Lannion. A conference on calculating machines for the Fête des Sciences

At 75, Claude Cargou has an atypical collection: more than 500 calculating machines, the ancestor of the calculator and then of the computer. Friday, October ¹ , he will host a conference on his collection during the Science Festival, in the Sainte-Anne room, next to the Lannion media library (Côtes-d'Armor), at 6 p.m.

What is a calculating machine?

The mechanical calculating machine is the ancestor of the computer we know today. It was created by Blaise Pascal in 1642. It was then the first time in history that a design effort was made to go from logic with mental calculation to a machine to do more calculations. heavy. This has also posed societal problems, we find the same debates in today's society with artificial intelligence.

Where does this passion come from?

I studied engineering and then I worked in IT all my career. I've always wondered about the rapid onset of computing. Progress was dazzling at the time. And I quickly became passionate about the issue. Today, I collect calculating machines.

How long have you been collecting calculating machines?

I have been collecting these machines for forty-five years. The first, I had it when I was 32 years old. I have over five hundred of them now, but they are getting harder and harder to find because they haven't been built since the 1960s. Now the machines are rusting so they're not in good condition.

Do you still collect them?

I stopped looking for it because my collection already covers all the upgrades and periods of history. Those that remain are so rare that they are museum items.

Why hold a conference on the subject?

Calculating machines are not of much interest unfortunately. People forget too quickly that without calculations, our society would not be the same: banks, insurance companies, the stock market, etc. would not exist. We are too easily interested in the results without paying attention to the tools that led us there. With this conference, I hope to give back to the calculating machine the place it deserves.