[TheForge] Slide rules (was: Excessive scaling?)

[rsmuck]

Do any of you remember the rotary calculators, I knew some surveyors who 
used them. They were also called coffee grinders, were basically a round cyl 
1 1/2 or 2" in diameter about 3" long you dialed in a number on the case 
then turned a handle on the end the number of times that you needed to 
multiply.
Rowland of Roseburg, OR 97470
I love The Science Channel
My Hero's are Burt Rutan & Paul McCready
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bruce Freeman" <FREEMAB at pt.fdah.com>
To: <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 6:52 AM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Slide rules (was: Excessive scaling?)


> Yeah, we had to deal with the significant figures issue as well back
> then.  It didn't crop up in the slide rule era because you usually can't
> get more than three sig. figs. from a slide rule (though a friend had a
> circular slide rule with a spiral scale that was much more precise
> because the scale was effectively several feet long!).  Fortunately, the
> rules for sig. figs. were pretty easy, so even most of the calculator
> yahoos could deal with them.
>
> Bruce
> NJ
>
>>>> sos at alum.mit.edu 12/13/2006 9:34 PM >>>
> After the first problem set was graded in my freshman physics class,
> the
> prof leaned on his desk and said "A word about significant digits...".
> He was interrupted by a front row nerd, who said "Well, if you spent
> $395 for the thing (i.e. HP35 in 1973), the tendancy is, to write down
>
> all the numbers!".
>
> This was not considered an adequate defense.
>
> Steve
>
> Washington, Aubrey O. wrote:
>> Bruce,
>> I was a chemistry major for my first couple of years in college.  The
> rich kids had Texas Instruments SR10 calculators, which I think cost
> about $110 at the time.  About the only thing the SR10 would do that a
> slide rule wouldn't (aside from 8 places) was add and subtract.  So I
> just stuck with the slide rule.  That was no problem with chemistry, but
> it put me at a disadvantage in physics where they got real anal about
> large and small numbers.  The physics department had a whole room filled
> with Wang calculators that worked off the mainframe computer.  I had to
> use the Wangs for calculations I couldn't do on the slide rule.
>>
>> When I was in high school, my chemistry teacher had an 8-foot long
> slide rule handing on the wall above the blackboard.  He called it his
> surfboard and used it daily to demonstrate calculations for the class.
> I wish I had one of those, just for grins.  I've seen a few at antique
> stores over the years.
>>
>> Aubrey
>>
>> ________________________________
>>
>> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net on behalf of Bruce Freeman
>> Sent: Tue 12/12/2006 7:42 AM
>> To: theforge at mailman.qth.net
>> Subject: [TheForge] Slide rules (was: Excessive scaling?)
>>
>>
>>
>> I was a graduate student and  teaching assistant in Chem 101 when
>> calculators were just "replacing" slide rules.  (When I was in
> college,
>> I couldn't AFFORD a calculator!  I used a slide rule throughout.)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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