The article highlights the ingenuity of Vilin Vinson and his Maximal Multi-Divi, a massive multiplication and division table, that was optimised for speed and efficiency.
Vinson formatted the book like a machine, with modular sections that could be swapped out for different models and it was essentially a pre-digital computing tool.
This was available internationally and could be used for multiple calculations such as multiplication, division, compound interest, square roots and amortizations.
It was faster than other mechanical calculators of that time and Vinson even offered a reward of 1000 if anyone found a mistake in the tables.
Chris Staeker has since scanned the entire book so people can try it out.
