Sunday, June 14, 2020

I'm tempted



16 comments:

  1. Still have my Versalog in its holster with a belt loop from Georgia Tech. I never wore it on my belt.I could still multiply and divide but Loglog scales? Forget it. The coolest sliderule name I remember was for the K&E Log Log Duplex Decitrig. Has a rhythm don't it?

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    1. I still have my K&E Log Log duplex.

      I can still use it, and occasionally do

      Best part it they never break, never need batteries, never fail.

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    2. Keffel & Esler...forgive my spelling if incorrect. Used baby powder on it to keep it “running” smoothly.

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  2. I read that book in 1973. The basic concept is that adding logarithms is equivalent to multiplying numbers.

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  3. My jr high algebra class referred to Asimov's book on a regular basis in the mid 70's. Our teacher insisted we learn how to use a slide rule. A basic calculator was over $150 back then.

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  4. I had my K&E back in the 50's when I was in High School. It was a mandatory tool for all the college bound "preppies" that rivaled white bucks, crew cuts and cuffed chinos with a mini-belt in the back.

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  5. I knew how to use one as a teenager, but forgot long ago.

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  6. Still got mine from school in 1965 (and I can still use it!)

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  7. I still have mine from 1972. It's a K&E 4061 that someone has thrown out. A perfectly good tool and someone tosses it out.

    In college I couldn't afford a log calculator so I had to 'sneak up' on them the hard way. Teach disallowed slide rules, said automatic F if caught with one. He had issues but was great teach. Actually, that was my most favorite class because he was so good. But damn, what a task master.

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  8. That is a lot of money. Maybe try the internet of things first:

    https://www.sliderulemuseum.com/SR_Course.htm

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  9. I bought one in my early teens and taught myself to use it just for the
    fun of it. Once you know how to use on, they are fast and accurate.

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  10. Here in my desk drawer is my Post. Vinyl clad bamboo core; smooth and precise. I grew up on Asimov, read everything I could get by him Sci-Fi and non fiction. I still think The World of Carbon is the best, most concise, readable explanation of organic chemistry I've ever seen.

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  11. 1963- multiplication is the sum of the area under the curve.

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  12. My father, the engineer, showed me how to use one. It seemed a bit tricky at first on decimal points. His best advise was that your really had to know kind of where you were going. Calculators have freed us from that worry. Not sure if that is really a good thing.

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    1. the decimal point knowledge was really important. what i was taught was to round off all the numbers to big even numbers. as in 948 rounded off to 1000. run a quick calculation either in your head or on paper. determine approximately where the decimal point was as in 200,000.0, then use the slide rule to find out the actual answer.

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  13. I mean advice.

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