ISSN 1466-3570

October 2009 No. 33

NEWSLETTER of the UK SLIDE RULE CIRCLE Editor: Colin Barnes, 189 Mildenhall Road, Fordham, Ely, Cambs. CB7 5NW Tel: 01638 720317 e-mail: [email protected]

Editorial despite that, all credit to Bob and the others of the JOS publication team, that following the My attention was caught by an item in birth of the Oughtred Society, they created, a critical article in the Daily Telegraph of June developed, expanded and produced a pre- 6th on Gordon Brown during his troubles. In eminent slide rule publication for 18 years! the second paragraph of this half-page article This is an unparalleled record that anyone by Neil Tweedie and Andrew Pierce they should be proud of. Bob’s encyclopaedic remark, probably with Brown’s appearance on knowledge of slide rules and allied U-tube, “Tony Blair was forever flashing his mathematical subjects resulted in the JOS pearly whites – but not his successor. Mr carrying wide ranging articles that have led the Brown uses a slide-rule (sic) to calculate how way and set the standards for those of us rivals many smiles he should use in a speech, and (not really!) such as the UKSRC Gazette to always rounds down”. [See also Peter Hopp’s follow. I do not envy those who will follow; comments in this issue!] they have a hard act to match, let alone to try and surpass. But that presents new ideas and Autumn Meeting. Don’t forget our challenges which ultimately should produce Autumn Meeting on October 4th at Bletchley new limits for the rest of us to match. I’m sure Park. Come and participate with a congenial everyone will join with me in thanking Bob for group of enthusiasts and take the opportunity his incredible efforts to date and the legacy he to visit the comprehensive exhibition of has created, and in wishing him all the very artefacts in the National Museum of best in the future. I hope that we continue to Computing and the wider complex of Bletchley see his articles appearing in all the slide rule Park. During the course of our meeting we publications. expect to have an ENIGMA Simulator Peter Hopp Programme which will be most appropriate in view of our venue. We hope as many members as possible will attend and we look forward to a record turnout. If you have not yet indicated your intention to join us please don’t delay, give me a call today on 01638 720317 or email me at [email protected]

A big thank you to all who have contributed so generously to our appeal for funds for the display cabinet. We plan to pass a cheque to TNMOC at our meeting there but it is not too late to subscribe if you wish. Bob Otnes … an appreciation

The recent news that Bob Otnes has relinquished editorship of the JOS for personal reasons brings us to the end of an era, and what an era it has been. It has not always been obvious as to why the JOS followed the strategy for publishable material that it did, but

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New Members & Directory Each display panel is illustrated in full colour on the right hand pages with a brief Changes description of the numbered slide rules on the left. A table of contents provides the location The UKSRC is pleased to welcome the of panels by manufacturer or by speciality. following new members: The total number of slide rules and discs Graham R. Smith illustrated is in excess of 2000. 66 Humberstone Road Luton LU4 9 SS This collection will amaze and awe [email protected] the average collector and well illustrates the diversity of slide rules manufactured. Bruce Sandie 25 Moselle Street The cost of the book is about €73.00 Mont Albert North including postage within Europe and the USA Victoria 3129 for the paperback version. The hardback Australia edition is also about €73.00 in the USA but [email protected] higher for Europe. To preview the contents and for full details of costs please search for Trevor Catlow keyword “schuitema” in the BUY section of 117 Ramsgate Road Lulu’s website: Broadstairs http://lulu.com Kent CT10 2ER Because of its size this book is [email protected] relatively expensive, a free download of the complete book at print quality (a 400 MB pdf- New email file) is available by request at Lulu’s check out. Ian Lodge [email protected] Slide Rules – A W Faber/A W Faber-Castell Models, Types, Scales. Peter Hopp Peter Holland [email protected] Bookworm

The Schuitema Collection – a Gallery of Panels with Slide Rules and Discs. IJzebrand Schuitem and Otto van Poelje. ISBN 978-90-805701-9-1 (paperback) ISBN 978-90-805701-8-4 (hardback) Published by lulu.com

With IJebrand’s slide rule collection having been donated to the Arithmeum This 128 page A5 book could equally Museum in Bonn, the authors decided that a be called the Faber/Faber-Castell pictorial record of the original collection Encyclopaedia, and as such it would meet its should be made. The result is this book of target – it really does cover in detail all models almost 400 pages of illustrations of 188 display that one would normally expect to meet if panels on 55 themes. specialising in this particular maker.

The catalogue presentation is sensible and logical, the information is laid out clearly in both German and English without being fiddly or difficult and it does cover all aspects of “Models, Types and Scales” as the book’s sub-title declares. It clarified quickly and simplified doubts I had about a number of examples within my own collection. I must also compliment the author and his team; there are few (if any) typos or grammatical nonsense which makes using it an added pleasure.

