As someone who grew up in India in the 20th century: slide rules are unfamiliar, but we used log tables (calculators of any kind were prohibited through high school and standardized tests). For those unfamiliar, log tables serve to replace multiplication/division of floating-point numbers with addition/subtraction instead, making scientific computation a lot easier.
The main benefit of introducing this friction, rather than allowing calculators, is that it (a) encourages one to do simple calculations by hand, and (b) gets one in the habit of quickly double checking that log-table-based results fall in the correct ballpark. Calculators induce a sort of mindlessness where glaring orders-of-magnitude errors pass us by since we expect the machine to get it right.
With all that said, I don't know that I would recommend the use of log tables to high schoolers in the 21st century. That effort might be better utilized on more pressing needs e.g. statistical literacy. Many folks (including me) got entirely through STEM-focused high school knowing not even the slightest basics of statistical inference or causality.
I think that learning how to use a log table might cement certain relationships for more advanced students. But I do agree that in general there are probably better uses of one's time than to teach them as a first class citizen.
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As someone who grew up in India in the 20th century: slide rules are unfamiliar, but we used log tables (calculators of any kind were prohibited through high school and standardized tests). For those unfamiliar, log tables serve to replace multiplication/division of floating-point numbers with addition/subtraction instead, making scientific computation a lot easier.
The main benefit of introducing this friction, rather than allowing calculators, is that it (a) encourages one to do simple calculations by hand, and (b) gets one in the habit of quickly double checking that log-table-based results fall in the correct ballpark. Calculators induce a sort of mindlessness where glaring orders-of-magnitude errors pass us by since we expect the machine to get it right.
With all that said, I don't know that I would recommend the use of log tables to high schoolers in the 21st century. That effort might be better utilized on more pressing needs e.g. statistical literacy. Many folks (including me) got entirely through STEM-focused high school knowing not even the slightest basics of statistical inference or causality.
I think that learning how to use a log table might cement certain relationships for more advanced students. But I do agree that in general there are probably better uses of one's time than to teach them as a first class citizen.