The Power of Three

One of the original pioneers of the computer was born over 200 years ago in Great Torrington in the West of England. His name was Thomas Fowler.
This book reveals the pride and passion of a charismatic self-taught inventor who was determined to succeed despite his humble origins and unorthodox path to mathematical brilliance
It is a story of stunning resilience and ingenuity in the face of professional prejudice, betrayal and heart-breaking twists of fate.
It is a story of an invention destined to re-write the history of computing.
ISBN 978-0-9568709-5-7
Paperback £9.99
This book reveals the pride and passion of a charismatic self-taught inventor who was determined to succeed despite his humble origins and unorthodox path to mathematical brilliance
It is a story of stunning resilience and ingenuity in the face of professional prejudice, betrayal and heart-breaking twists of fate.
It is a story of an invention destined to re-write the history of computing.
ISBN 978-0-9568709-5-7
Paperback £9.99
"Computers might have changed history and our world almost a century sooner had the ideas of Fowler been understood and adopted by Babbage." Dr Ralph Merkle, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing, California.
"Fowler's calculator was in certain respects vastly more promising than Babbage's." Dr Doron Swade MBE. Previously Assistant Director and Head of Collections at the Science Museum, London.
'The author Pamela Vass has done extensive research in many disciplines for this book, and she makes it all very readable and understandable. And the story she has to tell is a fascinating one indeed ... Over and over again I marvel at the amount of research that must have gone into just a few paragraphs. I highly recommend this book.'
Amazon 5 star review.
"Fowler's calculator was in certain respects vastly more promising than Babbage's." Dr Doron Swade MBE. Previously Assistant Director and Head of Collections at the Science Museum, London.
'The author Pamela Vass has done extensive research in many disciplines for this book, and she makes it all very readable and understandable. And the story she has to tell is a fascinating one indeed ... Over and over again I marvel at the amount of research that must have gone into just a few paragraphs. I highly recommend this book.'
Amazon 5 star review.
Introduction
‘WOODEN COMPUTER INVENTED IN NORTH DEVON’ A striking headline for a provincial newspaper. The article continued, It is fascinating … to know that one of the original pioneers of the computer was a self-taught bookseller and printer of Torrington who was born over 200 years ago. His name was Thomas Fowler. I was intrigued, especially given that Great Torrington is close to where I live. But surely ‘the father of computing’ was Charles Babbage? Who was Thomas Fowler?
It was a question that was to take me on an emotional journey; from excitement at this charismatic inventor’s early success to despair at his betrayal, from admiration of his ingenuity to the agony of obscurity. Despite an initial reluctance to peer over the precipice into the mysterious world of mathematics and the history of computing, I knew this was a story that had to be told.
My first searches revealed nothing. Then I met local businessman, John McKay, who had discovered a biography of Fowler. It depicted an extraordinary self-taught mathematician and inventor who had transformed himself from fell monger to successful businessman and pillar of the community. A significant achievement in itself, but more was to come; much more. Thomas Fowler invented a unique calculating machine. Not something that would normally inspire me, but this was different. His absolute belief that this invention would be his claim to fame leapt off the page. So why had I never heard of him? Had his machine survived? If not, did any drawings exist? Could it be recreated?
Curiosity and a nagging need for justice launched me on a search for clues, most of them buried deep in the archives of the most respected scientists of the nineteenth century. Along the way I discovered an unexpected fascination with the leaps of imagination that lie beneath the birth of the modern computer. All led to one startling conclusion.
The computer is an indispensable part of daily life. We rely on it to communicate, for entertainment and for access to a wealth of resources that our bookshelves could never hold. Yet many of us are ignorant of the processes that make all this possible - with one exception. It is well-known that the technology relies on the binary number system, a choice made by early computer scientists that dominates the world of computing. But a fundamentally different path might have been taken more than a century earlier had the pioneering work of this humble, self-taught mathematician been adopted.
