A slide rule is a hand-operated mechanical calculator made of slidable graduated rulers, used to perform multiplication, division, roots, logarithms and trigonometric calculations by aligning logarithmic scales. It was developed in the 17th century by the English mathematician and clergyman William Oughtred, building on John Napier's earlier work on logarithms, and for more than three centuries it remained the standard calculating tool of science and engineering until inexpensive electronic scientific calculators, following the 1972 HP-35, rendered it largely obsolete by the mid-1970s.
Facts
YearSourced to the subject's own account SignificanceSourced to the subject's own accountBefore the advent of the scientific pocket calculator, the slide rule was the most commonly used calculation tool in science and engineering, and its use continued to grow through the 1950s and 1960s even after mainframe digital computers were introduced. 1 FAQs
Could a slide rule add and subtract as well as multiply?
Yes. It added and subtracted as well as multiplying and dividing.
Yes. A slide rule could add and subtract by lining up its sliding scales, and it could also multiply and divide using logarithms. Slide rules were invented specifically for multiplying and dividing large numbers using logarithms, shortly after John Napier invented logarithms.
Connections
In Field
Source Slide Rule (Wikipedia)
Invented By
Source Wikipedia: William Oughtred
Sources
1. Slide Rule (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHistory section, invention paragraph
In c. 1622, William Oughtred of Cambridge combined two handheld Gunter rules to make a device that is recognizably the modern slide rule.
Lead section
Before the advent of the scientific pocket calculator, it was the most commonly used calculation tool in science and engineering.
In Field: Mechanical Engineering, Categories
Mechanical calculators
View the Source Wikipedia: William Oughtred
Invented By: William Oughtred, LeadQuote, Invented By: William Oughtred, Lead
logarithmic scales (lines, or rules) upon which slide rules are based, Oughtred was the first
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