They're really interesting items and of course can be gotten for a couple bucks at any antique knick-knack shop. It's worth taking an hour or two to learn the general idea of how they work if you're curious.
When I joined the USN in 1975 the first course I was given in Nuclear Power School was how to use a slide rule. When I told my dad this he gave me his beautiful K&N slide rule with a great hard leather case. He's gone but the slide rule sits safely on a closet shelf.
If you only want an approximate answer, and you have a slide rule handy (there are two big ifs), and it's a problem the slide rule is built to handle, then it's probably speed-competitive with a calculator. Maybe faster.
It's almost like the Hacker News blog-style format is not the best way to handle articles about popular topics. Maybe we need wiki-like 'Frequently Discussed Topics' pages.
Comments
How fun. I also found this when I was looking to learn a bit about how to operate a slide rule a friend gave me:
http://www.sliderule.ozmanor.com/srmanl.html
They're really interesting items and of course can be gotten for a couple bucks at any antique knick-knack shop. It's worth taking an hour or two to learn the general idea of how they work if you're curious.
I got one a couple of years ago too. It's kind of mind blowing how powerful a few pieces of painted metal can be.
When I joined the USN in 1975 the first course I was given in Nuclear Power School was how to use a slide rule. When I told my dad this he gave me his beautiful K&N slide rule with a great hard leather case. He's gone but the slide rule sits safely on a closet shelf.
My aunt donated my grandpa‘s old slide rule there some time ago [0]. Crazy how far we came in just two generations.
Fun to see this site show up on HN :)
[0] https://sliderulemuseum.com/Circular/Curtis_L-M_FrequencyRes...
If you only want an approximate answer, and you have a slide rule handy (there are two big ifs), and it's a problem the slide rule is built to handle, then it's probably speed-competitive with a calculator. Maybe faster.
Not an all-purpose device, though.
Ok, let's do this
Illustrated Self-Guided Course on How to Use the Slide Rule - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31146003 - April 2022 (3 comments)
Everyone should learn the slide rule (2021) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31143274 - April 2022 (61 comments)
Why a Slide Rule Works - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30988667 - April 2022 (57 comments)
Slide Rule Simulator Emulator Replica Collection - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30955676 - April 2022 (11 comments)
Illustrated Self-Guided Course on How to Use the Slide Rule - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30524542 - March 2022 (2 comments)
Scales for building your own slide rule (1999) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28365923 - Aug 2021 (5 comments)
Slide Rules - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26054738 - Feb 2021 (26 comments)
The Tyler Slide Rule - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25360450 - Dec 2020 (3 comments)
The largest commercial cylindrical slide rule has a scale length of 24m - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25110407 - Nov 2020 (45 comments)
The Largest Commercial Cylindrical Slide Rule Has a Scale Length of 24m - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24070169 - Aug 2020 (7 comments)
An Interactive JavaScript Slide Rule - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24035379 - Aug 2020 (6 comments)
Illustrated Self-Guided Course On How To Use The Slide Rule - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24028351 - Aug 2020 (98 comments)
When Slide Rules Ruled (2006) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22396887 - Feb 2020 (1 comment)
The Slide Rule - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18281623 - Oct 2018 (132 comments)
The Slide Rule - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18253869 - Oct 2018 (1 comment)
Scales for building your own slide rule (1999) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14782836 - July 2017 (5 comments)
Illustrated Self-Guided Course on How to Use the Slide Rule (2012) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14480755 - June 2017 (14 comments)
Slide rule mentioned in Pepys' diary entry of May 5 1663 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11641273 - May 2016 (1 comment)
Moonstick – Slide rule moon phase calendar - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9769127 - June 2015 (5 comments)
David's calculating sticks: collection of slide rules - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7951351 - June 2014 (4 comments)
The Three Slide Rule - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2990571 - Sept 2011 (38 comments)
Are slide rules still useful? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2436873 - April 2011 (33 comments)
Geek out old school: Virtual slide rules - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=153017 - April 2008 (2 comments)
Others?
A very nice Android slide rule app - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.DigitalSli...
It's almost like the Hacker News blog-style format is not the best way to handle articles about popular topics. Maybe we need wiki-like 'Frequently Discussed Topics' pages.
23 threads in 14 years on a popular topic seems within what the format can handle. What am I missing?