The Arithmeum is a mathematics
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...
owned by the Forschungsinstitut für Diskrete Mathematik (Research Institute for Discrete Mathematics) at the
University of Bonn
The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...
.
It was founded in 2008 by the director of the institute,
Bernhard Korte
Bernhard H. Korte (born November 3, 1938 in Bottrop, Germany) is a German mathematician and computer scientist, a professor at the University of Bonn, and an expert in combinatorial optimization.
Biography
Korte earned his doctorate ( Doctor re ...
, who contributed his private collection of
calculating machine
A mechanical calculator, or calculating machine, is a mechanical device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic automatically, or (historically) a simulation such as an analog computer or a slide rule. Most mechanical calculators wer ...
s.
The building's steel-glass facade – located at Lennéstrasse 2 – is meant to represent the "transparency of science".
Exhibitions
The permanent exhibit "Calculating in Olden and Modern Times" (german: Rechnen Einst und Heute) shows the progression of mechanical calculating machines through 1,200 pieces.
It holds the very large (4,000 pieces), IJzebrand Schuitema (1929–2013) 400 year collection of
slide rules.
[http://www.rekeninstrumenten.nl/MIR/MIR%20Articles/MIR49%20p%209-13%20Schuitema%20Collection.pdf (English)]
There are also exhibits on very-large-scale integrated (
VLSI) logic chips, historical arithmetic books dating back to
Johannes Gutenberg
Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (; – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and craftsman who introduced letterpress printing to Europe with his movable-type printing press. Though not the first of its kind, earlier designs ...
's times, and the relationship between art and science.
References
External links
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The Arithmeum's History
Museums in Bonn
History of mathematics
Science museums in Germany
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