Instructions for Sterling Precision Slide Rule

Instructions for Sterling Precision Slide Rule

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Description
ID number 1988.0807.01 was received with this flyer, which is marked on the front: STERLING SLIDE RULE A QUALITY INSTRUMENT FOR (/) STUDENT OR PROFESSIONAL (/) OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS (/) A complete course in use and operation of slide rule [sic]. The instructions cover multiplication and division, the CI scale (which is called the C1 scale), squares (the A and B scales) and square roots, and the K, L, S, and T scales. The back of the flyer is marked: STERLING PLASTICS CO. (/) MANUFACTURERS OF QUALITY SCHOOL SUPPLIES (/) 1140 Commerce Avenue, Union, New Jersey. The company logo (the letters SP inside a clear circle that is in turn inside a square formed of horizontal lines) is to the left of the mark. Sterling Plastics, whose main factory was in Mountainside, N.J., sold a variety of inexpensive plastic slide rules for students in the 1960s and 1970s.
Location
Currently not on view
Object Name
sheet
date made
1961-1972
maker
Sterling Plastics
place made
United States: New Jersey, Mountainside
Physical Description
paper (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 28.5 cm x 19 cm; 11 7/32 in x 7 15/32 in
ID Number
1988.0807.05
accession number
1988.0807
catalog number
1988.0807.05
Credit Line
Gift of George A. Norton
subject
Mathematics
Rule, Calculating
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Science & Mathematics
Slide Rules
Data Source
National Museum of American History
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Comments

The Sterling Precision Slide Rule, with the instruction sheet shown here, was issued to the U.S. Naval Academy class of 1980 as plebes in the summer of 1976. I believe we were the last class to be issued slide rules because of the advent of electronic calculators. Perhaps more importantly, my Class of 1980 was the first class to have women admitted. I found it to be an interesting case of first and last.

John Spencer

Fri, 2019-08-16 08:19

There are two special markings, I would like to know the use of. On the S scale 1 degree 11 minutes has a special marking as does 1 degree 59 minutes has a quote mark and a longer demarcation line (as long as the 2 degree line) What is significant about these two angles?

Rose Yi

Fri, 2019-03-08 09:00

Hi, my name is Oscar and I was interested in this flyer because I recently came across a Sterling silver rule and I wanted to learn how to use it. I had absolutely no idea how old this mathematics tool is and it's amazing to me that it was manufactured in the early seventies. Thankyou for allowing the public to see these amazing parts of history that we all seem to forget.

Oscar valdeZ

Mon, 2017-12-04 15:24

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