On 2014-05-01, Larry Hudson wrote: > On 05/01/2014 05:56 AM, Roy Smith wrote:
>> For those who have no idea what we're talking about, take a look at >> http://www.ted.com/talks/clifford_stoll_on_everything. If you just want >> to see what you do with a slide rule, fast forward to 14:20, but you >> really owe it to yourself to invest the 18 minutes to watch the whole >> thing. >> > > Anyone (besides me) ever seen a cylindrical slide rule? I have one -- > unfortunately misplaced > at the moment. :-( > > The scales were helical around a cylinder giving (it was claimed) to be the > equivalent of a > five-foot rule. But that still only gave one additional significant digit. > Only two scales, > however, which limited its use to multiply/divide and logs. But interesting. I have a "circular" (really spiral) slide rule that I inherited from my grandfather. http://www.ducksburg.com/atlas_slide_rule/ One of my uncles told me that he took it (or a similar model) to university (ca. 1960, I guess) & got an F on a calculus test because his answers were too accurate & precise to be honest. He went to the professor's office, showed him the circular slide rule, & got an A. -- To live without killing is a thought which could electrify the world, if men were only capable of staying awake long enough to let the idea soak in. --- Henry Miller -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
