Pickett N515-T Duplex Slide Rule for Electronics
date: label: date made
content: ca 1964
name: label: maker
content: Pickett & Eckel, Incorporated
notes: label: Description
content: This ten-inch white aluminum linear slide rule has a nylon cursor. (The N in the model number is for "nylon," and the T denotes the rule's "traditional" white color.) The rule is held together with stamped aluminum contoured posts. The front of the base has (Lr) H, (fx)2Π, A, D, L, and Ln scales. The front of the slide has (Cr) B, S, T, CI, and C scales. The left end of the slide is marked (facing vertically): ELECTRONIC (/) MODEL N-515-T. A gray Pickett logo in the style used between 1958 and 1962 is at the right end. The number 349 is printed above the logo.
label: Description
content: The back of the rule contains various formulae relating to electronics, such as temperature conversion, Ohm's Law for AC and DC circuits, parallel resistance, coupled inductance, and efficiency. Short (approximately 2.5 inches) scales on the slide are used with the reactance and resonance decimal point located at the left end of the rule. A logo at the right end of the slide has an i superimposed on a C, superimposed on a book, superimposed on an atom. The number 340 is to the right of the logo and above a registered trademark symbol.
label: Description
content: There is a red-orange leather case lined in gray plastic. A faded Pickett logo in the style used between 1958 and 1962 is below the slot for the flap. The front of the case is also stamped: CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ELECTRONICS and has a yellow label marked: URIE. The back of the case has a metal ring, leather strap, and metal clasp for attaching to a belt.
label: Description
content: The lower right corner of the back of the rule is marked: CLEVELAND INSTITUTE (/) OF ELECTRONICS (/) CLEVELAND, OHIO 44114 (/) PATENT NO. 3,120,342 (/) MADE IN U.S.A. The Cleveland Institute of Electronics worked with Pickett & Eckel, Inc., to develop this slide rule. In 1958, Darrell L. Geiger, an instructor at the Cleveland Institute, applied for a patent for a slide rule useful in calculations relating to electronics. Patent 3,120,342 was granted in 1964 and incorporated into the Pickett Model N-515 slide rule. Since the logo on the instrument was only used until 1962, it seems likely that this rule was made soon after the patent was issued.
label: Description
content: Geiger wrote about a dozen instructional booklets on electronics and elementary mathematics in the 1950s and 1960s. The Cleveland Institute, a distance education institution, utilized programmed learning in the 1950s.
label: Description
content: References: Darrell L. Geiger, "Slide Rule" (U.S. Patent 3,120,342 issued February 4, 1964); Darrell L. Geiger, <i>Electronics and Your Slide Rule</i> (Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Institute of Electronics, 1962); Rodger Shepherd, "Pickett Metal Slide Rules," <i>Journal of the Oughtred Society</i> 1, no. 1 (1992): 5–8; Brian Borchers, "Five Pickett Electronics Slide Rules," <i>Journal of the Oughtred Society</i> 11, no. 2 (2002): 4–7; Cleveland Institute of Electronics, "New . . . Electronics Slide Rule with Four-Lesson Auto-Programmed Instruction Course," (Cleveland, Ohio, [1969]), http://sliderulemuseum.com/Pickett/Pickett_N515-T_Electronic_CIE_Pamphlet.pdf.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: California, Santa Barbara
topic: label: Subject
content: Rule, Calculating
label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Engineering, Electrical
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Slide Rules
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of James R. Lee
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1990.0154.01
label: accession number
content: 1990.0154
label: catalog number
content: 1990.0154.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: slide rule
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (cursor material)
label: Physical Description
content: aluminum (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: leather (case material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3.5 cm x 33.5 cm x 7.3 cm; 1 3/8 in x 13 3/16 in x 2 7/8 in