Boy this brings back memories. I had both a straight and a circular
slide rule. I was taught how to use them in High School chemistry by
Sister Bernadette. She had a six foot working model of a slide rule
hanging from the ceiling above her desk. I'd love to know what
happened to the model. It was gone from her class room the last time I
visited the school in 1999 for the "Last Dance" before destruction.
The Diocese built a new school elsewhere in the city and the old
property was sold to the College next door for a new library. During
construction, the side lawn of the school, where we ate lunch and had
pickup football games, turned out to be a Potters Field. They had to
halt construction and relocate 50 or so skeletons.
Charlie (in a nostalgic mood)
On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 10:04 AM, Ken Norton <ken@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> I may have owned a slide rule once. I could do multiplication and
>> division with it, but I only trusted it if I already knew the answer.
>> Advanced users told me that feeling never really went away.
>
> I came along in the digital calculator age, but actually learned how
> to use slide rules long before I turned 10. Slide rules have worked
> well for me because I do most of my calculations in my head, but have
> the inability to store more than just a small handful of data points
> there. The slide rule is one of those devices that lets me keep most
> of the numerical calculations within the head and it handles the rest.
> It's weird, but I get along with them because they are an analog
> representation of an analog reality.
>
> However, to Joel's point. Always confirm your calculations. Either by
> doing it a second time or through estimating.
>
> When calculating square roots or angles, I really prefer the slide
> rule because it takes the theoretical and makes it visual. It's a
> shame that I haven't used or owned a slide rule in years. My TI-35+ is
> going on 30 years old, but it still works great and sits right next to
> my computer at work. DD#2 needed a scientific calculator for a class
> at school. Her brand new TI is exactly like mine, just in a different
> case.
>
> AG
>
> --
> Ken Norton
> ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.zone-10.com
> --
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