Pocket calculator HP-35 . Technical Museum of Slovenia . Photo : Tomo Jeseničnik .
POCKET CALCULATOR
Rode was the lead engineer on the team that invented the first scientific pocket calculator , the HP-35 , which had arithmetic , logarithmic , and trigonometric functions . Hewlett-Packard 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 . U . S . President 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 it to space , recognition of what a useful instrument it was .
Rode worked on the HP-80 project as the project manager and lead co-inventor . He simplified financial calculations and thereby replaced the cumbersome and time-consuming tables that had been used by banks and other financial institutions . He was even prouder of this calculator than the HP-35 because he thought the project required more ingenuity and creativity . A leaflet for the HP-80 . Private Archives .
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