RE: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] beginner slide rule wanted

[Mike Miller <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On Wed, 2 Jul 2003, Matthew Ross wrote:

> The advantage of the slide rule is not that its a time saver over the
> calculator, but that it forces the user to learn his basic math better.

I agree and I think it would be a good idea for teenagers to learn how to
use slide rules.  They should see how they work.  It is a very impressive
invention.


> The slide rule is good for making faster mathematicians. If you are good
> with a slide rule, you should be just as good with a calculator, but
> most of the people that good with a slide rule these days are too
> nostalgic about it to give up their slide ruling ways.

There are people using slide rules these days?  That's surprising to me.
I haven't even *seen* one in a long time and I'm in the academic world
here.  A slide rule, or in-the-head calculation, might be faster than a
calculator, but neither will ever be as precise or definitive -- you can't
get more than about 3 significant digits from the slide rule.


> The reason they are intimidating is that they harken back to the days
> when you actually had to think about math, and nothing scares the
> general public more than being forced to think.

Maybe, or maybe they're scared of having to waste time thinking about
something that leads nowhere.  It's easy to see why they would think the
slide rule is a waste of time.  I think it could be, say, one week of 9th
grade math class, but then put it away and forget about it.

Mike
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