Editing Professor Calculus (section)

{{short description|Comic character by Belgian cartoonist Hergé}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2013}}
{{Infobox comics character
<!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->
| character_name = Professor Calculus
| image          =Professor Calculus.png 
| caption        = Professor Calculus ''(Professeur Tournesol)'', by [[Hergé]]
| publisher      = [[Casterman]] (Belgium)
| debut          = ''[[Red Rackham's Treasure]]'' (1943)<br/>''[[The Adventures of Tintin]]''
| creators       = [[Hergé]]
| full_name      = Cuthbert Calculus
| partners       = [[List of The Adventures of Tintin characters#Main characters|List of main characters]]
| supports       = [[Tintin (character)|Tintin]]
}}

'''Professor Cuthbert Calculus''' ({{langx|fr|'''Professeur Tryphon Tournesol'''}} {{IPA|fr|pʁɔ.fɛ.sœʁ tʁi.fɔ̃ tuʁ.nə.sɔl||}},{{sfn|Peeters|2012|p=341|loc="Character Names in French and English"}} meaning "Professor Tryphon [[Sunflower]]") is a fictional character in ''[[The Adventures of Tintin]]'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist [[Hergé]]. He is [[Tintin (character)|Tintin's]] friend, an [[absent-minded professor]] and half-deaf [[physicist]], who invents many sophisticated devices used in the series, such as a one-person [[Red Rackham's Treasure|shark-shaped submarine]], the [[Destination Moon (comics)|Moon rocket]], and an [[The Calculus Affair|ultrasound weapon]]. Calculus's deafness is a frequent source of humour, as he repeats back what he thinks he has heard, usually in the most unlikely words possible. He does not admit to being near-deaf and insists he is only slightly hard of hearing in one ear, occasionally making use of an [[ear trumpet]] to hear better.

Calculus first appeared in ''[[Red Rackham's Treasure]]'' (more specifically in the newspaper prepublication of 4–5 March 1943<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/h/herge.htm|title = Hergé}}</ref>), and was the result of Hergé's long quest to find the archetypal [[mad scientist]] or [[absent-minded professor]]. Although Hergé had included characters with similar traits in earlier stories, Calculus developed into a much more complex figure as the series progressed.