To do this, we use calculating machines. This way our mind doesn't get tired, and we can devote our thoughts to higher things.
All of us may think that calculators were invented by Mr. Casio, Mr. IBM or Mr. Hewlett-Packard. Nevertheless, it was a Galician man, Ramon Verea, who invented and patented it, in 1878.
Do you think he received any help from the Spanish government? Any prize or distinction? Did he do the patent in Barcelona, La Coruña or Sevilla? Did he become a millionaire? Is his calculator of iron and steel, weighting 26 kg, and named Verea Direct Multiplier, exposed in the science museum at San Sebastian, or Valladolid?
It was two centuries ago, but things have not changed since then. Ramon, with a brilliant academic record, was denied the scholarship that allowed him to study in Santiago de Compostela. So in 1855 he emigrated to Cuba, and from there he moved later to New York, Guatemala and Buenos Aires. He never returned to his homeland, and he died destitute in Argentina.
During this journey around the world, he had time to work as an engineer, a journalist, a translator, and an inventor. He directed for more than 10 years a newspaper in New York.
His invention was patented in the U.S.A. He got the recognition of a medal at the World Exhibition of Inventions in Cuba. And his calculator (we couldn’t say it's a 'pocket ' calculator), is displayed at the headquarters of IBM in White Plains, New York.
So when you use a calculator machine this month, don’t forget about its magnificent inventor. It will be the best private tribute that we can do for him, because he hasn’t got any public one.
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