How to Use a Slide Rule

[Dibbons]

When I was in grade school back in the '60's my Uncle Jack (real estate broker) tried to show me how to use his slide rule. I was totally lost that day and no one since then ever brought me up to speed. This video shows just a couple of very basic math skills one can perform.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

When I was in grade school back in the '60's my Uncle Jack (real estate broker) tried to show me how to use his slide rule. I was totally lost that day and no one since then ever brought me up to speed. This video shows just a couple of very basic math skills one can perform.

I should watch and learn... But my phone has a calculator....
I have a really nice professional model slide rule from a talented engineer that worked on the Blackbird project back in the fifties... He passed away over thirty years ago...

 

[dadsbee]

I still have a straight and a circular around here somewhere....

 

[eldubb440]

I have one in a drawer somewhere......I should go find it now that I know how it works

 

[kiwigtx]

Does anyone still use the Log Tables booklets .... sine and cosine of angles etc.???

I hated that at school. I think I have a slide rule somewhere in a drawer full of dust.

 

[Runcharger]

I loved the slide rule, it was almost instantaneous. Of course now I can't remember how to use one. But I do remember they were fast and cool.

 

[Photon440]

Does anyone still use the Log Tables booklets .... sine and cosine of angles etc.???

I hated that at school. I think I have a slide rule somewhere in a drawer full of dust.

I had to use Smoley's log tables in steel fab school, never opened one since then.

 

[68gtxman]

I just missed the slide rule age. But I did learn to use an E6B!

 

[68BabyBlue]

I used one for advanced placement chemistry my sophomore year in high school. When I got a C in the course, I figured I was going to be a truck driver, rather than the doctor my mother wanted.

 

[mrhemi]

"How to Use a Slide Rule"​

How about a non dial vernier caliper?

 

[AR67GTX]

I have my old slide rules from my Engineering school days in my back room. One of them might be my Dads. I was never great on them - the decimal point location on calculation results was always a bit challenging. I was glad when I finally bought a Bowmar Brain in my senior year as hand held calculators started becoming more accessible. I couldn’t quite swing the HP models that were coming out at the time and their reverse entry logic would probably have baffled my brain anyway.

I remember when I went over to the study hall my last semester to take what was called the EIT (Engineer in Training) 8 hour exam back then, which was probably one of the first sessions where nearly everyone brought a calculator and a charging unit with them. They ran extension cords back and forth across the room to provide enough outlets for everyone to plug their chargers into. It looked like a gigantic spider web spread across the whole big room about 7’ high above our heads.