Slide rules collection at MIT - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: reagle
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 21, 2012, 09:06:02 pm
content: A few pictures from MIT museum of the slide rules collection I've stumbled on. Quite a set there!Apologies for reflections- they were all behind glass and no polarizer in sight!

author: digsys
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 22, 2012, 12:44:40 am
content: Ahhhhh memories.I remember when slide rules were allowed to replace log books at school. It was the BEST day ever !! Sooooo cool.Then affordable calculators came out and THAT was the BEST day ever. We weren't allowed to use them in exams though.Probably somewhere out there is a guy who thinks the day they replaced his valve abacus with log books was the BEST day ever :-)

author: VonKlitzing
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 22, 2012, 12:51:08 am
content: I've never used a slide rule in my life, in fact I've never even seen one in real life. Makes me think I'm missing out on some lost art or something

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2012, 05:36:33 am
content: I was using a programmable calculator, and it was allowed because it was a Casio FX 602P, with no reset button on the back.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2012, 09:57:48 pm
content: My dad had a slide rule (he is not an engineer though) but I have never used one before.

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2012, 10:20:03 pm
content: I was taught how to use a slide rule at school when I was 14 and had to own one as necessary equipment. The maths teacher had a giant 6 ft slide rule at the front of the class for demonstration purposes.I think we were the last class to go through that ritual. It was right at the dawn of the pocket calculator age when Casio and Commodore and Sinclair had started making them cheap enough for high school students to own.I am sad I don't still own my first electronic calculator, theCasio FX-19. It would be a fantastic item for a tear down. Rarely since would one hope see such rock solid build quality in a low cost consumer device. The look and feel and handling could be compared to the likes of Leica or Hasselblad. Simply experiencing the silky feel as you pressed the buttons would send a shiver down your spine.No, slide rules were fun, but not nearly as fun as later technology...

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2012, 11:24:04 pm
content: I still have my old slide rule. While I like the Dr. Strangelove look, using one also meant the era of having to work with log-trig tables too, now that I don't miss.

author: reagle
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 22, 2012, 11:32:07 pm
content: I know my dad did all his coursework on one. We've had it at home, and I remember playing with it but never using for intended purpose

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2012, 11:35:29 pm
content: Quote from: reagle on September 22, 2012, 11:32:07 pmI seem to remember that with creative use of a rubber band the center slide could be shot out like an arrow

author: DrGeoff
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2012, 12:21:19 am
content: Have still got my K+E Polyphase Slide Rule, with box, instruction manual and leather pouch (1944), handed down to me by my grandfather. Real piece of engineering equipment there.

author: MikeK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2012, 02:34:54 am
content: The observatory near me has this beauty:

author: Lightages
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 26, 2012, 11:04:48 pm
content: I started collecting slide rules a way back. I now have 53 or so. I will post some pictures later if anyone is interested. There are a coupe made specifically for electronics.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 26, 2012, 11:13:21 pm
content: Quote from: Lightages on September 26, 2012, 11:04:48 pmSure!Send away

author: notsob
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2012, 12:04:22 am
content: Do you have any instruction manuals, I have a Faber-Castell 1/54 Darmstadt, but no manual. Used it in High School before electronic calculators were available.The teacher had a giant one, as a teaching aid, mounted on the wall (it was almost 2m long), now that would have been a collectable item.

author: ciccio
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2012, 09:25:53 am
content: I still own my slide rule, an Aristo Studio Log bought in 1966..In those times, we were introduced to it by our physics teacher, and we exercised in what we called "Big Hunt": trying to get a rough solution without the rule, then use it for an accurate result.In fact, the results were enough accurate for all electronic work, assuming that the order of magnitude was correct (the rule was not giving the full result, we had to calculate the decimal position by ourselves..).Best regards