The Brier Patch - Slide Rule

02.26.05

Slide Rule

In 1614, John Napier discovered the logarithm, which made it possible to perform multiplications and divisions by addition and subtraction. (ie: a*b = 10^(log(a)+log(b)) and a/b = 10^(log(a)-log(b)).)

And so it began:

When I was a young boy, at about the time my father was teaching me to play Chess, I took up the Slide Rule. I was curious as to what my father was doing with this strange looking instrument, and I was determined to learn to play it, and I did. Before calculators were invented, and I could afford one, I used my slide rule every day of my life.

When my father died, I inherited his, and every time I slide it out of the case, it brings back fond memories.

I’ve been dated by technology.

Posted: 10:44
Category: Technology
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Comments

Thanks for sharing this--very touching story...and ya know what? I always wished I had learned to use a slide rule...er, um...but in my case it was 'cause I saw that Eggheaded nephew of Foghorn Leghorn use it to make paper airplanes fly like jet fighters and shoot bullets.

Am I dating myself now as well?

--Will

Posted by: WillyShake at February 26, 2005 04:13 PM

Wish I hadn't thrown out my old Coast Guard Academy slide rule. Those things fetch bitching bucks on ebay now. Embossed holster, shit.

Posted by: Velociman at February 26, 2005 07:08 PM

I brought my slide rule here to France with me. I took it to work one day to show a 27 year old programmer who is working on some modeling software how we used to do math.

Weird... He had never heard of one. If course, this IS France.

Weirder... I still have my slide rule and brought it to France with me.

Posted by: Jack at February 27, 2005 02:01 AM

I learned to use a sliderule. That's about the same time that I learned that I hated math.

Nobody even teaches how to use one in school today, because calculators do all that work for you. A sliderule today is as obsolete as a buggy whip.

And I think that's sad.

Posted by: Acidman at February 28, 2005 12:02 PM

I learned to use a slide rule from a particularly good high school teacher. I used it while I was in the Armor School to whiz through the calculations needed to classify bridges by their weight-bearing ability. I'd finish problems ten minutes ahead of the others, and it gained me a reputation as a smart-a**. Which was not a BAD thing...

Posted by: mostly cajun at February 28, 2005 09:08 PM