What I like about slide rules is that (a) nobody else knows what you are doing, and (b) you have to keep track of the decimal point and all the time you have to have an idea of the result of each calculation. Great mental exercise! I have a 60-year old 6" Faber-Castell 62/82 duplex and that does everything I need, a bit harder to read than a 12" but it fits in the pocket.
Yeah, talk about 'special knowledge'. I'm a member of the math club at my university. Not a single one of them know what a slide rule is. Much less how to use one.
@@sliderulesandmathematics9232 that’s great. I am a retired EE and was the LAST freshman engineering class (BSEE ‘78 Iowa State, MSEE ‘79 Purdue) to be required to complete a slide rule course in the fall of ‘74, exactly 50 years ago. I used a post 1460, regrettably I sold it immediately after I finished the course (wish I had it today as a keepsake) and then used my HP45. I found a used 1460 on eBay in almost new condition for $50. I am enjoying learning to use it all over again! Keep up the videos, I am getting so much enjoyment from them!
Same way you get to Carnegie Hall... Practice, practice, practice. I still have my father's sliderules, a couple others, and his CRC Math Handbook, and though I did learn how to use various slapsticks, including circular, my father bought me a TI SR-10 calculator (+-*/) at the enormous price of $100 in 1973 dollars before I got really good...
traveled from suburban nj to times square nyc to purchase my ti sr-10. the square root function was a must, because I'd never been shown how to estimate that on the slide rule like Bob just showed us. The best part was the logarithm: square root 11 times, subtract 1, multiply times 889. Yup, about $100 for the privilege.
I'm using the Pickett "N-4es Log-Log Deci Trig" the most powerful slide rule in the world. All aluminum housed in a saddle leather case with belt clip. Can't tell you the pride of walking the halls of my high school impressing the ladies with my quick draw technique and my superior accuracy when asked to solve some function.
@@sliderulesandmathematics9232 So, I looked up the N3 T, and I was surprised how many different models Pickett made. Most models are now selling for around $30, with the N3 T about $60. I used mine in college in 1966 and I used it on my own to discover the "Rule of 72". I wouldn't sell mine for even $500.
Try looking up a Faber Castell 2/83 or a Fuller Calculator.... I prefer the Tan rather than Eyesaver Yellow and the set up on the N3 suits me. When I deal with electronics and hyperbolics I will prob use the N-4
@@VoteScientist Have that too, but my favorite is British Thornton AA010 for readability and just enough functions. But the leather case of pickett is great
Good memories! No doubt that before the calculator we had to learn arithmetic in a way younger people have no idea about. It’s been useful all my personal and professional life!
I love using a slide rule. I still have the Pickett N 1010-T Trig model I bought while in high school more than half a century ago. I also have an aluminum E6-B type flight computer of about the same vintage. It's a circular slide rule on one side and a wind face on the other, which lets you do vector addition.
Thank you! Longtime fan of the slide rule, bought a bunch as 'surplus' from a closing office supply store years ago and need a review/tutorial! Look forward to the new material.
Really looking forward to this! And I’ll go find your first series as well. I teach a couple of AI classes at my university using a slide rule. And one class in particular (not AI) where we consider why the engineers at Morton-Thiokol, all trained with slide rules, and very likely had better insight into the calculations and what calculations were critical, that led them to passionately try to halt the launch of Challenger.
One other aspect of slide rule era engineers. Slide rules are, by their design, only accurate to 3-5 significant digits. As a result, many designs made with slide rules are a tad more robust than they needed to be based on the calculations to account for this lack of precision. The airframe (as an example) was a little stronger than was calculated because the engineers wanted to offset any errors in the calculations.
@@sliderulesandmathematics9232 Amen. I’ve quietly looked into the lives of Roger Boisjoly and Bob Ebeling. Both trained on slide rules. When I teach the shuttle case study, it has an impact on students. I have one particular story from one semester that is profound: Michael Smith’s granddaughter was in the class.
Looking forward to this series. Currently working on self-taught physics working primarily with a slide rule for most problems. Chapter II is motion problems with acceleration, etc.
I still have my late father's K&E 68-1210 Log Log Duplex Decitrig, which is I believe the last slide rule they produced with a wood body. It's in mint condition and I've been inspired by your series to take it out and relearn how to use it more proficiently. I graduated high school in 1974 and people were just starting to make the transition from slide rules to calculators. Of course, that was understandable, but it is such an elegant instrument it was sad to see them abandoned so quickly.
