Co-developer of the Scheutzian calculation engine that produced the first tables calculated and printed by machinery, Scheutz made pioneering contributions to mechanical computation alongside his father, Pehr George Scheutz. He began his studies at the New Elementary School, but was forced to discontinue on account of a leg injury. In 1835 he entered the Technological Institute, and remained there until 1841. Little is known of his interests outside the field of mechanical technology.
It seems clear, however, that he worked closely with his father. Scheutz even wrote a comedy published by the Scheutz publishing firm in 1836, when he was only 15. He and his father Georg are most known for Georg's invention of the Scheutzian calculation engine, invented in 1837 and finalized in 1843. The device was built in a wooden frame and made largely by Scheutz himself, having been a teenager at the start of the project. This machine was based on Charles Babbage's difference engine.
An improved model, roughly the size of a piano, was demonstrated at the World's Fair in Paris, 1855. The machine was then sold to the British government in 1859. It operated with three orders of difference (compared to seven for Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2) and produced the first tables calculated and printed by machinery. Two expanded versions fully engineered in metal were produced, one in Stockholm in 1853, the other in London in 1859.
While the machine was not perfect and could not produce complete tables, Martin Wiberg reworked the construction from the ground up and in 1875 created a compact device which would print complete tables. His father created yet another machine in 1860, selling it to the United States. The devices were used for creating logarithmic tables. Scheutz devoted his life to the production, promotion, and efforts to sell the machine until his death in 1881.
