Real Life Adventures by Gary Wise and Lance Aldrich for March 12, 2020

Our question before math tests…”Are we allowed to use our slide rules?”

Faster and more accurate than most kids with their calculators.

Calculators help only with arithmetic. That’s not real math.

I had a slide rule!

I had a slide rule! P.S. That was what all early NASA scientists used.

He used an abacus.

log log duplex decitrig. …and the belt hood on the case. There was a kid at my high school that carried it like that. Nobody gave him flak because they actually respected him. Me on the otherhand…

Do the math kid.

Numerical Methods in college was a fun class. You essentially learn how the calculator comes up with the answer by approximating the solution with a series of additions. Then you can spend the rest of your career relying on math libraries, which you’ll never check for correctness, to do the work for you.

HP had come out with a scientific pocket calculator with LED display. The battery wouldn’t last long enough to take a one hour physics test.

Ah, the good old days with Napier’s Bones…

Back when I was in college, and also in most of my high school math classes, a calculator wouldn’t have done me much good. On the other hand, the calculator helped a lot with chemistry and physics classes. Loved that RPN on my HP.

used fingers

Watch the movie “Hidden Figures” and prepare to be amazed!