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Specifically excluded are the Faber- What Would be Your Reaction Castell war production slide rules (labelled “hel”) which is a shame, and possibly the “Early Examples” could have been expanded to cover the obvious variants with gold lettering and so on. Peter also sensibly makes no attempt to cover any “mysterious” F-C slide rules that are known to exist, such as the Hemmi’s in F-C boxes with F-C back papers and cursor. Nor does he try and resolve any of the other un-resolved “weirdies” such as the claim for the 1/60/360 in an F-C instruction book that “This slide rule which is made in five sizes 4”, 5”, 6”, 10” and 20” ….”. These points are minor and really picky and in no way detract from a very fine piece of work. This is an excellent reference work which I can absolutely and unhesitatingly recommend as the definitive guide to these Makers and should be part of any slide rule collector’s library. Go and buy it tomorrow! “Great news, the burglars only took your This book is modestly priced at €15 stupid slide rules” (Europe), €20 (Worldwide) Peter Hopp Heaven forbid that this situation should happen to any member of the UKSRC, Gazette 10, Autumn 2009 but what would be your reaction should your better half come up with such pearls of wisdom? Answers to Hon Ed or PMH please! The Slide Rule Museum http://www.sliderulemuseum.com

Mike Konshak’s on-line International Slide Rule Museum has been mentioned before in Skid Stick, and I would strongly recommend another look. It has obviously been growing over the recent past, not least in the ‘Historical Photos, People with SRs’ gallery which has Our 10th Anniversary Issue of the over 200 pictures of People and Slide Rules, Gazette is now available, with as, usual over but also in the ‘SR Who’s Who, Past and one hundred pages of interesting and diverse Present’ gallery where brief biographies and articles too numerous to mention. Copies pictures of slide rule luminaries are presented. available from the Hon. Ed. or via the 2010 membership subscription form (enclosed) I was especially delighted to find two Price inc. p&p £13.00 (UK), £16.00 images I have been hunting for a long time. (Europe), £18.00 (rest of world). Firstly, a picture of someone actually wearing a slide rule, (see Skid Stick 26, “Holstered slide Joint Slide Rules rules” Fact or fantasy?) the 1962 painting of Peter M Hopp, C. Eng., M.B.C.S. Frederick Emmons Terman, (1900–1986) complete with slide rule at waist. Terman is credited with being the father of Silicon Valley, any dude who wears a slide rule like that has to be worth knowing! Secondly, a picture of Sergei Korolev, (1906–1965) the father of the Soviet Space industry which I have been aware of but have never seen. There are a multitude of other interesting pictures of “People and Slide Rules”, I hope to be working with Mike rather than competing in this area.

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Further Mysteries solved - perhaps! “Hale’s Slide Rule” “Barron’s Calculating Rule” Peter Hopp

C.N. Pickworth’s “The Indicator Handbook” part II (2nd edn. 1904), (being used for my ongoing search for planimeter and related data), has a description of Hale’s Slide Rule for indicator diagrams (see SS27, October 2007, page 5). The original Skid Stick article should have given us a clue. It noted that the price of the rule from the 1898 Stanley catalogue, in a case, was 4/- compared with other slide rules at anything between £1/- and £2/18/- for a 50cm Gravet rule. It must therefore have been a very simple slide rule. Hale’s rule was also advertised in all but one consecutive Pickworth’s “The Slide Rule” from 1900 to 1906, so it was by no means a ‘here today gone tomorrow’ device.

Part of Chapter 7 on [Indicator] “Diagram Calculations” notes: “With a view to more accurately effecting the summation of the lengths of the ordinates, [on an indicator diagram, to work out its mean height] special instruments have been devised as substitutes for the paper strip previously mentioned. Examples of these devices are the Meanometer and Hale's Slide Scale. [Neither illustrated.] The latter comprises a suitably divided scale with a sliding vernier which will give readings to 0.001in. In using the scale, the ordinates are drawn as described, and the zero on the slide W. D. F. Vincent having been brought opposite to the zero on the scale, the scale is placed on the first ordinate with the slide on the lower line of the In SS 32 we briefly noted the passing diagram. The slide is then moved forward of Jeff Vincent’s father. It was Jeff who along the ordinate until the edge of the slide provided so much information on the Vincent cuts the upper line of the diagram. After this Square in Jenny Hutchinson’s and David operation has been repeated for each of the 10 Rance’s article Never Mind the Quality…Feel ordinates, the reading on the slide is taken, the Width, Slide Rule Gazette 9. and this multiplied by the scale of the spring used will give the M.E.P. in pounds per square To complete the story, Jeff’s father inch”. was Bill Vincent who was the son of Leslie Vincent, the younger son of W D F Vincent. I don’t think that this is particularly clearly or carefully written. The ‘sliding A Good Home Wanted vernier’ is, I believe, a cursor of sorts, and references to the ‘slide’ should actually be to Elin Williams offers an Audco Pipe the ‘sliding vernier’ or cursor. But from this we Flow Calculator by Mears & Co. of can see a simply graduated rule with a Huddersfield. The calculator comes with its similarly divided cursor to enable careful and plastic wallet and instruction sheet. Please accurate readings of length rather like vernier contact Elin Williams at: callipers. [email protected]

