Who invented slide ruler?
William Oughtred
Slide rule/Inventors
The slide rule was invented by William Oughtred in the 1600’s, but only began to be widely used in the mid 1800’s after a French artillery officer named Amedee Mannheim developed a version that became popular among engineers. By the early 1900’s engineering students in the US were commonly taught to use slide rules.
How old is the slide rule?
In the 1620s, William Oughtred (1574–1660), a respected mathematician, set two straight edges side-by-side, forming the first rectilinear slide rule.
Who invented the slide rule in 1621?
William Oughtred, (born March 5, 1574, Eton, Buckinghamshire, England—died June 30, 1660, Albury, Surrey), English mathematician and Anglican minister who invented the earliest form of the slide rule, two identical linear or circular logarithmic scales held together and adjusted by hand.
What are the parts of a slide rule?
A slide rule consists of three parts: the body, the slide, and the cursor. The body and the slide are marked with scales. The cursor has a hairline that facilitates accurate positioning of the cursor at a specific point on some scale.
What does a slide ruler do?
In its simplest form, the slide rule adds and subtracts lengths in order to calculate a total distance. But slide rules can also handle multiplication and division, find square roots, and do other sophisticated calculations.
What is the function of slide rule?
To serve as a mechanical analog computer
Slide rule/Purpose
Who made the best slide rules?
Reverend William Oughtred
The Reverend William Oughtred and others developed the slide rule in the 17th century based on the emerging work on logarithms by John Napier. Before the advent of the electronic calculator, it was the most commonly used calculation tool in science and engineering.
What is the purpose of a slide rule?
How did a slide rule work?
A slide rule works by adding or subtracting the numerical exponents of numbers for multiplication or division, respectively. Thus, numbers to be multiplied or divided are converted to their logarithmic values and their exponents are added or subtracted.
The slide rule is used primarily for multiplication and division, and also for functions such as exponents, roots, logarithms , and trigonometry, but typically not for addition or subtraction. Though similar in name and appearance to a standard ruler, the slide rule is not meant to be used for measuring length or drawing straight lines.
Where can I buy a slide rule?
These still show up occasionally, but they often command higher prices than good quality used rules. The most obvious places to look for slide rules today are flea markets and specialty antique shops, where affordable deals can sometimes still be found.
What are the different types of slide rules?
There are two main types of cylindrical slide rules: those with helical scales such as the Fuller, the Otis King and the Bygrave slide rule, and those with bars, such as the Thacher and some Loga models.
What replaced the slide rule?
A slide rule, one of the last vestiges of geek nerddom in the fifties and sixties, is a remarkable invention. Unfortunately, having been replaced by the electronic calculator, the slide rule has fallen into disuse, which is a shame because it is an excellent conceptual tool for visualizing how to do computations with logarithmic numbers.