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===Mechanical calculators===
In 1609, [[Guidobaldo del Monte]] made a mechanical multiplier to calculate fractions of a degree. Based on a system of four gears, the rotation of an index on one quadrant corresponds to 60 rotations of another index on an opposite quadrant.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Domenico Bertolini|last=Meli|date=1992|doi=10.1163/182539192x00019 |title=Guidobaldo Dal Monte and the Archimedean Revival |journal=Nuncius|number=1|pages=3–34|volume=7}}</ref> Thanks to this machine, errors in the calculation of first, second, third and quarter degrees can be avoided. Guidobaldo is the first to document the use of gears for mechanical calculation.
[[Wilhelm Schickard]], a German [[polymath]], designed a calculating machine in 1623 which combined a mechanized form of Napier's rods with the world's first mechanical adding machine built into the base. Because it made use of a single-tooth gear there were circumstances in which its carry mechanism would jam.<ref>{{harvnb|Williams|1997|p=128}} "...the single-tooth gear, like that used by Schickard, would not do for a general carry mechanism. The single-tooth gear works fine if the carry is only going to be propagated a few places but, if the carry has to be propagated several places along the accumulator, the force needed to operate the machine would be of such magnitude that it would do damage to the delicate gear works."</ref> A fire destroyed at least one of the machines in 1624 and it is believed Schickard was too disheartened to build another.
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