Form is temporary, function is permanent. The most important inventions are the ones that relate to the human condition, and they crop up over and over again. Below, Houston shares five key insights ...

We’ve seen so many explorations of older semiconductors at the hands of [Ken Shirriff], that we know enough to expect a good read when he releases a new one. His latest doesn’t disappoint, as he ...

Jerry Merryman, a self-taught electrical engineer who helped design the first pocket calculator, died Feb. 27 in Dallas. He was 86. His wife, Phyllis (Lee) Merryman, said the cause was heart and ...

Pictured above is the HP-35, Hewlett-Packard’s first pocket calculator and the world’s first scientific pocket calculator. The HP-35 was available from 1972 to 1975, and retailed then for $395 (more ...