Pascal was endowed with ethically questionable practices. In 1658, Pascal held a competition under the pseudonym of Amos Dettonville. The mathematical contest was held and the winner awarded the prize was...Blaise Pascal! 2. It would not be surprising to imagine that Pascal would be open to other unsavory practices such as plagiarism of Da Vinci's work.
In 1967 a significant document was discovered in the National Museum of Spain in the form of Da Vinci writings and diagrams that dated back to the 1500s. They included a description of a calculating machine that was similar to Blaise Pascal's device, yet Da Vinci's works pre-dated Pascal's by 150 years! A replica of Da Vinci's calculating machine was made in 1968 based on the notes1. The replica was made by Dr. Roberto Guateli--a renowned Da Vinci expert--for IBM. The note on the model at an IBM exhibition read:
"Device for calculation. An early version of today's complicated calculator..." 1
The validity of the replica was debated by many scholars and the adding machine was removed from display. It was thought by some that the drawing was of a ratio machine (not an adding machine), and that Dr. Guatelli had extrapolated Leonardo's data. It was said that Dr. Guatelli "has used his own intuition and imagination to go beyond the statements of Leonardo." 3
The debate continues. The whereabouts of the replica is unknown and it may never be known who really invented the mechanical adding machine.
