I have a copy of Hidden Figures. It ranks as one of my all-time favorites.
Masterfully written and acted.
Masterfully written and acted.
Still love your old slide rule? This guy was obsessed
- Thread starter oldbrownhat
- Start date
Which is why my biology/genetics prof. gf despairs at her students' inability to do "simple math." (One claimed that the square root of 3 was 9)
We all have calculators on our phones, but it's easy to make an error in entering data, and if you don't have some idea what the answer should be, you likely won't see a potential error.
Wasn't there an acronym back in the early days of computer programming: GIGO, ie Garbage In, Garbage Out?
If I only remember 1 figure for the rest of my life, it will be 43,560, which is the number of square feet in an acre. It is definitely seared in my memory for all time.
From the movie.
Another brilliant movie about slide rule math is "A Beautiful Mind".
Walter Rego
Member
Here's mine, a K&E 4081-3, made from 1939 to 1948. Dad used it as an Army electronics technician during WW 2. I used it extensively during my high school geometry and trigonometry classes and during my early college years 60+ years ago. Today, it's all Greek to me.
I have an identical one that my dad used as a mechanical engineering student just after the war on the G.I. Bill. I have no idea how to use it and no one in my family wants it. But it resides with me as a reminder of how things used to be.
THE PILGRIM
Member
A while back I was taking Real Estate Class.
We were doing a fair amount of math problems, loans, sq ft, etc.
This one lady just could not get correct answers and she asked me for help.
So I walked her through a problem. Wrong Answer!
What? Let me see that calculator!
Her device was computing wrong answers!
I tell her, throw this piece of **** away!
She replies, it's my Husband's !
Ok. Then give it back to him and go buy a new one!
We were doing a fair amount of math problems, loans, sq ft, etc.
This one lady just could not get correct answers and she asked me for help.
So I walked her through a problem. Wrong Answer!
What? Let me see that calculator!
Her device was computing wrong answers!
I tell her, throw this piece of **** away!
She replies, it's my Husband's !
Ok. Then give it back to him and go buy a new one!
I have one slide rule that causes either consternation or what the h..l is that. The Otis King cylindrical slide rule saw me through the UK's O and A level exams, plus university chemistry and physics examinations and I used it to teach grad students in the US. It is the equivalent of a 60 inch slide rule and is a cylinder roughly 7 inches long. Dave_n
Dad referred to it as his cipherin' stick.
venomballistics
Member
I still have my E6-B
ggibson511960
Member
Keuffel & Esser Log-Log Duplex Decitrig
My Father handed down an identical K&E to me. He had it in business school and I used it to get two degrees in mechanical engineering. It's a Keuffel & Esser Log-Log Duplex Deci Trig. I could reliably read mine to three significant figures, easily accurate enough when input data was only accurate to three significant figures. Nowadays kids push out results with silly numbers of digits to the right of the decimal point, clueless that they reveal their ignorance.
My Dad's K&E had the fancy leather case with carrying loop. I foolishly lost it. Decades later I replaced it with one from Ebay. This model K&E was the Cadillac of slipsticks, made of mahogany with a laminated plastic wear strip under the reticle spring. I learned to take care of the instrument with careful alignment and indexing of the reticle.
I never felt disadvantaged with a slide rule. Calculation problems were orderly with mathematical work reduced to scientific notation, easily handled on a slide rule. It taught orderly thinking. Digital calculators made it way to easy to simply start dancing on the keyboard and spit out an answer without any feel for the reasonableness of result.
My Father handed down an identical K&E to me. He had it in business school and I used it to get two degrees in mechanical engineering. It's a Keuffel & Esser Log-Log Duplex Deci Trig. I could reliably read mine to three significant figures, easily accurate enough when input data was only accurate to three significant figures. Nowadays kids push out results with silly numbers of digits to the right of the decimal point, clueless that they reveal their ignorance.
My Dad's K&E had the fancy leather case with carrying loop. I foolishly lost it. Decades later I replaced it with one from Ebay. This model K&E was the Cadillac of slipsticks, made of mahogany with a laminated plastic wear strip under the reticle spring. I learned to take care of the instrument with careful alignment and indexing of the reticle.