Something I've always liked about the slide rule: it visually demonstrates the relationships between numbers and functions. Calculators are fine, but they are treated almost like magic, you punch in numbers and an answer appears. By showing you the magic behind the scenes, slide rules teach YOU how to work the magic in your mind! A nice length video, sir, you covered about the right amount on info, and with it being on UA-cam it's easy to come back and rewatch if you're uncertain about something covered in it.
I collected few of them last winter and yes. It has some learning curve, but something like (inverse) proportions or exponential growth or decay can be done relatively fast with some insight what happens if you change input variables. You can't do this fast on calculator, only using spreadsheets with graphs to get some visual relationships.
Really enjoyed your earlier work. This promises to be interesting. During the Helene power outage we had, I passed some time doing math problems with the slide rule. I think the lack of other distractions helped as more aspects became clear. Thanks for putting this together.
8.30-something....ish. With the slide rule I can do better. With tables, even better; however, the best would be to evolve the square roots to the precision needed. We used to do that by hand in school.
Much of Physics requires only 2sf. At school I learned how to perform mental arithmetic, including sines and cosines &c, to 2sf rapidly enough to beat slide rule users. Beyond 2sf I'd use log tables - I still have my 1960s school copy. I bought my first calculator when I was about 50!
Looking forward to this series with with new practical examples. Is it just my eyes, or are some of the slide rule close ups just slightly out of focus?
the camera has trouble focusing on pen and paper. That is one reason I went to the virtual N-3 for the slide rule rather than showing me doing it on my N-3. The pin sharpness needs to be on the slide rule rather than what I am writing.
The Summer before my Senior year in High School my classmates and I attended a special course in slide rule for those of us going on in science and engineering in college. I was fortunate enough to be accepted to one of the top universities the country-computers were unreliable then and somehow my punch card got punched just right to get a numbskull like me in. The first day of classes, my first lecture was chemistry and the professor started doing reaction rate calculations with…a calculator! We freshmen had never seen one before but we struggled to keep up with our slip-sticks. It turned out that one of those fancy calculators sold for more than a year’s tuition at that time. A year later they were $30. I didn’t need a slide rule again until after I graduated and I got a job as a field engineer. The led displays back then weren’t bright enough to see in bright sunlight, so we still used slide rules as late as the early 1980s. I’ve got my old Pickett slip-stick ready for a refresher course!
awesome. I was a freshman in high school in 1975. That was the last year slide rules were being made. I actually saw slide rules being used, but never used them myself (I did know the basics in middle school). My mom got a $300 4 function calculator in 1972. I got my first $30 calculator (which also did trig and other higher functions) in 1977. Most of my work is now with a Ti-84 Graphic Calculator ($75) for the advanced functions like stats and matrix math. But I still carry and use the slip stick. For certain operations, it is faster than punching it into a calculator- especially with the table functions.
My father was a mechanical engineer, graduating from U of M in 1959. I asked him about this and he told me he had no formal training in slide rules. You bought a junior or senior student a coffee and he showed you the basics you needed to know. Taking a course must have been very helpful. Personally, I think the slide rule is an excellent way to get a 'feel' for math and see how numbers relate to each other. It is a great teaching aid, to the point I own a 7 foot Pickett demonstration rule for my classroom when I finish my training.
A a child my school problems were related to Dyslexic Dysgraphia. What that means is I lose thoughts between my brain and my writing hand. Since everything in school was written, I knew stuff but that translate to grades. As an adult, I have coping skills to deal with this condition. Now, I am an FCC Licensed Amateur Radio operator, constantly using math. Math is used to calculate antenna dimensions or attenuation in feed line (both coax and open wire), Also, having not done well in Trigonometry, I must calculate antenna mast height in relation to antenna radiating elements. which is mostly Pythagoras. We are losing the Old School Hams who used these devices and newer Hams have to rely on calculators, phones, or computers or web sites to do these calculations. In such a case as we have recently seen in the South East United States, power is not available to do these calculations electronically. I think every HAM, every Prepper, everyone who participates in Emergency or Disaster response should own these and know how to use them effectively.
