# Interesting Esoterica

• Published in 2010
In the collections
Analog calculating machines usually contain lots of gears (differentials), cams, ball-and-disc integrators and rack-and-pinions. But would it be possible to construct such calculating machines only using hinged rods? In the first instance, one would think only linear functions could be represented by such a mechanism but that is not true. This presentation describes “computing linkages” and the work of Antonin Svoboda on their systematic development.

### BibTeX entry

@article{ComputingLinkages,
author = {Andries de Man},
urldate = {2020-04-06},
year = 2010,
abstract = {Analog calculating machines usually contain lots of gears (differentials), cams, ball-and-disc integrators and rack-and-pinions. But would it be possible to construct such calculating machines only using hinged rods? In the first instance, one would think only linear functions could be represented by such a mechanism but that is not true. This presentation describes “computing linkages” and the work of Antonin Svoboda on their systematic development.},
comment = {},
collections = {Easily explained,History,Things to make and do,Unusual computers}
}