For a while there was every chance that it would. Yet after a flurry of recognition, Fowler’s work was consigned to obscurity. Why?
This book tells the fascinating story of a remarkable Devon man who was convinced that his innovative work was overlooked because of his humble origins and unorthodox path to mathematical brilliance. It includes a layman’s view of Fowler’s inventions and a full appendix containing his detailed mathematical deliberations and original source material for those who would like to explore further.
Thomas Fowler died in 1843 but the final chapter of his story has yet to be written. As twenty-first century scientists rediscover his ground-breaking work perhaps there is still time for Fowler’s dying wish to be fulfilled.
‘My greatest wish was to have had a thorough investigation of the whole principle of the Machine … by some first rate Man of Science before it be laid aside or adopted.’ Thomas Fowler
‘WOODEN COMPUTER INVENTED IN NORTH DEVON’ A striking headline for a provincial newspaper. The article continued, It is fascinating … to know that one of the original pioneers of the computer was a self-taught bookseller and printer of Torrington who was born over 200 years ago. His name was Thomas Fowler. I was intrigued, especially given that Great Torrington is close to where I live. But surely ‘the father of computing’ was Charles Babbage? Who was Thomas Fowler?
It was a question that was to take me on an emotional journey; from excitement at this charismatic inventor’s early success to despair at his betrayal, from admiration of his ingenuity to the agony of obscurity. Despite an initial reluctance to peer over the precipice into the mysterious world of mathematics and the history of computing, I knew this was a story that had to be told.
My first searches revealed nothing. Then I met local businessman, John McKay, who had discovered a biography of Fowler. It depicted an extraordinary self-taught mathematician and inventor who had transformed himself from fell monger to successful businessman and pillar of the community. A significant achievement in itself, but more was to come; much more. Thomas Fowler invented a unique calculating machine. Not something that would normally inspire me, but this was different. His absolute belief that this invention would be his claim to fame leapt off the page. So why had I never heard of him? Had his machine survived? If not, did any drawings exist? Could it be recreated?
Curiosity and a nagging need for justice launched me on a search for clues, most of them buried deep in the archives of the most respected scientists of the nineteenth century. Along the way I discovered an unexpected fascination with the leaps of imagination that lie beneath the birth of the modern computer. All led to one startling conclusion.
The computer is an indispensable part of daily life. We rely on it to communicate, for entertainment and for access to a wealth of resources that our bookshelves could never hold. Yet many of us are ignorant of the processes that make all this possible - with one exception. It is well-known that the technology relies on the binary number system, a choice made by early computer scientists that dominates the world of computing. But a fundamentally different path might have been taken more than a century earlier had the pioneering work of this humble, self-taught mathematician been adopted.
For a while there was every chance that it would. Yet after a flurry of recognition, Fowler’s work was consigned to obscurity. Why?
This book tells the fascinating story of a remarkable Devon man who was convinced that his innovative work was overlooked because of his humble origins and unorthodox path to mathematical brilliance. It includes a layman’s view of Fowler’s inventions and a full appendix containing his detailed mathematical deliberations and original source material for those who would like to explore further.
Thomas Fowler died in 1843 but the final chapter of his story has yet to be written. As twenty-first century scientists rediscover his ground-breaking work perhaps there is still time for Fowler’s dying wish to be fulfilled.
‘My greatest wish was to have had a thorough investigation of the whole principle of the Machine … by some first rate Man of Science before it be laid aside or adopted.’ Thomas Fowler

This image, from a stained glass panel in Great Torrington church, is the only known representation of the machine that Thomas Fowler took to London in 1843 to demonstrate to the foremost scientists of the day, including Charles Babbage. His machine was widely praised but Fowler was dogged by misfortune and his work slipped into obscurity. A project team are now working to reinstate Fowler as a significant figure in the history of computing. We have given a presentation on Fowler at the Science Museum in London and one of Fowler's concept machines is now in their collection. See http://mortati.com/glusker/fowler/fowlerbio.htm for more.