Please take the time to learn how to use it. There are many printable instructions that will teach you how. I had one from my father-in-law, sitting in my desk drawer for 25 years. Nine months ago, I took it out and started practicing. It gives me a whole new perspective on math. And, above all, it's pretty fun. Give it a try.
Always found them fascinating, but before my time. Ironically, approximated computation, often based on logarithms, are starting to become relevant for AI due to the smaller circuits and lower power consumption. History does not repeat, but it rhymes.
Why screw around like that? D & A are already set up in a square/sqr relationship already. (D & K are in a cube/cube root relationship). Also all three (at least on my SR) are on the frame.
because I am setting up for the next video, and it is a good thing to know. I'm showing the relationships between scales, which was the topic of this video. I'm not converting, I'm comparing the results on two scales at the same time.
What I like about slide rules is that (a) nobody else knows what you are doing, and (b) you have to keep track of the decimal point and all the time you have to have an idea of the result of each calculation. Great mental exercise! I have a 60-year old 6" Faber-Castell 62/82 duplex and that does everything I need, a bit harder to read than a 12" but it fits in the pocket.
Yeah, talk about 'special knowledge'. I'm a member of the math club at my university. Not a single one of them know what a slide rule is. Much less how to use one.
@@sliderulesandmathematics9232incredible! Do they have any curiosity to learn to use one?
@@ronm6359 absolutely they do, they asked me to do a presentation. The last slide rules were made 25 years before most of them were born.
@@sliderulesandmathematics9232 that’s great. I am a retired EE and was the LAST freshman engineering class (BSEE ‘78 Iowa State, MSEE ‘79 Purdue) to be required to complete a slide rule course in the fall of ‘74, exactly 50 years ago. I used a post 1460, regrettably I sold it immediately after I finished the course (wish I had it today as a keepsake) and then used my HP45.
I found a used 1460 on eBay in almost new condition for $50. I am enjoying learning to use it all over again! Keep up the videos, I am getting so much enjoyment from them!
I too have a six-inch Faber Castell that my Dad gave me when I was 9 (56 years ago) and another with its own leather belt holster - really cool!
Same way you get to Carnegie Hall... Practice, practice, practice.
I still have my father's sliderules, a couple others, and his CRC Math Handbook, and though I did learn how to use various slapsticks, including circular, my father bought me a TI SR-10 calculator (+-*/) at the enormous price of $100 in 1973 dollars before I got really good...
traveled from suburban nj to times square nyc to purchase my ti sr-10. the square root function was a must, because I'd never been shown how to estimate that on the slide rule like Bob just showed us. The best part was the logarithm: square root 11 times, subtract 1, multiply times 889. Yup, about $100 for the privilege.
I'm using the Pickett "N-4es Log-Log Deci Trig" the most powerful slide rule in the world. All aluminum housed in a saddle leather case with belt clip. Can't tell you the pride of walking the halls of my high school impressing the ladies with my quick draw technique and my superior accuracy when asked to solve some function.
Math proficiency does come up a lot at parties
I have a number obviously, but 'MY' slide rules are the Pickett N3 T and the Aristo Studio 0968
@@sliderulesandmathematics9232 So, I looked up the N3 T, and I was surprised how many different models Pickett made. Most models are now selling for around $30, with the N3 T about $60. I used mine in college in 1966 and I used it on my own to discover the "Rule of 72". I wouldn't sell mine for even $500.
Try looking up a Faber Castell 2/83 or a Fuller Calculator....
I prefer the Tan rather than Eyesaver Yellow and the set up on the N3 suits me. When I deal with electronics and hyperbolics I will prob use the N-4
@@VoteScientist Have that too, but my favorite is British Thornton AA010 for readability and just enough functions. But the leather case of pickett is great
Sir Clive Sinclair used to use his slide rule for currency conversion when he was on holiday abroad.
Good memories! No doubt that before the calculator we had to learn arithmetic in a way younger people have no idea about. It’s been useful all my personal and professional life!
Absolutely
As my high school chemistry teacher used to say "time to dust off the old quadratic". Can't wait to see it.
I'll make it tomorrow, along with some physics videos for the first of the week.
Really neat trick for getting square roots with CI and D. I've been practicing it on my Decilon. Thanks for sharing!
The CI scale is my favorite! I use it all the time!