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And so to the second mystery which - JOHN LILLEY & SONS, LTD. (WILSON & is possibly solved – is not what has been GILLIE), Messrs., The New Quay, North described above what we see in a more Shields. sophisticated (certainly more complicated) There is no mention of Hale’s Slide design in the Barron’s Calculating Rule first Rule in the “Dictionary…” and neither are the described in SS31, Feb 2009, page 8, and then company Barron’s nor their Calculating Rules followed up in SS32? Further research using mentioned. However, I think we have proved Google found that “Barron’s” made a number that the Barron’s device is a type of of slight variants in their various incarnations Meanometer. Now if anyone has a and at different addresses, and one that recently Meanometer from these or any other makers sold at Auction quoted a Provisional Patent then my cup runneth over – does anyone? dated 6/5/88. We find that this turned into Please let me know. In return, an s.a.e to me Patent 6050/1889 for a “Calculating and you can have a copy of the full Barron & Apparatus, Steam Engine Indicator” granted to Harding 1889 Patent specification. Barron, T.G. & Harding, J.O.1 and the full patent does give instructions for use. The brief Help! patent description is for “A strip graduated to read the mean length of a series of ordinates, A friend of mine, Prof. Rod Home, is the sum of the ordinates being read by means seeking information about an 18th C special of a courser. [sic] It is chiefly useful with the purpose slide rule, as outlined in the following diagrams of steam engine indicators. There message. Can anyone help? may be added a slide to give values such as horse-power depending on the means of “I have a query that has been bugging ordinates”. This is a fair description of a me for a long time. It occurs to me that you or Barron’s Calculating Rule as shown in Skid someone in your circle of slide rule enthusiasts Stick, at least in part, however no version of may be able to help. Barron’s rule I have seen or read about has a With colleagues in Portugal, I’m slide, and yes, it is a type of Meanometer. preparing an edition of the fascinating surviving correspondence of the 18th-century The Baron’s scales allow the M.E.P to Portuguese physicist João Jacinto Magalhães be directly worked out. The numbers at the left (Jean Hyacinthe de Magellan) (1722-1790). of the scales indicate the number of lbs. Magellan spent most of the last thirty years of pressure required to deflect the tracing point his life in . His letters include a great one inch. Assuming ten ordinates then the deal of information about the late 18th-century total length gives you the M.E.P. directly. I scientific instrument trade, of which London have yet to make up my mind as to practicality. was the primary hub. From what I remember springs of 20, 30, 40, In a letter from London to Johann III 50 and 60 lbs. Sq”/inch were the normal fit for Bernoulli in Berlin dated 28 January 1772, an Indicator, and they do not immediately seem Magellan included the text of an obituary of appropriate to the 8, 16, 32 etc numbers on the the recently deceased astronomer Dr John Barrons, but I shall have to study this further. Bevis FRS, written by Bevis’s friend James Horsfall FRS. (Bernoulli subsequently The “Dictionary of British Scientific 2 published a French translation of this.) In it, Instruments” (1919) defines a Meanometer as Horsfall wrote, inter alia: “The only thing that “a boxwood scale divided with the various appears under his name is his Satellite Sliding indicator scales, and having a sliding index for rule for finding ye imers. & Emersions of Jupr. ascertaining the mean pressure of steam from 4 Satellites ...”. an indicator diagram”. They give them as Horsfall was clearly talking here made by: about separately published works, since Bevis - HEATH & Co., LTD., New Eltham Scientific published many papers in the Gentleman's Instrument, Works, New Eltham, London, Magazine, the Royal Society of London’s S.E.9. Philosophical Transactions, and elsewhere. I'd - HUGHES & SON, LTD., HENRY, 59, like to give a reference in our edition to this Fenchurch Street, London, E.C.3. “satellite sliding rule” publication - my impression is that it’s a pamphlet of some kind - but I haven’t managed to track down a copy. 1 The late Ruth Wallis referred to it in an article Bruce Williams “Non-Electronic Patents”. CD available from the UKSRC. on Bevis that she published a few years ago in 2http://www.archive.org/stream/dictionaryofbrit00scieiala/ “Notes & Records of the Royal Society” and dictionaryofbrit00scieiala_djvu.txt 5 Skid Stick Issue 33 October 2009 also in a typescript bibliography of Bevis’s index arms would have been attached to the publications that she deposited at the Royal original instrument”. These pictures are Society, but she indicated in both places that shown below. she hadn’t succeeded in locating a copy; her only source of information about it was Horsfall’s obituary as published by Bernoulli. I’ve consulted both Peter Hingley, the librarian at the Royal Astronomical Society in London, and the well-known historian of the 18th- century scientific instrument trade, Anita McConnell, who is a friend of mine, and neither of them has been able to track it down. But it occurs to me that slide-rule specialists such as yourself might have come across it. The pictures are not worth making Does it ring any bells with you? Or with your any bigger as there is not a lot of detail; slide-rule collector friends? Any suggestions however they show a “Circles…” that does not you might have would be warmly welcomed appear to have ever been reported on in any of and suitably acknowledged” the present documents, and may even have Bruce Sandie been forgotten. The unique feature appears to [email protected] be the planisphere, I am not aware of another with such a feature. Sadly there is no clue as to Help! - replies maker, date or size.

From Dieter von Jezierski: Known Circles of Proportion I read Skid Stick with pleasure. On Maker Size Date Where page 13, SS 32, help was forthcoming on the Wichmann 3503 and master catalogue (20th Allen 12″ 1630 Whipple Ed.). I have word from Gunter Kugel that on Allen 18″ 1634 MHS page 742 can be found: Allen ? 1648 NMS 1 .Preisberichtigungen – Drucklegung Davenport 6″ 1650 NMS 1.2.1939 Unknown 5¼″ 1633-40 Harvard thus giving the date of this edition as 1939. Unknown ? c1700 Sci. Mus.

