The Lost Code

Scale

19th century
Cast iron, tinplate
H. 23 cm
L. 49 cm
This scale, known as a Roberval Balance, owes its name to its inventor Gilles Personne (1602–1675), a.k.a. de Roberval. The French mathematician and physicist from Roberval in Oise had the ingenious idea of putting the plates above the beam instead of below it, where they had been since Antiquity.
Musée L'Aventure Leclerc Collection