I never felt disadvantaged with a slide rule. Calculation problems were orderly with mathematical work reduced to scientific notation, easily handled on a slide rule. It taught orderly thinking. Digital calculators made it way to easy to simply start dancing on the keyboard and spit out an answer without any feel for the reasonableness of result.
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DWalt
Member
When I was in college, I was among the first generation to take some computer programming coursework. As primitive as computers were then (no one was even thinking about personal computers), it was obvious that slide rules were soon headed for the garbage can.
DWalt
Member
I once saw one of those, never tried using it. There were some mechanical calculators made in the 1950s-60s that would perform the four arithmetic functions with great precision, but they were very (extremely) expensive. They were made obsolete quickly after electronic calculators appeared on the scene. The first device I ever saw that could be roughly described as being a PC was in around 1968-69, called "Nova." It could be programmed to do some types of repetitive calculations and was solid state. Fairly large, but it was at least reasonably portable. I tested it on a trial basis for several months, found it too complicated to be used much, and I had no worthwhile applications for it to justify its high cost which was about $10K.
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DWalt
Member
Originally "Computers" were humans. They were people who were paid as specialists for working on mathematical problems for early engineers, scientists, accountants, insurance actuaries, etc., sort of like Scribes were professional people who wrote documents and kept records for others. Their services were particularly valuable during the times in history when most ordinary people could not read, write, or know how to perform mathematics.
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Watched Hidden Figures last night. Based on NASA's human computers. Didn't see a single slide rule or pocket calculator. Very impressive women.
My first calculation;
Yeah, and in addition, invert the photo while you're at it. I had to think about that one too much.
Abbynormal
Member
Mom was a CPA and had a TI (early 70's version)
I used it in HS and early college until I got into Broadcast Eng and
Abnormal Physiology in 1980 and had to buy a statistical calculator.
Because I sux at math, I couldn't get into Engineering school in college until they dropped the slide rule requirement. I used
calculators to pass Broadcasting Eng class and I got a 3rd Class Radio/Telephone FCC license to boot.
I went into Radio/Tv broadcasting for the next 10 years and ended in Electrical Automation, where I got my footing and had a 20 year run.
I used it in HS and early college until I got into Broadcast Eng and
Abnormal Physiology in 1980 and had to buy a statistical calculator.
Because I sux at math, I couldn't get into Engineering school in college until they dropped the slide rule requirement. I used
calculators to pass Broadcasting Eng class and I got a 3rd Class Radio/Telephone FCC license to boot.
I went into Radio/Tv broadcasting for the next 10 years and ended in Electrical Automation, where I got my footing and had a 20 year run.
DWalt
Member
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Just had to go and look at mine. Pickett N4-Y. I recall the buying process, there were some models about 4-5 inches wide. No clue who needed them. Can't recall what I paid for it.
Back in the '80s had to take a test to see if I could qualify to be a machinist out in Kali. Told to bring a calculator. Checked the batteries Sunday night and found them dead. OH ****!!!!!! Then remembered the slipstick and practiced up on it. The folks administering the tests didn't know what it was and since the rules specified "calculator", they found one for me.
Downstairs have an old Ropp's Calculator. It's a book with all sorts of calculations already done for you and set out in neat tables. Also does things modern calculators can't do like setting out approximate weights of bushels of corn, wheat etc.
Back in the '80s had to take a test to see if I could qualify to be a machinist out in Kali. Told to bring a calculator. Checked the batteries Sunday night and found them dead. OH ****!!!!!! Then remembered the slipstick and practiced up on it. The folks administering the tests didn't know what it was and since the rules specified "calculator", they found one for me.
Downstairs have an old Ropp's Calculator. It's a book with all sorts of calculations already done for you and set out in neat tables. Also does things modern calculators can't do like setting out approximate weights of bushels of corn, wheat etc.
OP
Thought: "Old slide rule lovers never die. They just slip away."
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