“Circles of Proportion” - TNMOC News another update. Key source of British computing history Peter Hopp becomes accessible to researchers

Back in Skid Stick No 30, a year ago, The rapidly growing computing we carried an update on extant Circles of archive at The National Museum of Computing Proportion following the report of another at Bletchley Park is now open to researchers. example in the Bulletin of the SIS No 84, (2005), bringing the total “Circles …” known in Museums to five. Further study of old SIS The collection which began only two Bulletins (I know, sad old man) appears to years ago has just been re-housed in accessible have found a sixth example. shelving thanks to a generous donation by An advert for a Christie’s instrument Compact Storage Ltd and it is now feasible for sale in BSIS No 12 (1987) included a Circles researchers to gain access to computer of Proportion: “A rare circle of proportion and software, documentation, disks, cassettes, combined calculator with celestial chart, DVDs, films and videos that have marked the unfinished, unsigned, c.1700.” Subsequently progress of computing, and especially British in BSIS No 14 (1987) in the regular “Market computing, over the past decades Place” feature1 they report very simply against pictures of the “Circles…”: “Recto and Verso Highlights of the Archive include the faces of the circle of proportion and complete ICL manufacturing archive on almost planisphere acquired at Christie's South four million 35mm aperture cards and the Kensington by the Science Museum. A pair of complete Digital microfiche collection of over 10,000 films. 1 “Market Place”, BSIS, No. 14 (1987), Pl3 6 Skid Stick Issue 33 October 2009

Led by TNMOC’s Archivist Alan Peter Hopp Batey, the task of indexing and further A Tenuous Link expanding the archive is well underway. A fully-equipped office has been built alongside This is a very tenuous connection with the Archive for researchers. slide rules but I couldn’t resist. In 2006 I wrote an article on Blundell’s early days in To request access to the Archive, Luton. During my research I corresponded researchers should email [email protected] with Mrs Elvira Adams who had worked at explaining the nature and purpose of their Blundells as a young secretary. Since, Mrs work. Adams has kept in touch from her home in Swansea. Her latest missive included cutting Slide Rule Gazette – its future from The Sun, The Daily Mail, the Swansea Evening Post and the with images of Jeremy Clarkson and James May This last year we have been blessed gatecrashing her daughter, Angela’s, wedding with many contributions to the Gazette, to reception in , the “Top Gear” such an extent that several articles are already presenters having just raced from London, being prepared for next year. This has raised Clarkson on the footplate of a steam engine. the question as to whether we should consider producing the Gazette twice yearly, in the Spring and in the Autumn. Of course such a consideration is totally reliant on the continuing rate of submission of articles from you the members. The size of any new twice yearly publication will naturally be somewhat smaller than the current annual one whilst the cost will be greater than half due to mailing costs.

Members views and comments are solicited on this proposal.

New Information - Rabone dates.

Back in SS25 and SS27 we had a bit of fun and some discussion on the androgynous logo of Vulcan (Vulcana?) on Rabone rules and slide rules, and came to a conclusion that The Sun couldn’t help reporting that the date of registration of the Vulcan hinge Clarkson wore his best morning “soot”. design was 5th October 1869. However CB following correspondence with David Riches on another example which also carries the Registered Design lozenge, he says that “Quote – Unquote” following investigation under his 24x inspection microscope, the date is either the An article by Boris Johnson (Daily 15th or more likely 13th October 1869. There Telegraph, July 20) on our risk averse society is definitely a one in front of the figure 3 or 5 makes mention of the first moon landing with (He thinks it is a 3 but it isn't very clear. The the following: “Their fellow-pilots died in fires figure is offset to the right with the one equally and crashes. They used sextants and slide- offset to the left just as you would expect it to rules (sic) and bits of paper to navigate space, be.) David also passed on some dating and when the Eagle finally landed, it was information for Rabone examples. Rules within seconds of running our of fuel” labelled J. Rabone & Son (singular) are pre 1877, the change of partnership name from This next quote comes from John Rabone & Son to & Sons came in Codebreaker in the Far East by Alan Stripp 1877 when John Junior's two sons joined the (O.U.P. edition 1995). A plain Japanese text, partnership and necessitated the change. This written in kana syllables, each of which was is confirmed by the 1878 price list which has then substituted by another kana syllable on John Rabone & Sons on its title page. the basis of a table which changed daily. A 7 Skid Stick Issue 33 October 2009 form of slide-rule (sic) was used for reading it, PMH at least at Bletchley Park, which suggests that Logarithms there was some underlying pattern, …” The following extract from an aricle Newspaper Worm by Sandi Toksvig in the Sunday Telegraph (July 19) caught my attention: A variation on our normal theme, but “When I was a kid I don’t think it occurred to I could not resist it! The Daily Telegraph of anyone that education should be fun. Indeed I June 6 contained the scurrilous suggestion that suspect most school was simply viewed as a “Mr Brown uses a slide-rule to calculate how form of legal youthful restraint. Take maths. I many smiles he should use in a speech, and spent hours of my life learning how to deal always rounds down”. How dare they suggest with logarithms only to realise, 40 years later, that the Prime Minister uses this wonderful that it is a skill I have never employed. …no tool in such an inappropriate way! Particularly one has ever said: ‘Oh, if only we knew what when accompanied by a photograph of the man power we need to raise this base to, then our himself that begs the question “Would you buy bacon would be saved.’” a used car from this man?” No answers needed!

