Quote:
Originally Posted by jcommin
The trick using the slide rule is keeping track of the decimal point,
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Some claim that that's what makes "old" engineers different. I'm thankful to have been schooled by the old ones.
The best ever was in a grad level ceramics class when the prof slashed through a huuuge sintering kinetics equation with "sin x=x, cos x=1, something over big is zero...", and so on until we got to a 95% answer and only a few terms. The moral was that you can get close enough until you really care, then you'll pay somebody else to really care.
I need to learn to use a slide rule... Having relearned cursive writing (in my 40s) I guess that'll be my next party trick.
And my boss has a Curta calculator in his desk. Stamped "US Govt" and everything. If it's still there after he retires, it's mine!