Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Jerry Ross, along with about 200 other Purdue University alumni, have added their slide rules to a new exhibit at their alma mater that testifies to the past mathematical prowess of these computational devices. The permanent display, on the first floor of the university’s Potter Engineering Center, houses the pre-digital analytical marvels, some of which were made in the 19th century and range in length from a few inches to seven feet. "There was a point in time when the slide rule was king," said James Alleman, a professor of civil engineering who began collecting the...