Oughtred Society News

Over the past 18 years, the Journal of the Oughtred Society has grown to become the leading journal for researching, documenting, and for providing information on slide rule and calculating history. It has also become one of the most important benefits of membership in the Society. Earlier this year, our editor and major contributor, Bob Otnes, informed the board that he needed to step down due to personal reasons and requested that we work towards I’m sure we are all heartily fed up transitioning the responsibility for the Journal with the on-going nonsense about MPs and to other willing and qualified members, their imaginative use of expenses, however beginning with the second 2009 issue. Kate again, I could not resist the following notice I and I, as the senior officers, found ourselves saw somewhere. Many a true word in jest? with the unenviable challenge of trying to replace an absolutely unique and irreplaceable resource. Thankfully, Bob has done us the enormous favor of giving us sufficient time to develop a pragmatic solution to ensure continuity and quality of the Journal by staying on board during the transition. We remain hopeful that Bob’s situation will allow him to stay a very key member of the editing team without having to bear the primary responsibility of issuing the Journal on a regular deadline every six months. After considerable searching for both qualified and willing candidates, the new editor team leaders have been defined as Bob Koppany and Otto von Poelje. They will be supported in every way possible by many other key members, including, but are not limited to, Bob Otnes, Don Black, Ted Hume, Tom

8 Skid Stick Issue 33 October 2009

Wyman, Bob De Cesaris, Clark McCoy and Articles can be short or long, Kate Matthews. All team members have technical or not, elementary or advanced. pledged to cooperate together to create a Your choice. They can be on any aspect of successful transition for the JOS. This slide rules or other types of calculators. Some transition is effective beginning with all articles are fundamental and basic in nature; articles intended for the second 2009 JOS some are highly technical; some delve into issue and forward. Bob Koppany, Otto von history or research. Poelje or one of their team representatives Articles have dealt with such diverse will follow up with the membership via subjects as buying on eBay, long scale slide email shortly with an updated specific rules, slide chart calculators, radar slide rules, process for submitting articles to the JOS in Gunter rules in navigation, the P scale, the the US and in Europe/Asia/other regions. Curta calculator, tie bar slide rules, timber Kate and I want to thank the rules, abaci, Hemmi 50 cm slide rules, cleaning Editorship Transition Team for their recent a slide rule, arithmetic with Roman numerals, participation in discussions and decisions stadia slide rules, etc. regarding the JOS. We feel secure in knowing What is your specialty or area of that the future of the Oughtred Society is expertise? Or do you have an unusual slide bright. Our core mission, that of publishing a rule or calculator? Please share it with us! quality journal of worthy historical, research- Send us an article about it. The Journal is oriented, and collecting articles, the JOS, dependent on members’ writing articles for obviously is and should remain a key area of publication. focus. But today we are doing much more: In I will be assisting JOS Editorial Team the past year we've reinforced the foundations leaders Dr. Robert (Bob) Koppany and Otto of our non-profit status, supported new van Poelje by gathering articles, proofreading, regional meetings, and kicked off several communicating with authors, and maintaining educational initiatives. The educational a central record of all articles for each issue. programs, which provide scholarships to Bob Koppany will focus on production of the mathematically-inclined students and place Journal, including graphic design, typesetting, slide rules into the hands of our youth, are truly layout and fulfillment. Otto van Poelje will exciting. By bringing slide rules back into the focus on European contributions, and classroom, we are providing our children with especially on history and research oriented deeper insight into the physical realities that articles. All Editorial Team members will work underlie all mathematics. together between themselves and with you the The year 2011 also marks the authors. Society's 20th anniversary. To celebrate, we You may contact the Journal and will be hosting the International Slide Rule submit your articles by sending Email or postal Collectors Meeting (IM2011) at MIT, in mail to me at the addresses below. Cambridge, MA, the first time ever in the US! We have so many exciting and wonderful Ted Hume opportunities ahead of us. It's more important Email : [email protected] than ever that we work and volunteer our time Telephone : 325-651-8888 to reinforce the Oughtred Society’s legacy, to Postal address : P.O. Box 63021 prove to the world that we are more than just San Angelo, TX 76906 collectors. With your support, we can achieve USA anything! [Potential authors please note that arrange- Kate Matthews ments for submitting articles have been Bob De Cesaris simplified and a copy of Guidelines to Authors can be obtained from Otto van Poelje or from FROM : Ted Hume, Associate Editor, any member of the OS editorial team. Ed.] Journal of the Oughtred Society (JOS) Punched or Branded? Greetings fellow Oughtred Society Werner H. Rudowski members. Your Volume 18, No. 1, 2009 issue of the Journal of the Oughtred Society will be How did instrument makers apply ready to go to the printer very soon. We are numbers and letters to rules made of boxwood starting to work now on the next issue of the or ivory? Usually we read that they punched Journal, Volume 18, No. 2, Fall 2009. We ask them into the wood and then blackened the you to consider submitting an article for ground. But was this the only procedure? publication in the Fall issue.

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Some years ago at the car-boot-sale especially on rather old ones- numbers and during a Stanley auction in Coalville I bought a letters do not seem to be punched as one cardboard pot with nearly sixty tools, 37 with cannot feel any groove. And what about ivory? capital letters, 17 with numbers and 3 with the Is this material too brittle for punching? Any symbols Æ, & and +. Letters and numbers comments are very welcome. have different sizes from 1.8 to 2.9 mm. The [These were most probably used by dealer had many more of these tool pots all bookbinders for embossing the covers of with a mix-up of numbers and letters. leather bound books. Heating was required The tools are made of brass with a for this purpose also, however Werner's theory wooden handle (Fig. 1). A stroke on the brass- seems equally plausible. Ed.] shaft marks the top of the symbol. Of course, the wooden handle would not allow punching. The “Chocolator” Therefore it is no wonder that part of the wood is burnt near the brass (Fig. 1), i.e. with these A really wierdo calculator! tools ciphers and letters were burnt onto wooden instruments.

