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sheepherder · 03-27-2011, 08:49 AM

...I know; you young guys are thinking "What???"...

But the older more technical guys are thinking "Wow!!!"...

A little history...Back before computers or pocket calculators, there was...The Slide Rule...

Some sources say they were introduced in the 17th century, but I seem to recall being told that ancient Egyptians used them as well...

In any case, when I entered technical college in 1967, slide rules were required...The best on the market was the Keuffel & Esser brand...There were dozens of different functions and many tech-specific styles & sizes...I couldn't afford a K&E (or even a 12" rule"), so I had to make do with a 6" Japanese plastic rule...

I spent two years there, then most of a year as a machinist, two more years in the military, then in 1972 back to college...Texas Instruments had introduced a pocket calculator during that period, but they were expensive, so my second college had banned their use...Slide Rules only...I stepped up to a 12" plastic Japanese rule...

The years went by, I got into computers, got away from engineering (they wouldn't let me *do* anything!), and one day, while browsing eBay, saw someone had an old broken slide rule for sale...(Not a K&E)...I decided to hunt down an old K&E (which I had lusted after ever since reading one of Heinlein's heroes using one) and found the exact one I would have bought if I wasn't born poor...

A little bit of nostalgia...Atomic bombs were designed with these...Propeller driven fighter aircraft...Lighter than air ships...Battleships...Skyscrapers...Automobiles...Pretty much every technical item prior to 1970 or thereabouts...

IIRC, a K&E Log Log Duplex Decitrig went for ~$400 new...It was the Cadillac of slide rules...The one below cost me a tenth of that...

03-27-2011, 08:49 AM	#1
sheepherder Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: ...on the 'ol Erie Canal... Posts: 8,197 Thanks: 1,416 Thanked 4,462 Times in 2,336 Posts	Keuffel & Esser Log Log Duplex Decitrig ...I know; you young guys are thinking "What???"... But the older more technical guys are thinking "Wow!!!"... A little history...Back before computers or pocket calculators, there was...The Slide Rule... Some sources say they were introduced in the 17th century, but I seem to recall being told that ancient Egyptians used them as well... In any case, when I entered technical college in 1967, slide rules were required...The best on the market was the Keuffel & Esser brand...There were dozens of different functions and many tech-specific styles & sizes...I couldn't afford a K&E (or even a 12" rule"), so I had to make do with a 6" Japanese plastic rule... I spent two years there, then most of a year as a machinist, two more years in the military, then in 1972 back to college...Texas Instruments had introduced a pocket calculator during that period, but they were expensive, so my second college had banned their use...Slide Rules only...I stepped up to a 12" plastic Japanese rule... The years went by, I got into computers, got away from engineering (they wouldn't let me do anything!), and one day, while browsing eBay, saw someone had an old broken slide rule for sale...(Not a K&E)...I decided to hunt down an old K&E (which I had lusted after ever since reading one of Heinlein's heroes using one) and found the exact one I would have bought if I wasn't born poor... A little bit of nostalgia...Atomic bombs were designed with these...Propeller driven fighter aircraft...Lighter than air ships...Battleships...Skyscrapers...Automobiles...Pretty much every technical item prior to 1970 or thereabouts... IIRC, a K&E Log Log Duplex Decitrig went for ~$400 new...It was the Cadillac of slide rules...The one below cost me a tenth of that... Attached Thumbnails __________________ I like my coffee the way I like my women... ...Cold and bitter...