Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Walter Shawlee, the Sovereign of Slide Rules, Is Dead at 73
Mr. Shawlee was not merely a slide-rule sentimentalist in thrall to memories of teenage geekdom. He argued that slide rules had intrinsic appeal for several reasons.
He saw dignity, for example, in their solidity and design. In a 1999 profile by The Times, Mr. Shawlee described slide rules as “the techno-guys’ version of a broadsword.” On his website, the Slide Rule Universe, he contrasted them with digital technology. “In 50 years, the computer you are using to view this webpage will be landfill,” he wrote, “but your trusty slide rule will just be nicely broken in!” https://dnyuz.com/2024/02/08/walter-...is-dead-at-73/
Sure I was an engineering major before electronic calculators existed. I used me daily then.
I'm sorry to see the link to the Slide Rule Universe and Mr. Shawlee's passing.
I'm 61 1/2 and I was in the last class that used slide rules in 7th grade math. By 8th grade, digital calculators were affordable enough that the slide rule disappeared, pretty much over about a year.
I'm also amongst the last engineers to have started out my career working at an actual drafting board with pencil; and making copies by the blueline process (ammonia, baby!)
While I'd like to tell you all about how great slide rules were, because you had to understand what the result ought to be before you did the manipulations to get the actual numerals - well, they weren't. Not really. Even with the modern calculator, you still have to know roughly what the result ought to be; but all that mechanical manipulation made every calculation take an enormous amount of time - let's not forget trig and log tables; and let's not forget the adding machine that had to be on everyone's desk. It's popular to tar everyone who questions a new technology with the "Luddite" label, but those of us who were actually there know that some new technologies were so clearly superior that they just swept everything before them. CAD and the electronic calculator were two of them.
Yep, I started with a slide rule just as we switched to calculators. Mostly TI38s with a few guys loving the RPN on the HPs. One day a professor had a race between his slide rule and a guy with the HP. Slide rule won.
I never had a slide rule, but started college in '81 with a TI-30 and then a TI-35. I remember that the TI-35 developed a terrible switch bounce problem that led to me throwing it against the wall in my dorm room. You can imagine the result. I then switched to the HP-15C and never looked back. I still have that calculator 40 years later. I took it out just the other day to explain to my high school freshman son what reverse Polish notation was.
I never had a slide rule, but started college in '81 with a TI-30 and then a TI-35. I remember that the TI-35 developed a terrible switch bounce problem that led to me throwing it against the wall in my dorm room. You can imagine the result. I then switched to the HP-15C and never looked back. I still have that calculator 40 years later. I took it out just the other day to explain to my high school freshman son what reverse Polish notation was.
Love my HP15C. And the emulator I have on my phone.
I never had a slide rule, but started college in '81 with a TI-30 and then a TI-35. I remember that the TI-35 developed a terrible switch bounce problem that led to me throwing it against the wall in my dorm room. You can imagine the result. I then switched to the HP-15C and never looked back. I still have that calculator 40 years later. I took it out just the other day to explain to my high school freshman son what reverse Polish notation was.
I remember Reverse Polish Notation. In theory, it was faster, but you had to put in the training or order to get the advantage.
I still have mine and have it on display, a K+E 4081-3. I got it for math and science classes in high school. It was required.
The water & sewage plants both have balances like that on display. The sewage plant balance is in perfect condition. The result of generations of us lab techs who took care of equipment.
Walter Shawlee, the Sovereign of Slide Rules, Is Dead at 73
Mr. Shawlee was not merely a slide-rule sentimentalist in thrall to memories of teenage geekdom. He argued that slide rules had intrinsic appeal for several reasons.
He saw dignity, for example, in their solidity and design. In a 1999 profile by The Times, Mr. Shawlee described slide rules as “the techno-guys’ version of a broadsword.” On his website, the Slide Rule Universe, he contrasted them with digital technology. “In 50 years, the computer you are using to view this webpage will be landfill,” he wrote, “but your trusty slide rule will just be nicely broken in!” https://dnyuz.com/2024/02/08/walter-...is-dead-at-73/
I was thinking about slide rules not long ago. I was wondering who would teach the young people how to use them when civilization fails and we don't have electricty for our computers. I remember you recognized all the guys who were taking physics classes and higher math in high school by their pocket protector and the slide rule on their belt. I had one too, but I didn't flaunt it because I was already considered a weirdo for a girl. Now I have no idea if I could remember how to use a slide rule.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I remember you recognized all the guys who were taking physics classes and higher math in high school by their pocket protector and the slide rule on their belt. I had one too, but I didn't flaunt it because I was already considered a weirdo for a girl. Now I have no idea if I could remember how to use a slide rule.