We are far enough beyond April Fool’s Day to be able to show this without fear of confusion, so here, courtesy of Bill Thacker, is the “Chocolator™”. This is a novelty calculator, which he told me about as follows: “Car boot season has started and I have “sniffed” out a new theme of calculators to search for; those that smell. This is officially a Figure 1 sub-set of the theme we started hunting out some years ago, novelty and promotional A very simple test confirmed that it calculators. The keypad is a bit like a ZX81 works: Heated for about 20 to 30 seconds in with lumps, but it really does smell of the flame of a candle the tools burn their chocolate. Although it is solar powered I am symbol quite well into ordinary wood. Figure 2 worried in case it might melt if left in the sun. shows the result after wiping off the soot from I don't know how old it is or how long the the candle flame with a moist cloth. The wood aroma will linger, I suppose I should wrap it in is burnt black and one can easily feel the silver foil to preserve the smell and store in the grooves with the finger-tips. With more fridge”. suitable heating equipment one could probably Following on the theme, here are a avoid soot and shorten the time for heating up couple of “Polo” calculators from my the tools. Also results should improve in collection. Both work and are about 4½” quality with a bit more experience. diameter, one “Original” the other “Spearmint”. These don’t smell! Anyone have other interesting examples?

Figure 2

I do not know if these tools ever were used for making slide rules. On some rules,

10 Skid Stick Issue 33 October 2009

Pre-Announcement IM 2010, Leiden, the Netherlands

The next International Meeting of Slide rule Collectors is to be held on September 17 & 18 in the ancient city of Leiden. A full programme is being prepared for attendees and their partners and all are welcome. Provisional hotel rooms have been booked. Full details and registration forms will be available later this year at www.rekenlinialen.org or for more information contact Otto van Poelje at [email protected] Dogs in Space

Courtesy of John Hunt Snr, the following images are from a BBC 4 programme broadcast on Monday 6th July. It concerned the Russians and their efforts to send dogs into space – did anyone else see it and can you identify the slide rule?

Matters arising… Responses to SS32, SS31 etc.

SS32 had hardly hit the streets when the first e-mail with a “Matter Arising” plopped into my “Inbox” – it sounds so much more romantic than the “ping” of its electronic equivalent! Actually there were also a few left over from SS31 that were too late for publication in SS32, more in a moment.

Last of the few There has been even more follow-up on Werner Rudowski’s article in SS31. Much In a similar but different vein, curtsey was in SS32, however Francis Wells who made of Prof. Karl Kleine come the following many of the same points also came up with a images from the film “Last of the Few” new variant of an Addiator as another tool chronicling the design of the Spitfire and its which was used as well as the ubiquitous designer Reginald Mitchell. It is great to see a Ready Reckoners as a way of providing variety of appropriate slide rules in the film, an answers to difficult quantity and money sums. excellent watch if you have not already done I have never come across a Correntator, but so: 11 Skid Stick Issue 33 October 2009 apparently it was used by Francis’ father and it What you see above is 3½” wide and can be seen to be a £.s.d variant. Also, a most ½” high, made largely of plastic. The interesting article which just about says it all contraption at the right hand end is a lid, which can be found on the Web by googling “ready would cover the device at left when it is not in reckoners”. Various slide rules of not such use. No more clues, as it would be too easy, monumental size but called names as answers please! “Commerzant” or “Commercial” have also been mentioned. What Is It – 2?

This time not a trick question, but a genuine plea for help! The wooden box is well made with high quality brass hinges and catches, milled and drilled from the solid.

The base is baize covered. It is 10cm long by 4cm wide, by 3.5cm deep. It contains three identical widgets, made of sherredised (?) brass, as the one on the right of the picture. There is a fourth zinc coated brass widget with a semicircular “foot”, and then there is the fifth much bigger brass device about 8cm long and 1cm dia. at its knurled middle. They all have the slotted “pin” which can be expanded by Tom Martin tells us that the “Very tightening down the steel (pointed) screw. Unusual Rule” from Werner Rudowski is Hence the notice “Do not tighten clamp when either a Board Stick or else a Log Stick, as not in use”. Engraved on the side in fine, tiny described in Stanley’s “A Source Book for letters is GPO SEC 58 – I am none the wiser Rule Collectors”. The scales on the stick are and the web has nothing to offer. Help please. calculated to give the volume of wood in a board of a particular width as labelled at the What Is It – 3? end of the stick, we had a chuckle at the A recent boot sale purchase looked thought of going into B&Q with such a device like a very nice but perfectly ordinary to check what you were getting. Actually, they Opisometer, in a plastic box which made it not probably could not care less, take it or leave it! that old, maybe 1960’s. Earlier variants are usually in a smart cardboard box. Likewise we also now know more about Barron’s calculating rule, see the longer piece elsewhere in this edition.

What Is It - 1?

It is something to do with calculation – vaguely – the principle it uses is fascinating!

