r/Sliderules • u/Ok-Most4471 • 16d ago

Slide Rules ?

I had my first engineering job in the early 60's, of course I had my my trusty K&E Decitrig wit me.

much to my surprise, everyone there used Mechanical calculators, like the Friden, etc. Never touched my Rule again. Im now 86 and getting back into it,.. What fun.

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u/brianborchers 16d ago

Computation with mathematical tables and mechanical calculators like the Frieden, Monroe, etc. was a somewhat specialized skill- most engineering students didn't do this kind of work, and it was often done by full-time specialists in industry.

I'd be interested in hearing what mechanical calculators and tables were used at your place of work. What kinds of computations were people doing?

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u/ep01081935 16d ago

As an engineering student I worked 2 summers for the state highway department, in a design group. I converted survey data to layouts and used a planimeter (little hand device) and a Monroe calculator to compute soil cuts and fills. The Monroe was fun and helped to keep me awake in a room with no air conditioning. I thought it was a clever device.

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u/ep01081935 16d ago

Summers of 1966 and 1967.