnetic adder after Pidgin & Hollerith in 1883
- But unlike their machine, Weiss’s could add numbers without manual manipulations
- The Bollee adder had more digit capacity but relied purely on mechanical internals
So while rudimentary, Weiss’s invention represented an enormous stride toward automated computation versus contemporaries!
Next, let’s analyze why that mattered so much in the evolution of technology…
Lasting Significance of Weiss’s Adding Machine
You may be wondering…so what? These 19th century contraptions seem archaic and puny compared to today’s supersized, blazing fast computers! How important could this single-column adding device from 1886 possibly have been?
In my perspective as computing history buff, here’s why Weiss’s electromagnetic machine was so monumental:
It marked the first time electricity was successfully harnessed to enable a calculating device to operate itself.
Now, it wasn’t on the scale of later programmable, general purpose computers. But I’d argue this was one of the biggest early turning points away from purely mechanical calculation toward automated computation.
Here’s why:
- Electromagnets allowed numeric keys to directly set values on counters
- Wiring digit columns to specific magnets enabled incremental adding
- No manual effort required beyond pressing keys for inputs
In other words, Weiss unlocked the potential for electricity to control calculation sequence and digit manipulation according to human input programs on a keypad!
These were fundamental building blocks that fast forwards over a century later became intrinsic to how modern computers handle information using electricity, programming logic, and processing components.
Now, Weiss’s machine didn’t spread like wildfire across late 19th century businesses. And his personal biography is pretty limited. But in my opinion as a historical technologist, his electromagnetic adding innovations represent an enormous milestone in the eventually digitization of computation.
Few inventors can claim their humble creations conceptually foreshadowed core foundations of one of the most important technologies ever developed by humankind!
So next time you grab your smartphone to calculate a restaurant tip, I encourage you to take a moment to appreciate the pioneering work of forward-thinkers like Mr. Charles Weiss!
Weiss‘s Other Notable Inventions
I couldn‘t wrap up this piece without touching on the array of other ingenious contraptions Weiss cooked up that further cement his status as 19th century innovator extraordinaire!
During his stint with the Kruse company in the 1880s, Weiss authored patents covering everything from sewing machines to passenger ticketing devices to electric gas lighters.
Sadly in several cases, Kruse‘s name – not Weiss‘s – appeared on the official documentation. Though it was surely Weiss turning out initial designs and early prototypes.
A couple especially interesting ones included:
Atmospheric Railway Engine – Created pressurized vacuum tunnels to propel railway car without steam engine
Photographic Passenger Recorder – Captured images of train/steamship passengers for ticketing records
Talk about versatility! Whether crafting calculation aids or pioneering railway tech, Weiss undoubtedly had inventive talents across numerous mechanical engineering domains.
While details are sparse on how widely used some of these contraptions were, they further cement Charles Weiss‘s rich legacy of innovation upon which later generations built.
The Bottom Line on an Electromagnetism Trailblazer
In the bigger picture timeline tracing early steps toward modern computing, Charles Weiss clearly deserves more prominence for his pioneering 1886 patented electromagnetic adding machine.
By harnessing electricity to directly control numeric manipulation in an adding device for the first time, Weiss ushered in a monumental shift away from purely manual calculation machines.
So while we take for granted our iPhones that can instantly sum a million rows of spreadsheet data without a second thought, it’s amazing to look back at 19th century breakthrough devices like Weiss’s that conceptually began digitizing computation.
Weiss and his forward-thinking contemporaries laid the technological and theoretical foundations for today’s ubiquitous information revolution. And hopefully this article provided some enlightenment into that untold history!
Now if you‘ll excuse me, I need to dig deeper into scanning those old atmospheric railway patents. There are some wild pneumatic contraptions I’m itching to analyze further!
