Slide rules live! 3

[oldfieldguy]

I was working with my fifteen year old son on a computer problem this weekend and he found an old slide rule on my shelf.

"What's this, dad?"

"It's a slide rule."

"What's it do?"

"Puts men into outer space. Breaks the sound barrier. Builds the interstate highway system. Let me show you how it works..."

And he thinks it's neat. He may never use it, but he knows it exists.

old field guy

 

[IRstuff]

There's an apocryphal story that Intel's engineers had a tough time getting their first microprocessor chip funded, because the BD guys determined that the worldwide demand for minicomputers was only 16,000 units.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[ScottyUK]

What's a slide rule?




----------------------------------

If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!

 

[berkshire]

Scotty,
Your pulling our chains Right?
Its the thing that sat on your desk, right next to the logarithm table book.
B.E.

 

[ScottyUK]

Oh, those things? I think I once saw one in a museum...

I'm a little too young to have used a slide rule - I must have missed out by just a few years - but when I was about 12 or 13 years old my father took a lot of time and pleasure teaching me how to use one. Once I got past the scepticism embedded in most kids I thought they were fascinating. Today I don't think I could remember how to use it.


----------------------------------

If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!

 

[berkshire]

Scotty,
wait until the batterys die in your calculator,and you do not have any more. B-(

 

[SomptingGuy]

I got my calculator as a Christmas present when I was 13. It's still on its original batteries and I use it every day.

p.s. I'm over 40.

- Steve

 

[ScottyUK]

When the 'batteries' in my calculator die it will get real dark and real cold here on planet earth. It's amazing that it works at all in the north of England where the sun is such an infrequent visitor, ha-ha. I bet you can use a slide rule by flashlight though - the solar calculators need a big powerful flashlight to even wake up.

Steve,

I still have my Casio FX-570c from high school. The display is getting a bit tired but it's still a great little device.


----------------------------------

If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!

 

[oldfieldguy]

Scotty--

I've used a solar-powered calculator by flashlight...

old field guy

 

[ScottyUK]

OFG,

The newfangled LED types that melt your eyeballs sure don't work with 'em! Probably down to the specific wavelength of LED light.


----------------------------------

If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!

 

[berkshire]

So wots wrong with a candle?
You can read your slipstick wiv that.
B.E.

 

[Hoxton]

When I was at High School,we were taken on a bus to County Hall in Northallerton, North Yorkshire to see "the computer". The only one in the county, ICL1901. Punch card input, no screens or keyboards that I can remember!

[For the non english, Yorkshire is a bit like Texas, but they split it into three to reduce its power......]

Scotty, your Casio FX-570c is a little modern, I still have my Sinclair Cambridge (and it works!)

Bernard

p.s. - no mention of cylindrical slide rules?

 

[oldfieldguy]

Hoxton--

I never handled a cylindrical, but circular? The good old Jeppesen E-6B navigation computer was a constant companion when I used to fly...

But the it or similar was a companion to almost anybody who used to fly. There are probably a lot still out there..

old field guy

 

[berkshire]

I have an E-6B ,the slide lock for the wind triangle solution is broken, but the slide rule portion still works, and being circular you do not have to reset it.
B.E.

 

[PeterStock]

I last used a slide rule near the end of my first quarter of college, got a calculater as an early birthday present before a final.

Peter Stockhausen
Senior Design Analyst (Checker)
Infotech Aerospace Services

 

[hendersdc]

We still learn how to use them to compute gun data in artillery missions.

 

[JoshPlumSE]

I used to have one of my parent's old slide rules hung up in my office. When older engineers would stop by my office, they'd all want to play with it.

I must have had a dozen different engineers show me how to use it. It would make perfect sense when they were doing it, but after a week or so I would COMPLETELY forget how to use it. Part of me thinks that it became a running joke with the older engineers in the office.

I eventually retired it and replaced it with another reference... a series of charts on how to apply the Hardy-Cross method of moment distribution to various structures.... That connects me to the history of pre-computer engineering in a way that I can actually understand and explain to others.

 

[hokie66]

Josh,

That's an acceptable substitute.

 

[msquared48]

I just had to replace the batteries in my slide rule last week.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

 

[vc66]

I'm DEFINITELY too young to have used a slide rule, but I found one in the attic of my new house.

Decided I'm going to try and use it as much as I can. Forces you to estimate well.

So far it's been awesome.

It's a little tedious, but man does it keep your mind working.

V

 

[Hoxton]

olfieldguy: see

http://www.hpmuseum.org/srcyl.htm

for cylindrical slide rules (or google)