However, attractive, colorful wooden machines inspired by Pascal’s approach and designed for children are readily available. They are often simplified to the bare minimum, with no carry mechanism, and certainly contain none of the clockwork marvels devised by Pascal himself. Even so, they allow users to enter three-digit numbers, turn the wheels, watch the gears engage, and perform additions or subtractions with ease. For younger children, they are wonderful teaching tools for developing a better understanding of positional notation before trying their hand at multiplication or division—or even, for older or more perceptive children, understanding congruences modulo 10. Fun for young and old, girls and boys alike; an original gift (exclusive to Nature et découvertes) to give without hesitation!
The wheels show 299. Turning the orange units wheel by one notch
sets the blue and white wheels in motion, displaying the value 300.
