Slide Rule

George F. Francis

I've enjoyed all the stories about slide rules and thought I would add mine. It's not really a story, just a comment that I still have the original Pickett slide rule I was issued when I signed in in 1951. It's a Picket Model # 500, Ortho-Phase Log Log, made by Pickett & Eckel Inc., 5 S. Wabash Ave, Chicago 3, Illinois with a USA copywrite of 1948. And, I still have the original Instruction book for Model 500 and 800 Log Log Slide Rules written by Maurice L. Hartung, Associate Professor of the Teaching of Mathematics at the University of Chicago. The book was published by Pickett & Eckel, Inc and cost 50 cents which I am sure was probably charged to our midshipman account. The slide rule still works, although I long ago have forgotten how to use all the scales, especially the log-log scales. Thanks to the technology of the digital camera, I've attached a picture of the slide rule and the instruction booklet. Although I do not contribute much to the list serve, I very much enjoy the memories of our days at the Academy.