Editing Professor Calculus (section)

==Inspirations==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-13738, Auguste Piccard.jpg|thumb|[[Auguste Piccard]] in 1932]]
Calculus is partly modeled on inventor [[Auguste Piccard]] (1884–1962), Hergé stated in an interview with [[Numa Sadoul]]: "Calculus is a reduced scale Piccard, as the real chap was very tall. He had an interminable neck that sprouted from a collar that was much too large... I made Calculus a mini-Piccard, otherwise I would have had to enlarge the frames of the cartoon strip."<ref>Horeau, Yves '' The Adventures of Tintin at Sea'' 1999, English translation 2004 for the National Maritime Museum, published by John Maurray, {{ISBN|0-7195-6119-1}}. Chapter on Outside characters drawn into the Adventures.</ref> The Swiss physics professor held a teaching appointment in Brussels when Hergé spotted his unmistakable figure in the street. In ''[[The Castafiore Emerald]]'', Bianca Castafiore mentions that Calculus is "famous for his balloon ascensions", an ironic reference to Piccard.

[[Philippe Goddin]] has suggested that Calculus' deafness was inspired by Paul Eydt, whom Hergé had known at ''[[Le Vingtième Siècle]]'' where Tintin's adventures had first appeared.<ref name="A_la_recherche_du_trésor_de_Rackham_le_Rouge">''A la recherche du trésor de Rackham le Rouge'' (French for "In Search of Red Rackham's Treasure") by Hergé, with comments by Daniel Couvreur and Frédéric Soumois, published by Editions Moulinsart in November 2007, {{ISBN|978-2-87424-160-4}}</ref> Cuthbert Calculus' original French name is "Tryphon Tournesol" and Tryphon was the name of Hergé's [[plumber]].<ref name="A_la_recherche_du_trésor_de_Rackham_le_Rouge" />

In contrast to his unquestionable scientific merits, Calculus is a fervent believer in [[dowsing]], and carries a [[pendulum]] for that purpose. Hergé himself was a believer in the subject: dowser Victor Mertens had used a pendulum to find the lost wedding ring of Hergé's wife in October 1939.<ref name="A_la_recherche_du_trésor_de_Rackham_le_Rouge" />