[pure-silver] Re: What A Sllide Rule Is For...
- From: Helge Nareid <hn.groups@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2017 21:37:13 +0100
On 17/07/2017 21:09, `Richard Knoppow wrote:
I am mildly a slide rule collector and still have the one I got
when in junior highschool. It is the type called a "Mannheim",
relatively simple. The others are more modern multiple scale type.
Actually you can not add or subtract on a slide rule. You can
multiply and divide and make conversions, such as to log or
trigonometric functions, depending on the scales supplied.
To get _really_ pedantic, you _can_ add or subtract on a slide rule, but
only on a logarithmic scale (after all, that's how you multiply or
divide). The range is limited, and you would do better using two linear
rulers.
I'll take this as an excuse for an old engineers' joke:
After the flood, Noah let all the animals loose quoting the Lord's
command of "Go forth and multiply". Feeling happy with the feeling of a
difficult task accomplished he returned to the Ark, and was surprised by
finding a pair of snakes crying their eyes out. He asked what the
problem was, and they answered:
"We're adders - we can't multiply!"
Noah was a smart guy, however, so he chopped down a nearby tree, split
the trunk in half and made a table from it. He fetched the adders, put
them on the table, and told them:
"Even adders can multiply using a log table!"
- The Horrible Helge
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