I love using a slide rule. I still have the Pickett N 1010-T Trig model I bought while in high school more than half a century ago. I also have an aluminum E6-B type flight computer of about the same vintage. It's a circular slide rule on one side and a wind face on the other, which lets you do vector addition.
Loved your previous series. Looking forward to this series.
Thanks this will be fun. Going for practical use including solving quadratic equations.
Thank you! Longtime fan of the slide rule, bought a bunch as 'surplus' from a closing office supply store years ago and need a review/tutorial! Look forward to the new material.
Thanks! Be sure to check out the original series.
Still got mine, and no battery problems!
teach folks how to use it so the knowledge is not lost
Really looking forward to this! And I’ll go find your first series as well. I teach a couple of AI classes at my university using a slide rule. And one class in particular (not AI) where we consider why the engineers at Morton-Thiokol, all trained with slide rules, and very likely had better insight into the calculations and what calculations were critical, that led them to passionately try to halt the launch of Challenger.
There is always the quiet, hairy eared engineer that has no computer on his desk- best to listen if he speaks.
One other aspect of slide rule era engineers. Slide rules are, by their design, only accurate to 3-5 significant digits. As a result, many designs made with slide rules are a tad more robust than they needed to be based on the calculations to account for this lack of precision. The airframe (as an example) was a little stronger than was calculated because the engineers wanted to offset any errors in the calculations.
@@sliderulesandmathematics9232 Amen. I’ve quietly looked into the lives of Roger Boisjoly and Bob Ebeling. Both trained on slide rules. When I teach the shuttle case study, it has an impact on students. I have one particular story from one semester that is profound: Michael Smith’s granddaughter was in the class.
man
Looking forward to this series. Currently working on self-taught physics working primarily with a slide rule for most problems. Chapter II is motion problems with acceleration, etc.
I'm actually doing several videos on motion this week from University Physics 1
I still have my late father's K&E 68-1210 Log Log Duplex Decitrig, which is I believe the last slide rule they produced with a wood body. It's in mint condition and I've been inspired by your series to take it out and relearn how to use it more proficiently. I graduated high school in 1974 and people were just starting to make the transition from slide rules to calculators. Of course, that was understandable, but it is such an elegant instrument it was sad to see them abandoned so quickly.
Slide rules require finesse. I have my father’s and grandfather’s rules
Something I've always liked about the slide rule: it visually demonstrates the relationships between numbers and functions. Calculators are fine, but they are treated almost like magic, you punch in numbers and an answer appears. By showing you the magic behind the scenes, slide rules teach YOU how to work the magic in your mind!
A nice length video, sir, you covered about the right amount on info, and with it being on UA-cam it's easy to come back and rewatch if you're uncertain about something covered in it.
thank you Bob
I collected few of them last winter and yes. It has some learning curve, but something like (inverse) proportions or exponential growth or decay can be done relatively fast with some insight what happens if you change input variables. You can't do this fast on calculator, only using spreadsheets with graphs to get some visual relationships.
Awesome indeed.
Really enjoyed your earlier work. This promises to be interesting. During the Helene power outage we had, I passed some time doing math problems with the slide rule. I think the lack of other distractions helped as more aspects became clear. Thanks for putting this together.
I still have a Pickett N-500-ES Hi-Log Log Duplex. It's still is perfect condition, and I've used it to quickly check some math from time to time.
I like my 500 as well
I use (x-90),(x-180) with cos-1 c/b , a/b=angles sometimes use. +90, brg=+180 too. John.
Thanks for this. Props 4 this chanel. Its a real gem
Thank you, spread it around and the next one on the quadratic formula on the slide rule
@@sliderulesandmathematics9232 i will, for sure!!
A fountain pen is a great selection for this video.
*_Q :_* what's the square root of 69?
*_A :_* 8-something
8.30-something....ish. With the slide rule I can do better. With tables, even better; however, the best would be to evolve the square roots to the precision needed. We used to do that by hand in school.
it was a joke...lol
@@sliderulesandmathematics9232 touché mon frère. 😃
Much of Physics requires only 2sf. At school I learned how to perform mental arithmetic, including sines and cosines &c, to 2sf rapidly enough to beat slide rule users. Beyond 2sf I'd use log tables - I still have my 1960s school copy. I bought my first calculator when I was about 50!
