Manuals & Documentation

An image of various slide rules from the collection of the Division of Medicine and Science at the National Museum of American History.

Keuffel & Esser, Pickett, Dietzgen, and other major slide rule companies often included an instruction manual in the purchase of the instrument. Some donors have provided these booklets and other paper items, such as advertising flyers, directions for cleaning slide rules, warranty certificates, and even cash register receipts. The Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago previously owned and displayed one of the Thacher cylindrical slide rules, and it arrived with its exhibit label. To see the instruction manuals alongside the objects they explained, please see the index by makers & retailers page.

Search term: *:* Resource Type: Pamphlets Clear All

Keuffel & Esser Instructions for Log Log Duplex Slide Rule

This eight-page pamphlet was received with 1981.0933.01. It is undated, but Clark McCoy reports the text was written around 1914. This copy was probably printed later, around 1920.
Description
This eight-page pamphlet was received with 1981.0933.01. It is undated, but Clark McCoy reports the text was written around 1914. This copy was probably printed later, around 1920. It explains the scales on K&E's model 4092 slide rule, works eleven sample problems, and advertises K&E calculating devices.
Reference: Clark McCoy, ed., "K&E Log Log Duplex Slide Rules," http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/KEManuals/manuals.htm#4092.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
maker
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
1981.0933.02
accession number
1981.0933
catalog number
1981.0933.02

Instruction Manual for Cooper 100-Inch Slide Rule

This undated 16-page booklet was received with MA.326237. It is titled, The 'Cooper' 100-inch Slide Rule (Patented). Designed for Use in Calculations Involving Multiplication, Division, Proportion, Percentages, Powers, Roots, Logarithms, etc. etc.
Description
This undated 16-page booklet was received with MA.326237. It is titled, The 'Cooper' 100-inch Slide Rule (Patented). Designed for Use in Calculations Involving Multiplication, Division, Proportion, Percentages, Powers, Roots, Logarithms, etc. etc. The description of the calculator claims it reads to four decimal places. Instructions for currency conversion are also provided. Partial tables of decimal equivalents appear as an advertisement for The Instanter Decimal Tables, published by Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. of London.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1923
ID Number
MA.259739.01
accession number
259739
catalog number
259739.01

Directions for the Use of Hemmi Slide Rules

This stapled ten-page leaflet arrived with 1982.0386.02. It is marked "Printed in Japan" and probably dates to the mid-1930s.
Description
This stapled ten-page leaflet arrived with 1982.0386.02. It is marked "Printed in Japan" and probably dates to the mid-1930s. It is titled, Short Directions for the Use of the "Hemmi's" Bamboo Slide Rules, and there are indications throughout the text that its author was not a native speaker of English.
The leaflet explains what a slide rule is. There are sections for Hemmi Normal Slide Rules, the Electro Slide Rule with Log Log Scale, and the Improved Slide Rule. The leaflet also contains an illustration of reading graduations on the scales, an explanation of Hemmi's construction techniques, and various technical problems that could be solved with slide rules. ID number 1982.0386.02 resembles the slide rule illustrated on p. 1, although the drawing shows a ruler in inches on the top edge and depicts PATENT No 58115 as written on the indicator. The example in the collections lacks the ruler and the reference to what is presumably a Japanese patent.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1931-1939
maker
SUN HEMMI JAPAN CF
ID Number
1982.0386.03
accession number
1982.0386
catalog number
1982.0386.03

Keuffel & Esser Instructions for 4098 Ever-There Slide Rule

The citation information for this 16-page tissue paper pamphlet is: Instructions for Operating Ever-There Slide Rule No. 4098 (New York: Keuffel & Esser, 1932). The pamphlet describes an earlier version of 1989.0325.06.
Description
The citation information for this 16-page tissue paper pamphlet is: Instructions for Operating Ever-There Slide Rule No. 4098 (New York: Keuffel & Esser, 1932). The pamphlet describes an earlier version of 1989.0325.06. It lists various uses for slide rules and provides detailed drawings and explanations for reading numbers and making calculations on the slide rule. Sample problems are solved in multiplication and division, proportion, squares and square roots, cubes and cube roots, trigonometry, and logarithms.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1932
maker
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
1981.0933.09
accession number
1981.0933
catalog number
1981.0933.09

