The First Logarithmic Table Produced by a Calculating Machine

Though Charles Babbage set out to print and published calculating tables by machine he was never able to publish only tiny fragments of a table. Instead the mathematical tables that Babbage published were painstakingly calculated and proofread by hand.

In 1875 Swedish inventor Martin Wiberg used his difference engine to produce Tables de Logarithms Calculées et Imprimées au Moyen de la Machine à Calculer du M. Wiberg. This set of tables of seven-place logarithms from 1 to 100,000 was the first logarithmic table produced by a calculating machine. The device is preserved at Tekniska museet (The Technical Museum) of Sweden in Stockholm.