Logarithms are a common idea today, even though we don’t use them as often as we used to. After all, one of the major uses of logarithms is to simplify computations, and computers do that just fine ...

Unless you are above a certain age, the only time you may have seen a slide rule (or a slip stick, as we sometimes called them) is in the movies. You might have missed it, but slide rules show up in ...

It was the only technological tool widely and continuously used for over three centuries. For math and science geeks it was a badge of honor, nestled neatly into a plastic pocket protector along with ...

When you look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average or a bank statement or your receipt at the grocery local store, do you ever stop to think about how numbers are actually processed? (It’s OK – you won ...

THE author makes his title, “Quick and Easy Methods of Calculating”—at least, that is all that is in large print on the title-page; but the binder calls it, on the outside of the book, “The Slide-Rule ...

No frontier sheriff ever strode more proudly down Main Street than Tom Apostol did across the campus of the University of Utah in 1941, wearing his own trusty side arm—a 10-inch Keuffel & Esser ...

The slide rule was the most convenient calculator available to builders and scientists until the development of electronic calculators a few years ago. They also made great looking tie clips. Scottish ...

Back when my kids were younger, I would periodically complain about the deafening racket coming out of their rooms that they passed off as music. The answer that came back was always the same: If it's ...

The problem is, I’ve forgotten how to use them.” “I once sat for an exam with an array of jelly beans (for sugar),” says ...

This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's ...