Manual for Gilson Midget Circular Slide Rule

This twelve-page booklet was received with 1998.0119.01. It provides instructions for using the Midget circular slide rule manufactured by Gilson Slide Rule Company of Stuart, Fla.
Description
This twelve-page booklet was received with 1998.0119.01. It provides instructions for using the Midget circular slide rule manufactured by Gilson Slide Rule Company of Stuart, Fla. It describes each of the scales and gives a sample problem for computing a merchant's overhead costs as a percentage of profit. It advertises Gilson's Atlas and Binary slide rules and provides a list of formulas and equivalent measurements.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1940
maker
Gilson Slide Rule Company
ID Number
1998.0119.03
catalog number
1998.0119.03
accession number
1998.0119

Instruction Manual for Dietzgen 1771 Redirule Slide Rule

This sixteen-page booklet lists no author or date. Its drawing of a slide rule corresponds to 1993.0357.02, with which it was received.
Description
This sixteen-page booklet lists no author or date. Its drawing of a slide rule corresponds to 1993.0357.02, with which it was received. The instructions explain how to: read the scales; multiply; place the decimal point; divide; combine multiplication and division; solve proportion problems; read the CI scale; compute squares and square roots and cubes and cube roots; solve problems in trigonometry; and work with logarithms.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1941-1972
maker
Eugene Dietzgen Company
ID Number
1993.0357.02.01
accession number
1993.0357
catalog number
1993.0357.02.01

Keuffel & Esser N4053 Polyphase Slide Rule Manual

The citation information for this paperback book is: William E. Breckenridge, The Polyphase Slide Rule No. N4053: A Self Teaching Manual, 3rd ed. (New York: Keuffel & Esser Co., 1944).
Description
The citation information for this paperback book is: William E. Breckenridge, The Polyphase Slide Rule No. N4053: A Self Teaching Manual, 3rd ed. (New York: Keuffel & Esser Co., 1944). According to Clark McCoy, this example comes from the first of two printings of the manual with the 1944 copyright date; the cover and first few pages were changed in the second printing, which was also marked with the K+E logo that was introduced in 1949. This example has the earlier K&E lion logo.
Breckenridge earned an A.M. in mathematics from Columbia University in New York City, was chair of the mathematics department at Stuyvesant High School around 1909–1910, served as an associate editor of The Mathematics Teacher from 1913 to 1928, and apparently also taught at Columbia. He first wrote this manual in 1924. It has 88 pages that describe the uses of slide rules and explain processes for making calculations and locating the decimal point. Breckenridge also discussed the history and theory of the slide rule before providing worked-out examples and exercises for readers to solve. There are also "advanced problems," material on plane trigonometry and triangles, and problems specific to certain occupations and tasks.
At the back of the book, there are advertisements for K&E's specialty slide rules, the all-plastic Ever-There line of slide rules, and surveying instruments such as transits. This manual was received with MA.321780.
References: Clark McCoy, ed., "The Polyphase Slide Rule No. N4053," http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/KEManuals/4053-1944/4053-1944.htm; William E. Breckenridge, The Polyphase Slide Rule, [3rd ed.] (New York: Keuffel & Esser Co., 1944), http://sliderulemuseum.com/SR_Library_KE.htm.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1944
author
Breckenridge, William E.
ID Number
MA.304213.05
accession number
304213
catalog number
304213.05

Instruction Manual for Charles Bruning Model 2401 Slide Rule

The citation information for this 16-page pamphlet is Charles Bruning Company, Inc., Instruction Manual for Bruning Slide Rule No. 2401 (New York, 1944). The cover notes that the company had applied for a patent on a slide rule indicator, but no such patent has been found.
Description
The citation information for this 16-page pamphlet is Charles Bruning Company, Inc., Instruction Manual for Bruning Slide Rule No. 2401 (New York, 1944). The cover notes that the company had applied for a patent on a slide rule indicator, but no such patent has been found. The manual begins with the claim that results on model 2401 were significant to three digits. After explaining the parts of a slide rule, the manual divides the process of learning to use a slide rule into twelve steps, each of which are discussed with examples, solutions, and exercises in the remainder of the pamphlet. This manual was received with 1991.0445.03.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1944
maker
Charles Bruning Company, Inc.
ID Number
1991.0445.03.01
accession number
1991.0445
catalog number
1991.0445.03.01

