Instructions for Pickett Student Slide Rules

Description:

Maurice L. Hartung, associate professor of the teaching of mathematics at the University of Chicago, wrote this sixteen-page pamphlet, How to Use Basic Slide Rules in 3 Easy Steps for Pickett & Eckel, a slide rule manufacturer established in Chicago in the late 1940s. Hartung advocated for the adoption of Pickett slide rules in schools, and he wrote several instruction manuals that the company reprinted and distributed through the 1960s.

The pamphlet uses drawings of slide rules and numerous "call-out" text boxes to explain how students could use the instrument's C and D scales to multiply and divide. The second part of the pamphlet explains the CI scale ("I" stands for "inverse"), provides instructions for finding squares and square roots with the A and B scales, and discusses the role of the K scale in finding cubes and cube roots. The third and final section of the pamphlet addresses logarithmic and trigonometric functions, which were found with the L, S, and T scales.

This copy was packaged with 1991.0445.02; of the scales explained in the instructions, this instrument lacked only the S and T scales for sines and tangents. If sold separately, the booklet would have cost 35 cents. The back of the pamphlet is marked: Pickett Inc.; Chicago 5 • SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA. It is also marked: Form M-20. The location and name of the company suggest the pamphlet was printed after 1964.

Reference: International Slide Rule Museum, "Pickett All-Metal Slide Rules," http://sliderulemuseum.com/SR_Dates.htm#Pickett. This site provides a scan of another copy of this pamphlet, http://sliderulemuseum.com/Manuals/M52_Pickett_HowToUseSR_3EasySteps_FormM-20.pdf.

Date Made: after 1964

Publisher: Pickett IndustriesAuthor: Hartung, Maurice L.

Location: Currently not on view

Place Made: United States: Illinois, Chicago

Subject: MathematicsRule, CalculatingEducation

Subject:

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Mathematics, Science & Mathematics, Slide Rules

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: Gift of Richard R. Lombardi

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: 1991.0445.02.01Accession Number: 1991.0445Catalog Number: 1991.0445.02.01

Object Name: pamphlet

Physical Description: paper (overall material)Measurements: overall: 22 cm x 14 cm; 8 21/32 in x 5 1/2 in

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a7-5c53-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_904591

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.