Posted on 02/24/2024 6:28:03 PM PST by DoodleBob
That looks like Robby the Robot from Lost in Space next to him in the picture.
I collected a few at one time...I had an early small one ....occupied Japan. Sold it on ebay years ago. The rules are listed for big bucks on ebay these days.
My 8th grade teacher had cards with long division problems she passed out as punishment. I was an expert at long division.
Still have mine; a great little machine.
Time to go dig out that nice yellow Pickett. It’s around here, somewhere, still in its hard leather scabbard, and accompanied by a smaller, pocket version...
Memories.
Thanks for the Post.
Lotus and Quattro Pro!
Cool story! Thanks for posting.
When I was in college in the 50’s, you could tell the engineering students from the the slide rules in leather holsters on their belts!
Mine was like that, dark green case. No belt strap. Only EE's used the belt strap. The proper way to carry was upside down in a hip pocket. I recently threw it away because the slide somehow became corrupted. It was a sad day. SRA actually did the job required
In the fall of 1975, I was required to take a slide rule class. It was a prerequisite for an engineering degree.
I still have my grandfather’s.
If you enjoy doing puzzles you woud like algebra.
I remember when I first started at the North Avenue Trade School in 1977. I’d been in the AF 8 years and had used an HP35 and at NATS they were just transitioning from slide rules to handheld calculators (my first one there was a TI-55, a 55 step programable calculator).
Long story short. Chemistry 101 test question. A simple matter of multiplying two mole-related numbers. I looked around during the test and many people with calculators saw nothing but EEEEE’s - overflow error. With a slide rule multiplication is easily done by adding log equivalents. Used my very cheap (by then) slide rule and put down the answer.
It was funny because this was just the professor’s last-gasp rebellion to show that sometimes technology isn’t always the answer and basics matter.
My Post Versalog and copy of CRC Math Tables got me through Electrical Engineering Undergrad school in the late 60s. I never had to change the batteries or recharge them!
I still have both of them!
Same applied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the late 60s!
LOL! I do the same; I’m always expecting something to be broken or go wrong.
My all time favorite...easy to carry in the nuclear powered engine rooms of our nation's Navy.
We got rid of my dad’s old slide rules when we cleaned out the house. Every now and then I see something and regret getting rid of it — just for nostalgia’s sake. For example, I will never use a Polaroid SX-70 camera, but it would have been cool to have kept it. Same thing with the slide rules, and mom’s ancient sewing machine.
When I was around 8 to 10 I so wanted a circular slide rule, and got one as a gift.
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