Instruction Manual for Pickett & Eckel Deci Log Log Slide Rule

This 32-page booklet was received with 1979.0601.02. Its citation information is: Maurice L. Hartung, How to Use the Deci Log Log Slide Rule (Chicago: Pickett & Eckel, Inc., 1947).
Description
This 32-page booklet was received with 1979.0601.02. Its citation information is: Maurice L. Hartung, How to Use the Deci Log Log Slide Rule (Chicago: Pickett & Eckel, Inc., 1947). Hartung, a University of Chicago professor and consultant to Pickett & Eckel, provided a basic overview of mathematical operations on the slide rule. He then explained placing the decimal point; the inverted scales; scales for squares and cubes, logarithms, and trigonometry; and solving problems using multiple scales. He next described the log log scales in a section that has several diagrams of slide rules.
A pink paper sheet on caring for the slide rule is inside the booklet. A previous owner has written in a few corrections, including an updated population of the United States of 175 million in 1957.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1947
author
Hartung, Maurice L.
ID Number
1979.0601.04
accession number
1979.0601
catalog number
1979.0601.04

Instruction Manual for Pickett & Eckel Log Log Trig Slide Rule

The citation information for this small 32-page booklet is: Maurice L. Hartung, How to Use the 300 Log Log Trig Pocket Slide Rule (Chicago: Pickett & Eckel, Inc., 1949).
Description
The citation information for this small 32-page booklet is: Maurice L. Hartung, How to Use the 300 Log Log Trig Pocket Slide Rule (Chicago: Pickett & Eckel, Inc., 1949). It provides general information on how to use slide rules, including the arithmetical operations, locating the decimal point, combining multiplication and division, using the folded scales, calculating roots, trigonometry, and vectors.
Model 300 was a six-inch, pocket-sized duplex slide rule and is not presently represented in the Smithsonian collections, although 1999.0096.01 is a ten-inch log log trig rule. Hartung was a University of Chicago professor who helped Pickett & Eckel market their products to schools and who wrote several instruction manuals for the company's slide rules. See 1979.0601.02.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1949
maker
Hartung, Maurice L.
ID Number
1979.0601.03
accession number
1979.0601
catalog number
1979.0601.03

Dietzgen Instruction Manual for Maniphase Slide Rule

The citation information for this sixteen-page booklet is: Self-teaching Instruction Manual: Maniphase Slide Rule (Chicago: Eugene Dietzgen Co., n.d.). The slide rule depicted inside the manual is Dietzgen's "National," model 1767, and the manual was received with 1988.0367.01.
Description
The citation information for this sixteen-page booklet is: Self-teaching Instruction Manual: Maniphase Slide Rule (Chicago: Eugene Dietzgen Co., n.d.). The slide rule depicted inside the manual is Dietzgen's "National," model 1767, and the manual was received with 1988.0367.01. Detailed instructions are provided for reading the scales, multiplication, placing the decimal point, division, proportion, squares and square roots, cube and cube roots, trigonometry, and logarithms. "Maniphase" on the cover refers to an arrangement of scales in which the company added K and CI scales to Mannheim rules; the word is printed on several slide rules sold by the Eugene Dietzgen Company. Indeed, the manual indicates portions of it could be used with other Dietzgen slide rules, such as model 1772A.
Reference: Walter Shawlee, "The Dietzgen Company Archive," http://www.sphere.bc.ca/test/dietzgen.html.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1950s
maker
Eugene Dietzgen Company
ID Number
1988.0367.02
accession number
1988.0367
catalog number
1988.0367.02

Keuffel & Esser 68-2047 Log Log Duplex Decitrig Manual and S14-5 Care Instructions

ID number 1987.0085.01, a model 68–1210 Log Log Duplex Decitrig slide rule by Keuffel & Esser of New York, was received with these two paperback booklets. The citation information for the first booklet is: Lyman M. Kells, Willis F. Kern, and James R.
Description
ID number 1987.0085.01, a model 68–1210 Log Log Duplex Decitrig slide rule by Keuffel & Esser of New York, was received with these two paperback booklets. The citation information for the first booklet is: Lyman M. Kells, Willis F. Kern, and James R. Bland, K&E Slide Rule Manual: Log Log Duplex Decitrig, 4th ed. (New York: Keuffel & Esser Co., 1955). Kells, Kern, and Bland were all mathematics professors at the United States Naval Academy; they first prepared this manual in 1943. They designed the book for students to learn to operate slide rules on their own, without the aid of a teacher.
The manual covers the following topics: multiplication and division; the proportion principle and combined operations; squares and square roots, cubes and cube roots; trigonometry; the log log scales; and logarithms and the slide rule. Included are exercises, answers, and a historical note (featuring K&E's contributions to the development of slide rules). The manual was previously K&E model number 4187S.
The second pamphlet is small (4 X 3 inches) and titled: "How to Take Care of Your Slide Rule." It was copyrighted in 1944, 1949, 1958, and 1962. Users are to clean the slide rule only with a moistened cloth. Instructions are provided for adjusting and aligning the slide rule.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1955-1962
author
Kells, Lyman M.
Kern, Willis F.
Bland, James R.
publisher
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
1987.0085.02
accession number
1987.0085
catalog number
1987.0085.02

