Did anyone notice in the Scientific Computing article referenced below, the section on "analogue computers" (AKA slide rules) contained the following paragraph:
"One important area of development was to lengthen the scale to go beyond the Mannheim's three-digit precision, but retaining portability. Though less popular than straight rules, circular rules provided some space saving (an eight-foot scale fits on a three-foot disc) and this idea led to elegant sealed 'pocket watch' designs, which reached their acme in the French Calculigraphe and the Manchester-made Fowler Magnum, a 4.5 ft multi-scale model. More radical variants that appeared in the 1880s were Edwin Thacher's Calculating Instrument and Professor Fuller's Calculator. Both were two-foot cylindrical rules achieving a precision of about five digits, the Thacher by multiple straight scales totaling 30 feet, the Fuller by a single helical scale 41 feet long. A less cumbersome 20th century rule, the Otis King, gave one of the best compromises between size and precision: its 66-foot helical scale, giving four-digit precision, fits on a six-foot telescopic cylinder. "
In the second sentence, circular rule "space saving" would hardly be accomplished by a "three-foot disc in an elegant sealed pocket watch design!" Obviously, the author must have substituted feet for inches or else have very large pockets. Even at that, by my reckoning, a three inch disc would allow a scale of somewhat over 9 inches, not 8 inches. The last sentence is hilarious. A good compromise between size and precision would hardly be a 66-foot scale on a humungous 6-foot telescopic Otis King's cylinder. The author seems obsessed with magnitude over convenience, obviously believing that size does matter. Where-oh-where are the proof-readers of the world?
Grant Hutchinson
glhutchinson@... ----- Original Message -----
From: Adams, Robert (ENet)
To: 'sliderule@yahoogroups.com'
Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2003 6:16 PM
Subject: SR sighting
The most recent edition of Scientific Computing (see link)
http://www.scientific-computing.com/main.html
<http://www.scientific-computing.com/main.html>
Has on it's cover 3 sliderules, a otis king, Fowler and a calculigraphe.
This is a lead into a story on "Computing after Babbage" where they mention
slide rules etc. At the end of the article there is a piece on the portable
analogue computer (aka slide rule).
The story ends with the following words...
"Naturally, the slide rule's heyday is long over. But with a strong
specialist niche, an enthusiatic collectors' circuit and a new generation to
whom slide rules are a retro "geek accessory", this convenient little
analogue computer very much lives on."
all I can say is ....let's hear it for us retro geeks!!!
The magazine is a free subscription if you meet certain criteria, dont know
what but I seem to meet it??
regards
Bob
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