While watching 50 Facts You Didn't Know About The Big Bang Theory I noticed something so familiar...a Voyager series calc. Although I couldn’t make out the exact model, I did notice that familiar faceplate. Yup! It seems The Big Bang Theory’s science consultant, David Saltzberg is an HP calc user.
Pay close attention to the video between 5:44 until 5:48. You’ll be as surprised as I was.
It seems to be more silver than goldish, so likely not a 12C. Also, there is a hint of both blue and yellow for the shift keys as the video moves, so likely not a 10C either. Whether it's an 11C, 15C or 16C, it's impossible to say.
Physics majors will insist he'd need a 15C for all the cosmological calculations related to the Big Bang, while being in Hollywood mostly precludes using a 16C IMHO, but who can say for sure...
Nice find, good eye spotting it, thanks for sharing.
Since it's not an on-screen prop, but apparently an actual calculator used by the show's technical consultant (David Saltzberg, a physics and astronomy professor at UCLA), my guess is that it's most likely a 15C or perhaps an 11C.
(07-30-2019 10:34 PM)Matt Agajanian Wrote: [ -> ]Yup! It seems The Big Bang Theory’s science consultant, David Saltzberg is an HP calc user.
Pay close attention to the video between 5:44 until 5:48. You’ll be as surprised as I was.
What a great find! I reached out to David, and with his kind permission I quote his response:
Quote:Wow. That’s a really old clip. It’s from the very beginning of the first season and then I think it never got used because the show shut down for the 2007 writers’ strike. It’s pretty amusing but also creepy to realize everyone scanned my desk. It’s a good thing I didn’t have my passwords posted on a post it note. That was an 11C which sadly doesn’t work any more. I would like to buy another but they are pretty expensive on eBay. I didn’t program it as far as I recall. I did for my old TI-55. But I did use the statistics functions all the time. Thanks for the heads up. Pretty amusing. Best, David.
(07-30-2019 10:34 PM)Matt Agajanian Wrote: [ -> ]Yup! It seems The Big Bang Theory’s science consultant, David Saltzberg is an HP calc user.
Pay close attention to the video between 5:44 until 5:48. You’ll be as surprised as I was.
What a great find! I reached out to David, and with his kind permission I quote his response:
Quote:Wow. That’s a really old clip. It’s from the very beginning of the first season and then I think it never got used because the show shut down for the 2007 writers’ strike. It’s pretty amusing but also creepy to realize everyone scanned my desk. It’s a good thing I didn’t have my passwords posted on a post it note. That was an 11C which sadly doesn’t work any more. I would like to buy another but they are pretty expensive on eBay. I didn’t program it as far as I recall. I did for my old TI-55. But I did use the statistics functions all the time. Thanks for the heads up. Pretty amusing. Best, David.
(07-30-2019 10:34 PM)Matt Agajanian Wrote: [ -> ]Yup! It seems The Big Bang Theory’s science consultant, David Saltzberg is an HP calc user.
Pay close attention to the video between 5:44 until 5:48. You’ll be as surprised as I was.
What a great find! I reached out to David, and with his kind permission I quote his response:
Quote:Wow. That’s a really old clip. It’s from the very beginning of the first season and then I think it never got used because the show shut down for the 2007 writers’ strike. It’s pretty amusing but also creepy to realize everyone scanned my desk. It’s a good thing I didn’t have my passwords posted on a post it note. That was an 11C which sadly doesn’t work any more. I would like to buy another but they are pretty expensive on eBay. I didn’t program it as far as I recall. I did for my old TI-55. But I did use the statistics functions all the time. Thanks for the heads up. Pretty amusing. Best, David.
I'm not sure how much is a reasonable price for an 11C in good working order, but I got one from eBay for £50 (about US$60) recently. So if you have the patience you can pick them up for a good price.