Instruction Manual for Pickett 101-C Circular Slide Rule

This 24-page booklet was received with 1981.0922.12. Its citation information is: Maurice L. Hartung, Dial Rule Circular Slide Rule: Your Model No. 101-C Instruction Manual (Chicago & Alhambra, Calif.: Pickett & Eckel, Inc., 1957).
Description
This 24-page booklet was received with 1981.0922.12. Its citation information is: Maurice L. Hartung, Dial Rule Circular Slide Rule: Your Model No. 101-C Instruction Manual (Chicago & Alhambra, Calif.: Pickett & Eckel, Inc., 1957). The back is marked: PRINTED IN U.S.A.; FORM M-18. The Pickett logo on the front cover was used between 1958 and 1962.
The manual provides instructions and processes for the C and CI scales, multiplication, division, combined operations, the A and Af scales (for square roots), logarithms and adding fractions, the LL scale, the DS and DT scales (for drill sizes and double depth of threads), the M scale (for metric conversions), and the S, ST, and T scales (for trigonometry). There are 24 problems and answers on the back page.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1958
publisher
Pickett Industries
author
Hartung, Maurice L.
ID Number
1981.0922.13
accession number
1981.0922
catalog number
1981.0922.13

Pickett Decimal-Keeper Slide Rule Instructions

This twelve-page booklet was received with 1995.0126.01. Titled "How To Use Decimal-Keeper Slide Rules," it is another of the instruction manuals Maurice L. Hartung wrote for Pickett & Eckel, Inc., a slide rule manufacturer based in Chicago and Alhambra, Calif.
Description
This twelve-page booklet was received with 1995.0126.01. Titled "How To Use Decimal-Keeper Slide Rules," it is another of the instruction manuals Maurice L. Hartung wrote for Pickett & Eckel, Inc., a slide rule manufacturer based in Chicago and Alhambra, Calif. Hartung explained how Pickett had reduced the scales on slide rules in the Decimal-Keeper line so that one ten-inch Decimal-Keeper became equivalent to twenty ordinary ten-inch linear slide rules. These reduced scales are the scales marked with asterisks on Decimal-Keeper slide rules.
There are also instructions for locating the proper section of the scale, carrying out division, computing trigonometric functions, calculating roots, finding logarithms, and adjusting and cleaning the slide rule. The booklet is undated. Separately, it sold for 50 cents and had model number M-17.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1960
maker
Pickett & Eckel, Incorporated
ID Number
1995.0126.04
accession number
1995.0126
catalog number
1995.0126.04

Pickett Trig Slide Rule Instruction Manual

This 64-page booklet was received with 1993.0559.01. Its citation information is: Maurice L. Hartung, How to Use . . . Trig Slide Rules (Chicago: Pickett & Eckel Inc., 1960). It sold separately for fifty cents.
Description
This 64-page booklet was received with 1993.0559.01. Its citation information is: Maurice L. Hartung, How to Use . . . Trig Slide Rules (Chicago: Pickett & Eckel Inc., 1960). It sold separately for fifty cents. Hartung was the University of Chicago professor who was closely associated with Pickett & Eckel in the company's early years and who wrote several instruction manuals for the firm's slide rules.
The booklet discusses slide rule operation, use of certain special scales, applications of trigonometry, and the principles underlying slide rules. Hartung focused on the operations of the instrument rather than on mathematical theory. There are problem sets at the end of each section, with answers in the back of the manual, and a few sets of "practical" (word) problems. Another copy of the booklet is scanned at http://sliderulemuseum.com/Manuals/M104_Pickett_HowToUseTrig_1960.pdf.
Reference: "Maurice Leslie Hartung," Mathematics Genealogy Project, http://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=7964. Hartung received a life achievement award from the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics in 1977, http://ictm.org/ictmawards/lifeachievement.html.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1960
publisher
Pickett Industries
author
Hartung, Maurice L.
ID Number
1993.0559.01.01
accession number
1993.0559
catalog number
1993.0559.01.01

