Remnants Of High School Math

[cabinetman]

I call this "Old Yeller". I still have my slide rule, which I think I used in college. It's still in the brown leatherette case, and still slides.
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[Lee4847]

Yep.. I have mine here in the drawer. I wonder if I can remember how to use it!! Can you imagine if we had our cell phones back then to whip out and go to the calculator section!!

[Uncle Cracker]

Some things are best left forgotten...

[pelligrini]

I got one with my S&H greenstamps a few decades ago. I never did learn how to use it.

[cabinetman]

Some things are best left forgotten...

And some young ladies.
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[Tom Slick]

You need one of these to go with it!
http://www.zazzle.com/never_forget_s...92829225519543

[LCHIEN]

I could post pictures of my several slide rules which saw me through high school chem and physics, and 3-1/2 years of college, or, I could post this java slide rule which works! An easy demo for those who want to try one out firsthand.

http://www.syssrc.com/html/museum/html/sims/javaslide/

Pic of a slide rule similar to my K&E Decilon:



then i got one of these:

[JimDantin]

While manipulating a slide rule to make calculations seems rather primitive today, it required one skill that everyone should have -- the ability to determine the REASONABLENESS of the answer. How many times have you watched someone punch away on a calculator and announce an answer that is grossly incorrect?

Is the answer 10 or 10,000? Will you need 3 gallons of paint, or 30? If you can't figure out an approximate answer in your head, how will you know if you fumble-fingered you calculator?

[tseavoy]

I had a Picket & Eckel (sp?) also. I liked it more than the Post bamboo slide rules that most students had. I don't know what happened to it. I would never have thrown it away. As I remember it cost about 20 dollars in 1955 -- equivalent to 200 dollars or more now.
And yes, you had to know where the decimal point was, usually from knowing what the range of a reasonable answer was. One could go through the evaluation of a long complicated expression very fast using a slide rule.

Tom on Marrowstone

Nectar -- drink of the gods. The recipe has been long unknown, but modern Kentuckians have come very close to it.

[Pappy]

Don't know what hapened to mine, either. Not too sure I really care.......

[crokett]

One of the guys I know at work still has a slide rule and worse, he still uses it occasionally.

[Hoakie]

Here is a picture of my "slide rule" that helped my with my undergrad and graduate degrees in Chemistry

[cabinetman]

Here is a picture of my "slide rule" that helped my with my undergrad and graduate degrees in Chemistry

One of those would have been a dream to have when I learned to use a slide rule. Hand held calculators weren't even a thought back then. The use of a slide rule then and going to calculators reminds me of how some facets of our lives have slipped into the "easy way out", like using CAD for laying out cabinetwork. Not necessarily more exact.
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[jackellis]

While manipulating a slide rule to make calculations seems rather primitive today, it required one skill that everyone should have -- the ability to determine the REASONABLENESS of the answer.

Amen, brother. Unfortunately, being able to assess the reasonableness of an answer has become a lost art. ****ed computers!

I have several slide rules, including one I used in college, one that was my uncle's and several that belonged to my father-in-law. I still pick on up every once in a while so I don't forget how. I also have an HP calculator that I'll use for arithmetic I can't easily do on either the slide rule or in my head.

[JimDantin]

Made it through an engineering degree in the late 1960's with my trusty Post Versalog sliderule. It's the bamboo kind. Keeping it tuned up in the un-airconditioned LSU classrooms and dorms required careful cleaning, fine adjustments, and baby powder!

I've always been a computer nerd and have used everything from analog computers, all versions of AutoCAD, to the latest Google Sketchup. I get perverse pleasure watching today's computer jocks try to figure out how to divide a 1 x 6 into 3 equal parts. Or try to find the center of a 4' 3-5/8" long board. There are some skills you just have to learn - preferably under the watchful eye of an experienced craftsman.

The latest offering for the dumbed-down masses -- the Black & Decker BD12PSK 12-Volt Smart Select Drill. No words, no numbers, no manual needed -- just select a PICTURE of what you are doing! Can't wait to see the final results of their DIY projects!