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university in his native Ljubljana when he do-
nated a replica of his microanalysis device to
the University of Ljubljana in 1925. One part of
the device has been preserved by the Faculty
of Education, while a second part has unfortu-
nately been lost.
Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana. Photo: Tamino Petelinšek.
FRANCE RODE
Rode’s wallet with business cards showing
his previous jobs, and the electronic lock that
he patented. He always carried some dinar, to-
lar, and dollar bills in his wallet as well.
Technical Museum of Slovenia. Photo: Sanja Živković.
POCKET CALCULATOR
Rode was the lead engineer on the team
that invented the first scientific pocket cal-
culator, the HP-35, which had trigonometric,
logarithmic and exponential functions. Hewl-
ett-Packard, the company he worked for, had
already developed a desktop computer when
William Redington Hewlett came up with
the idea to create a computer that would fit
in his shirt pocket. Development took a year
and sales exceeded all expectations. US Pres-
ident Richard Nixon took one with him on his
first visit to China as an example of the latest
American technological achievement. Soon
after, astronauts took one to space, recogni-
tion of what a useful instrument it was.
HP-35 Calculator. Technical Museum of Slovenia. Photo: Tamino Petelinšek.
THE IEEE MILESTONE IN ELECTRICAL ENGI-
NEERING AND COMPUTING AWARD.
In 2009, the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the highest pro-
fessional authority in this field, declared the
HP-35 a “milestone in electrical engineering
and computing.” A plaque displaying the text
of the recognition has been installed in the
lobby of Hewlett-Packard Labs in Palo Alto,
California.
Technical Museum of Slovenia. Photo: Nebojša Tejić, STA
.
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