Instructions for Staedtler-Mars Model 944-24 Slide Rule

This tan, 36-page booklet is titled: Staedtler-Mars Instructions for Use, Modles [sic] No. 944 24 No. 945 24 Bamboo Slide Rule.
Description
This tan, 36-page booklet is titled: Staedtler-Mars Instructions for Use, Modles [sic] No. 944 24 No. 945 24 Bamboo Slide Rule. The back cover is marked: Printed in Japan.
The instructions define the scales; explain how to multiply and divide; solve problems of proportion; discuss squares and square roots; calculate cubes, cube roots, 3/2 power, and 2/3 power; explain logarithms; provide processes for trigonometric functions; discuss the P or Pythagorean scale; explain the LL scales; and define this rule's five gauge marks. The German firm of Staedtler distributed the rule with which the booklet was received (2009.0019.02). Ricoh, the Japanese company that made the rule, presumably prepared the instructions.
Reference: Paul Ross, "Relay/Ricoh Slide Rules," Journal of the Oughtred Society 9, no. 2 (2000): 64–65.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1960-1972
maker
Ricoh Measuring Instruments
ID Number
2009.0019.02.01
accession number
2009.0019
catalog number
2009.0019.02.01

Instruction Manual for Keuffel & Esser Polyphase Duplex Pocket Slide Rule

This 70-page booklet was received with 1993.0357.01. The book explains how to operate model 68–1555, which was model 4168 before 1962. Its citation information is: Keuffel & Esser Polyphase Duplex Pocket Slide Rule . . . Instruction Manual, 2nd ed.
Description
This 70-page booklet was received with 1993.0357.01. The book explains how to operate model 68–1555, which was model 4168 before 1962. Its citation information is: Keuffel & Esser Polyphase Duplex Pocket Slide Rule . . . Instruction Manual, 2nd ed. (New York: Keuffel & Esser Co., 1947). Presumably only the cover and illustration of the slide rule were updated in the 1960s. Topics covered include: multiplication and division, proportion, squares and square roots and cubes and cube roots, and plane trigonometry. Answers are provided at the back.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1960s
maker
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
1993.0357.01.01
accession number
1993.0357
catalog number
1993.0357.01.01

Instruction Manual for Pickett Slide Rules with Ln-L Scales

Maurice Hartung of the University of Chicago wrote this sixteen-page booklet to explain the use of natural log and logarithmic scales placed on Pickett's line of "dual-base" slide rules. Its citation information is: Maurice L.
Description
Maurice Hartung of the University of Chicago wrote this sixteen-page booklet to explain the use of natural log and logarithmic scales placed on Pickett's line of "dual-base" slide rules. Its citation information is: Maurice L. Hartung, How to Use Ln-L Scale Slide Rules (Santa Barbara, Calif.: Pickett, Inc., n.d.). The logo and address on the cover were in use from 1964.
Pickett used these scales on several models represented in the Smithsonian collections, including 3, 4, 515, 600, and 1010. The rules depicted in the booklet are models 1011 and 4, similar to 2000.0203.01. Hartung explains how to find logarithms and natural logs (by reading the mantissa), powers of e and 10, logarithms of proper fractions, powers for negative exponents, and the characteristic. He explains how to place the decimal point and how to correct for the error introduced when the number 2.3 is used to estimate e. He then covers multiplication, division, logarithms of combined operations, powers of other bases, hyperbolic functions, and applied problems.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1964
maker
Hartung, Maurice L.
ID Number
1980.0097.04
accession number
1980.0097
catalog number
1980.0097.04

Instructions for Pickett Student Slide Rules

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.
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.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1964
publisher
Pickett Industries
author
Hartung, Maurice L.
ID Number
1991.0445.02.01
accession number
1991.0445
catalog number
1991.0445.02.01

Pickett Manual for Model 3 Duplex Slide Rule

This eight-page pamphlet, titled How to Use Model 3 Powerlog Slide Rules, is a supplement to Maurice L. Hartung, How to Use Dual Base Log Log Slide Rules (Santa Barbara, Calif.: Pickett, Inc., 1947). Hartung also wrote this pamphlet, probably around 1947.
Description
This eight-page pamphlet, titled How to Use Model 3 Powerlog Slide Rules, is a supplement to Maurice L. Hartung, How to Use Dual Base Log Log Slide Rules (Santa Barbara, Calif.: Pickett, Inc., 1947). Hartung also wrote this pamphlet, probably around 1947. He explains scales not found on other Pickett models, namely, the extended square root, cube root, and tangent scales. Model 3 also had an extra log log scale (LL0).
This printing was made after the company moved to Santa Barbara in 1964. See the associated items, 1980.0097.01 and 1980.0097.05.
Location
Currently not on view
date written
1947
date printed
ca 1965
maker
Hartung, Maurice L.
printer
Pickett Industries
ID Number
1980.0097.06
accession number
1980.0097
catalog number
1980.0097.06

