Retro Review: Novus 4510 - Mathematician
Happy Labor Day! Hopefully you are safe, healthy, and sane.
Quick Facts:
Model: 4510, also known as Mathematician
Company: National Semiconductor
Years: 1975 - 1977
Memory Register: 1 independent memory, cleared when it is turned off
Battery: 1 9-volt battery, could be powered by a certain AC Volt plugs
Screen: LCD, 8 digits
A RPN Calculator from the 1970s
The Mathematician is a Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) calculator. On an RPN calculator, instead of an equals key, you have an ENTER key to separate numbers and execute an operation to complete the calculation.
Examples:
400 ÷ 25 = 16
Keystrokes:
400 ENT 25 ÷
(21 × 5) + (11 × 13) = 248
Keystrokes:
21 ENT 5 × 11 ENT 13 × +
√(3^2 + 2^3) ≈ 3.3166238
Keystrokes:
3 [ F ] (x^2) ENT 2 ENT y^x + √
Forensic Results:
3 × 1/3 returns .99999999
asin(acos(atan(tan(cos(sin(60°)))))) returns 59.25697°
Keyboard
The keyboard of Novus 4510 has gray and ivory keys. The font is a light gray against a black background, with shifted functions are in yellow, which gives the fonts great contrast. The keys are rubbery and soft, and thankfully, the 4510 I was purchased had working keys.
The Basic Set of Functions
The 4510 has a basic set of scientific functions: principal square root, square root, powers, reciprocal, logarithms and exponents, and trigonometric functions. The angle mode will always be in degrees. The deg and rad commands are not mode settings, they are conversions: deg changes angles from radians to degrees, and rad changes angles from degrees to radians.
There is no scientific notation on the 4510. You are limited to 8 digits. Anything over beyond ±99,999,999 will cause an error.
Any errors will be displayed by .0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.
There is only one memory register. The storage arithmetic functions available are M+, M-, and M+x^2 (square the value on the x register and adds it to memory).
The Stack of Three Levels
The 4510 has three stack levels: x, y, z. How the stack reacts depends on which operation is executed. For example:
The ENT (Enter) Key:
x, y, z -> x, x, y
The Arithmetic Operators (+, -, ×, ÷):
x, y, z -> result, y, 0
The contents of the z stack are zeroed, which unusual for RPN calculators.
The functions x^2, √, 1/x, rad, deg:
x, y, z -> result, y, z
The Trigonometric, Exponential, and Exponential Operators (sin, cos, tan, and their inverses, log, ln, e^x):
x, y, z -> result, y, 0
The contents of the z stack are zeroed, which unusual for RPN calculators.
That makes for a very particular set up due to the usual stack operations, for example:
sin 30° sin 40° sin 60°
Key strokes:
30 sin 40 sin 60 sin × × returns the very incorrect answer 0
However:
30 sin 40 sin × 60 × returns the correct approximation .27833519
There is a swap key but there is no roll down key.
Verdict
I like operating the 4510. However, my biggest gripes are the way the stack is used depending on the operation, and the lack of operations and statistics. It's good for a basic RPN calculator.
Sources
"National Semiconductor Novus Mathematics Handled Electronic Calculator" National Museum of American History Behring Center. Washington, D.C. Accessed August 15, 2021. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1305810
"Novus 4510 (Mathematician)" calculator.org: the calculator home page. Flow Simulation Ltd. 2021 Accessed August 14, 2021. https://www.calculator.org/calculators/Novus_4510.html
Eddie
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