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Typical ten-inch (25 cm) student slide rule (Pickett N902-T simplex trig) A slide rule is a hand -operated mechanical calculator consisting of slidable rulers for evaluating mathematical operations such as multiplication, division, exponents, roots, logarithms, and trigonometry.
The idea of logarithms was also used to construct the slide rule, which became ubiquitous in science and engineering until the 1970s. A breakthrough generating the natural logarithm was the result of a search for an expression of area against a rectangular hyperbola , and required the assimilation of a new function into standard mathematics.
A slide rule scale is a line with graduated markings inscribed along the length of a slide rule used for mathematical calculations. The earliest such device had a single logarithmic scale for performing multiplication and division, but soon an improved technique was developed which involved two such scales sliding alongside each other.
Another critical application was the slide rule, a pair of logarithmically divided scales used for calculation. The non-sliding logarithmic scale, Gunter's rule, was invented shortly after Napier's invention. William Oughtred enhanced it to create the slide rule—a pair of logarithmic scales movable with respect to each other. Numbers are ...
A slide rule has logarithmic scales, and nomograms often employ logarithmic scales. The geometric mean of two numbers is midway between the numbers. Before the advent of computer graphics, logarithmic graph paper was a commonly used scientific tool.
William Oughtred (5 March 1574 – 30 June 1660), [1] also Owtred, Uhtred, etc., was an English mathematician and Anglican clergyman. [2] [3] [4] After John Napier discovered logarithms and Edmund Gunter created the logarithmic scales (lines, or rules) upon which slide rules are based, Oughtred was the first to use two such scales sliding by one another to perform direct multiplication and ...
The history of mathematical notation[ 1 ] includes the commencement, progress, and cultural diffusion of mathematical symbols and the conflict of the methods of notation confronted in a notation's move to popularity or inconspicuousness. Mathematical notation [ 2 ] comprises the symbols used to write mathematical equations and formulas.
The International Slide Rule Museum (ISRM) is an American museum dedicated to the preservation and display of slide rules and other mathematical artefacts. Established in 2003 by Michael Konshak, who serves as its curator, [3] [4] the museum houses a collection of slide rules from divers manufacturers and time periods, showcasing the evolution and importance of these instruments in the history ...