Advertising Pamphlet for Otis King's Pocket Calculator

The cover of this eight-page pamphlet is blue and black. It reads: HOW THE (/) OTIS KING (/) SPIRAL (/) SLIDE RULE (/) SAVES TIME (/) AND MISTAKES (/) IN ALL (/) CALCULATIONS (/) SIMPLE (/) QUICK (/) ACCURATE.
Description
The cover of this eight-page pamphlet is blue and black. It reads: HOW THE (/) OTIS KING (/) SPIRAL (/) SLIDE RULE (/) SAVES TIME (/) AND MISTAKES (/) IN ALL (/) CALCULATIONS (/) SIMPLE (/) QUICK (/) ACCURATE. The text describes the features and advantages of the Otis King cylindrical slide rule. Drawings demonstrate the three steps required to make calculations with the instrument. The pamphlet also lists 13 sample problems the Otis King Pocket Calculator could solve, 37 companies that were major customers of the rule, and 50 professions that usefully employed the rule. The back page carries five anonymous testimonials.
This pamphlet arrived with 1981.0922.09 and 1981.0922.11. It is exactly the same as 1989.3049.04, except that it is not stamped with information about where the rule was purchased.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965-1970
maker
Carbic Limited
ID Number
1981.0922.10
accession number
1981.0922
catalog number
1981.0922.10

Instructions for Otis King's Pocket Calculator

This 16-page pamphlet was printed on light green paper by Carbic Limited, the London manufacturer of the cylindrical slide rule invented by Otis King. It is titled: The Otis King Calculator: Instructions for Use.
Description
This 16-page pamphlet was printed on light green paper by Carbic Limited, the London manufacturer of the cylindrical slide rule invented by Otis King. It is titled: The Otis King Calculator: Instructions for Use. This form of pamphlet is typically found with King Calculators manufactured later than those that sold with Carbic's eight-page pamphlet. (See 1987.0788.06.) Thus, it was printed no earlier than the late 1960s. This pamphlet did, though, appear before the pound sterling was decimalized in 1971.
An introduction to the instrument has been added, and explanations have been expanded for multiplication and division, logarithms, and understanding the scales. The further examples are nearly identical to those in the earlier form of instructions. The explanations of how to use the logarithmic capabilities of Model L are the same except that the word "unity" has been replaced by the number 1. Discussions of compound roots and approximation have been added, and the explanation of finding the decimal point is expanded.
Reference: Dick Lyon, "Otis King's Patent Calculator," http://www.svpal.org/~dickel/OK/OtisKing.html.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1965-1970
maker
Carbic Limited
ID Number
1981.0922.11
accession number
1981.0922
catalog number
1981.0922.11

Pickett Elementary Simplex Math Slide Rule Instructions

Maurice L. Hartung, a mathematics professor at the University of Chicago, wrote this 48-page booklet in 1965. It sold separately for $1.00, but it was also included with Pickett's N901 simplex slide rule (1995.0126.02). John W.
Description
Maurice L. Hartung, a mathematics professor at the University of Chicago, wrote this 48-page booklet in 1965. It sold separately for $1.00, but it was also included with Pickett's N901 simplex slide rule (1995.0126.02). John W. Pickett marketed that rule to teachers and students from the second grade up.
The instructions are structured as a workbook, requiring students to fill in a blank for each numbered item. The items both explain the slide rule's functions and test students' comprehension. The answers are printed in the right margin of each page. The manual covers addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, proportion and percent, scientific notation, decimal points, squares and square roots, and the C, D, CI, and L scales. The inside back cover advertises the benefits of Pickett all metal slide rules and provides instructions for caring for the slide rule.
The ten-digit phone number for Pickett, Inc., in Santa Barbara, Calif., is written in ink on the back cover of the booklet, above the printed copyright date and company address.
References: Greg Scott, "Pickett – Elementary Simplex Math Slide Rule," http://sliderule.ozmanor.com/man/man020-pickn901es-01.html.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1965
date received
1995
author
Hartung, Maurice L.
ID Number
1995.0126.02.01
accession number
1995.0126
catalog number
1995.0126.02.01

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