12 Skid Stick Issue 33 October 2009

As is often the case, it was only on closer study that the oddities appeared. Firstly the “Curvimetre” or “Map-Measurer” No. 54MA (Made in France) which I had thought was made by Henri Chatelain because of the initials and ‘Map Measurer’ logo, turns out after cleaning, to have been made by H B and not H C. Secondly, the very small circular dial under the main “Inches” dial (marked clockwise to 48″ in halves with a gap, equivalent to 2″, to the zero point), which I had though was a fractions window for quarters of the inch, is labelled “Lines” (marked clockwise The Water Powered Accountants in halves, 4, 8, 12 16). What the devil are Calculator offers an environmentally friendly “Lines”1? The only clue is on the back in a solution to a product used every day either in table of conversion factors, part of which home, work or school whilst being more reads: 1 inch = 1000 Mil =25,4 m/m [sic] = 12 reliable than solar powered calculators. Just Lines. So whatever branch of measurement when you figured that solar-powered desk that uses Lines, has divisions one–twelfth of an calculators were the be all and end all of inch. The next obvious step was to measure an calculators, along comes the Water Powered inch and see how accurate it is. Well, running Calculator to defy conventional wisdom. The it carefully along a line on graph paper brings Water Powered Accountants Calculator runs up the inch point very accurately, and likewise on water, with no need for a light source. the 2, 3 and up to 10″ being the longest paper I Simply add a few drops of water to the have. However, careful observation as the removable battery and insert it back into the Opisometer is run along the line shows that the calculator for up to three months of use. It’s little hand does one complete circuit per inch; more reliable than a solar powered calculator but that means 16 Lines to the Inch. So HELP and friendlier to the earth too. This calculator please, does anyone know anything about is a must for every student, virtually Lines, and is there 12 or 16 to the inch, and in guaranteeing that the power will never run out what branch of Science are they used3? of their calculator in the middle of a math exam – making it a great addition to every A look at other Opisometers in my pencil case! When the display starts to fade, collection confirmed that I have another one simply refill and replace in the calculator. The with the ‘Map Measure’ logo but H C stamped liquid creates a chemical reaction in the fuel on it. Even this is slightly strange, measuring cell with a zinc anode and cathode. This makes 1 an electrical current that is good for up to 4″ x /16″ per circuit, and marking ‘1’ in a separate window per 4″ revolution. Does three months worth of power. Technical anyone know the history of Henri Chatelain (H Details: C) and when and why did they morph into H • Only need to refill with water every 2-3 B? months to maintain a constant supply of energy • Battery has a minimum continuous life You heard it first here: of at least two years Water Powered Accountants • Battery can be stored in its dry state Calculator indefinitely • Battery can be left to dry out at any time during its life One cannot help surmising whether • Twelve digit display this is for drippy accountants, but that will • Replacement batteries are available raise all sorts of comments so we will not go Price: £7.99 – sounds too good to be true! there! On the other hand we have had some really weird calculators recently, so is this so To find out more click the following link: weird? I can do no better than to quote the http://www.edirectory.co.uk/pf/465502/mia/pid advert Bill Thacker sent me, (thanks Bill, you /9433599 do find them!)

1 The Concise Oxford Dictionary gives: Line (As measure) 1/12 inch. And no other clues. 3

13 Skid Stick Issue 33 October 2009

Musings 33 source of dispute. It has also ensured a Peter Hopp plentiful supply of obsolete objects to enrich the seam”. Again, how very true! Does A philosophical thought to start you anyone have an example slide rule carrying Musing: Remember the golden rule when these lines, and what are they for? collecting - the pain of high price is slowly A recent conversation on what is the replaced with the pleasure of ownership. most useless object that you can think of came Toolshop Auctions Catalogue 1998. Discuss. up with a number of not surprising ideas. No, not an exam question, but how true! The These included dead button-cells and 35mm Boss thinks me a real cheapskate on occasions, film canisters – apart from the fact that most of and I sometimes agree! At least twice a year I us have gone digital, what on earth does one do not buy something because I think it too use an empty film canister for? Now that we expensive, and then end up regretting it for a have gone digital, I bet there are a myriad uses long time. I should remember the above for the wretched things going to come flooding thought more often! in. However, perhaps the most useless thing A piece in the Daily Telegraph “City we came up with was the key to an AA (or Diary” section back in February, forecast that, RAC) phone box. Anyone any better (or more by the time this is printed, we would have useless) ideas? surpassed the 1 millionth word in the English [I suggest that empty film canisters make Language – an amazing figure by any score. wonderful storage containers for dead button Later in the same piece a City investment cells. On a more serious note did anyone see a manager banned the use of certain words recent TV program where they were being including “foreigner”, “perfect storm” and used to weigh small birds after they had been “musing” from analyst reports, - that’s just a ringed? Small bird head down stuffed into film bit thick don’t you think? canister, onto jewellers scales! Ed.] Hon. Ed. and I regularly exchange Continuing from my last Musing books. They are the sort of books you read on about reproduction and fake instruments, I the loo for added concentration, but always found yet another article on the subject called they are meditative, cogitative books about “Reproduction Scientific Instruments – or thought provoking people. We both very much ‘Buyer Beware’” in an article in the SIS appreciate Richard Feynman and his Bulletin No 61, back in 1999; warning of the adventures, likewise Newton, Hooke, Boulton influx of “Stanley” and other reproductions. & Watt and others of such ilk are the sort of These wretched things have been around an people covered. One of the loans last year was awful long time, haven’t they? I also guess that “The last man who knew everything”, the many people have been taken in since they first biography of Thomas Young, a real polymath appeared. Sad isn’t it? When one sees just from the days when Polymaths really were…. how cheap the blessed things are, one has to Having been truly amazed at the breadth of question the cost of manufacture. Here the Young’s knowledge and erudition, I was, in answer must involve huge economies of scale passing, surprised that he appeared not to have and thus one can guess how many of them are done anything in the pure maths field (Young’s made to be able to sell at that price. modulus is applied maths). It was only a few A final bit of philosophy before the days after I had finished the book when I read a picture – one of my recent spam e-mails was snippet by the late Richard Knight in the 1997 headed “Contact list of geriatric specialists” Toolshop Auction Catalogue. This was about followed by one for “veterinarians” – come on the rare variety of lines on an alcohol rule, now who has been blabbing? There is life in marked YsV and HsV, devised by two eminent the old dog yet! The “philosophy” bit is Fellows of the Royal Society: physicist actually virulent anti-spam. I can’t be the only Thomas Young (1773-1829) and one who gets incensed at the amount of junk mathematician Charles Hutton (1737-1823). that comes as e-mail, and there are very few Richard continued: “Young, who was also bits of amusement in the rubbish that does distinguished in medicine and in Egyptology, is arrive. For us Luddites with snail mail it is best known for experiments which led to major even more infuriating as it is our precious advances in our understanding of the nature of minutes that are wasted till it hits the computer light and the mechanism of the human eye. and can be seen for the junk it is! That such men were consulted bears witness to Courtesy of Wendy Rath comes this the abiding resentment caused by taxation and picture from an advert for a television program the need to make sure that the measurements just before last Xmas called “Kinsey” – what is on which it was based were not themselves a the bloke holding, (thinking of the title) and could it be a slide rule? Answers on a

