Recreation of Ternary Calculating Machine Based on Brief Written Descriptions and a Stained Glass Window

Printer and amateur mathematician Thomas Fowler decided that a Base 3 number system would streamline his job as treasurer for the Poor Law Union. After toiling in secrecy behind his printing press, Thomas constructed a working ternary calculating machine in 1840. Haven't heard of ternary? Me neither. It is one more, duh, than binary.

Unfortunately, neither the machine nor drawings survived and the only evidence of its existence is a brief written description and church stained glass window depicting the mystery machine. From this scant history, Mark Glusker recreated the machine from the sort of plywood commonly used for dinosaur skeleton kits.

An impressive piece of mechanical and mathematical history, but you better watch the video yourself to decide if it was really a labor saving device. Its complexity may explain why it didn't catch on.

Link (Thanks, Maria!)

Tokyo Design Week by Monocle

Monocle's video overview of Tokyo Design Week is an enjoyable way to spend 4 minutes. Particularly striking, the installation from Delight (?) that is slated for production - think of an abacus populated with LED throwie beads. Anybody find a link to Delight? Let us know!


Link

Forward - Neutral - Reverse Transaxle Assembly

Originally manufactured for off-road utility vehicles, this $350 surplus transaxle assembly is the perfect starting point for at least one thousand ridiculous projects. All-terrain personal parade floats?


Link

Electric Fountain

Tim Noble and Sue Webster

Link (with video)

Steel Pencils Made from Scavenged Rod

Bradley Lewis made these steel drawing pencils on his lathe, using a scavenged rod out of a copier. Link