I am now using two slide rules to solve real problems. The problems are from a 1962 comhbined Statics and Dynamics textbook.
Still have my trusty Post Versalog from engineering school in 1953 - Have never had to replace batteries.
you do have to worry about overheating during exams though...lol
Looking forward to this series with with new practical examples.
Is it just my eyes, or are some of the slide rule close ups just slightly out of focus?
the camera has trouble focusing on pen and paper. That is one reason I went to the virtual N-3 for the slide rule rather than showing me doing it on my N-3. The pin sharpness needs to be on the slide rule rather than what I am writing.
The Summer before my Senior year in High School my classmates and I attended a special course in slide rule for those of us going on in science and engineering in college. I was fortunate enough to be accepted to one of the top universities the country-computers were unreliable then and somehow my punch card got punched just right to get a numbskull like me in. The first day of classes, my first lecture was chemistry and the professor started doing reaction rate calculations with…a calculator! We freshmen had never seen one before but we struggled to keep up with our slip-sticks. It turned out that one of those fancy calculators sold for more than a year’s tuition at that time.
A year later they were $30. I didn’t need a slide rule again until after I graduated and I got a job as a field engineer. The led displays back then weren’t bright enough to see in bright sunlight, so we still used slide rules as late as the early 1980s.
I’ve got my old Pickett slip-stick ready for a refresher course!
awesome. I was a freshman in high school in 1975. That was the last year slide rules were being made. I actually saw slide rules being used, but never used them myself (I did know the basics in middle school).
My mom got a $300 4 function calculator in 1972. I got my first $30 calculator (which also did trig and other higher functions) in 1977. Most of my work is now with a Ti-84 Graphic Calculator ($75) for the advanced functions like stats and matrix math. But I still carry and use the slip stick. For certain operations, it is faster than punching it into a calculator- especially with the table functions.
My father was a mechanical engineer, graduating from U of M in 1959. I asked him about this and he told me he had no formal training in slide rules. You bought a junior or senior student a coffee and he showed you the basics you needed to know. Taking a course must have been very helpful.
Personally, I think the slide rule is an excellent way to get a 'feel' for math and see how numbers relate to each other. It is a great teaching aid, to the point I own a 7 foot Pickett demonstration rule for my classroom when I finish my training.
A a child my school problems were related to Dyslexic Dysgraphia. What that means is I lose thoughts between my brain and my writing hand. Since everything in school was written, I knew stuff but that translate to grades.
As an adult, I have coping skills to deal with this condition. Now, I am an FCC Licensed Amateur Radio operator, constantly using math. Math is used to calculate antenna dimensions or attenuation in feed line (both coax and open wire), Also, having not done well in Trigonometry, I must calculate antenna mast height in relation to antenna radiating elements. which is mostly Pythagoras.
We are losing the Old School Hams who used these devices and newer Hams have to rely on calculators, phones, or computers or web sites to do these calculations. In such a case as we have recently seen in the South East United States, power is not available to do these calculations electronically.
I think every HAM, every Prepper, everyone who participates in Emergency or Disaster response should own these and know how to use them effectively.
I absolutely agree. 73 from a fellow General going for Extra.
Great! 🥳🥳🥳
Hmmm. As an ex engineer who never learned how to use a slide rule that I have in my desk, I’m still lost! I’d better start with the basics.
The original series would be fun I think
Please take the time to learn how to use it. There are many printable instructions that will teach you how. I had one from my father-in-law, sitting in my desk drawer for 25 years. Nine months ago, I took it out and started practicing. It gives me a whole new perspective on math. And, above all, it's pretty fun. Give it a try.
@@kurtdietrich4770 it is, isn't it?
Always found them fascinating, but before my time.
Ironically, approximated computation, often based on logarithms, are starting to become relevant for AI due to the smaller circuits and lower power consumption.
History does not repeat, but it rhymes.
That is interesting
Why screw around like that? D & A are already set up in a square/sqr relationship already. (D & K are in a cube/cube root relationship). Also all three (at least on my SR) are on the frame.
because I am setting up for the next video, and it is a good thing to know. I'm showing the relationships between scales, which was the topic of this video. I'm not converting, I'm comparing the results on two scales at the same time.
Hey I'm curious if a slide rule would work the same in a different base number? Can anyone help?
The log log scales work in any base you wish