14 Skid Stick Issue 33 October 2009 postcard. There must also be some great with not even a small grunt! Everything, “Think Bubbles” here. (really, everything) I have tried to connect to it via the USB ports has just worked straight off. All types of video and image files just play, and it really is a pleasure, so much so that one or two other chums are thinking hard, particularly as it cost just a tad over £200. The only slight down side so far is that the Open Office equivalent of Word does not produce absolutely identical documents, the Excel equivalent tends to get upset with large spreadsheets, but I can sit with Carol and “work” while watching television, and then transfer it onto my desk machine and a few Sir Derrick Bailey, Bt. minutes of translation sorts that! There must be more pain somewhere, but I was getting so Some of you will remember Len fed up with Microsoft ordure (Vista, the new Peach’s postcard of “Joey the Flying Bear” in “7” operating system trial downloads etc), and with his pilot’s uniform, flight bag and “whiz- all getting more expensive by the day, that I wheel” fronting his Air Aurigny aircraft (SS25, had to try something different. So, mes brave, Feb. 2007). We hear of the death in June of Sir there is life after Microsoft, and it is both free Derrick Bailey the airline’s founder. Prior to and painless. Highly recommended, and his launch of Air Aurigny, Sir Derrick had thanks to John who started me off, I’m just been a distinguished wartime bomber pilot and sorry it took so long to become a convert! So I played cricket for Gloucestershire, becoming wrote in May. captain in 1951. That was the good news! After a while I found that the differences with Open Revolution nipped in the Source programmes, and the fact that not bud! everything had an equivalent OS programme or would not work with Linux, was beginning to We have had various articles about wear me down. It was just pinpricks but they using technology with your slide rule were becoming more and more of a pain. And collection, and many of you might have had then after 6 months the battery on my little some sympathy when previously I have Acer just died, like the Python parrot, suddenly whinged about Bill Gates and the problems and irretrievably! And then Amazon could with Microsoft products. Well, some while not/would not replace it as they no longer sold back, probably after a whine in Skid Stick, it (why, one wonders?) but were happy to give John Seago sent me a pile of goodies relating me my money back with no quibbles. And to Open Source software which did sound very then I found for very few pounds more a attractive. But I guess in the best traditions of Samsung NC10 of similar spec but with an Pavlov and his dogs, I just could not bring incredible 6½ hours battery life per charge, and myself to abandon Microsoft. Having said that, it runs Windows XP, and so my revolt was I then had an awful time trying to get fixes for nipped in the bud! I have many pain free problems with my Microsoft e-mail software. memories and a distant view of nirvana, and In frustration, I converted to Mozilla (Open I’m sure one day there will be a real alternative Source (OS) web software) which was to all Microsoft tools, and nirvana will come! absolutely painless to install and is a delight to It is certainly interesting to see that others use, but I stuck with the Microsoft devil I knew including Google are joining the “alternative” for everything else. Bad habit indeed. In bandwagon, and even Microsoft have had to between time I have got even more irritated rethink. For me I have my comfort blanket with the arrogance and general un-helpfulness again – sad really! of Microsoft, and the increasing costs involved PMH with upgrading their products. It just had to Open University happen! At the beginning of the year I struck a blow for freedom! I bought myself an Acer BBC Four recently celebrated the 40th Inspire Pocket PC, about the size of a hardback anniversary of the opening of the Open and fully featured, BUT, I bought the version University (“Happy Birthday OU”). During with no Microsoft software and it is beautiful! the course of the programme brief mention was Fast, painless, and Linux Lite and Open Office made of the OU Slide Rule. It appears quite seem to absorb anything you throw at them 15 Skid Stick Issue 33 October 2009 large, probably about 7 inches (188mm), and was probably made by Mears. Does any one have an example of this rule?

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