Object Details
Description
This small, one-sided slide rule is made of wood. It has a white plastic layer on the front of both the base and the slide. The indicator is made from plastic. The base bears A, D, and K scales. The slide bears B, CI, and C scales. The scales are approximately 4-1/8 inches long. The slide is slightly longer than the base. The back of the slide rule is bare boxwood and has no scales.
The instrument is marked on the slide: MADE IN (/) ENGLAND. It closely resembles the 4-inch Jiffy slide rule made by Unique Slide Rule Company of Brighton, England. Unique sold slide rules from about 1923 to 1975.
References: Peter M. Hopp, Slide Rules: Their History, Models, and Makers (Mendham, N.J.: Astragal Press, 1999), 229–231; "British Slide Rules," The Slide Rule Museum, http://sliderulemuseum.com/British.htm; David M. Riches, Mathematical Instruments: A Private Collection, http://www.mathsinstruments.me.uk/page14.html; Peter Hopp, Colin Barnes, and John Knott, "Unique Slide Rules," Journal of the Oughtred Society 6, no. 1 (1997): 32–44.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of William E. Gilbert
ID Number
1995.0087.02
accession number
1995.0087
catalog number
1995.0087.02
Object Name
calculating rule
slide rule
Physical Description
plastic (laminate material)
wood (overall material)
Measurements
overall: .8 cm x 12.3 cm x 3.3 cm; 5/16 in x 4 27/32 in x 1 5/16 in
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Science & Mathematics
Slide Rules
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Rule, Calculating
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_690052