The complete history of the burroughs adding machine

But who invented the iconic Burroughs adding machine that became synonymous with number-crunching for decades? The creator of the legendary adding machine was born in in Rochester, New York. William Seward Burroughs came from a middle-class banking family which meant expectations were high for him to also enter the industry. After a brief education, year-old William started working as a bank clerk.

But he found manually counting and tallying huge ledgers of numbers exhausting. The continual grinding over figures was driving me crazy. William also grew up tinkering with his father who ran a small machine shop.

Burroughs adding machine models

He adored mechanics and problem-solving — much more than mundane clerical work. Louis, Missouri. This move proved pivotal. He now had access to the space, tools and mechanical expertise to nurture his creative talents. William was determined to build an automated calculation aid to free himself and fellow bank clerks from endless tabulating.

Instead, he had to meticulously design and hand-build His early prototypes using late 19th century metalworking methods. This meant painstakingly cutting gears, levers, springs, and number wheels from steel and brass by hand before carefully assembling them. But William was no stranger to dedication. The sensitive parts easily slipped and bent resulting in unreliable tabulations.

This prevented a viable path to mass manufacturing.