1884 Thacher K&E Slide rule Engineering calculator ref

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Item Description

This Ebay listing is for the sale of a CD ROM title:

Thacher's Slide Rule Manual. 1884.

This is a CD ROM edition of a circa 1884 manual on how to use the Thacher's slide rule, presented in PDF file format.
 

Sample pages from this CD

This is a CD edition containing scanned images in PDF format of  a circa 1884 Thacher's calculating instrument manual by E. Thacher.

Contains 70 pages with illustrations.

Presented in easy to view PDF file format.

Allows Zoom-in up to 300% to enlarge sections of the pages for easy reading.

Allows Printing of pages on your own printer.

Allows Copy and paste page image to other applications like a word processor or image editors.

 (PDF files require PDF file reader to open and view. PDF file reader software can be downloaded for free at www. adobe. com)

Rocketbrain Review:

This 1884 "How-To" on Thacher’s Calculating Instrument - itself quite an innovation in calculating slide rules, is in fact, far more than just a simple "how to use the gadget" book, but rather a more robust "how to do engineering and all normal calculations" with the tool. 

I could not help but wonder how many of the "geeks of the day" back then wandered around with one of these somewhat large and heavy calculators in their briefcases or some special leather case carted protectively under their arm. 

I am nearly certain that this instrument was the pride and joy of many an engineer of the day, and graced a place of honor in their desks. 

I would also wager that the physical copies of this book were often open on their desk, filled with notes and pasted in tables to augment the tables and computations elucidates and explained so clearly in this book. 

Many of us have a special affection for the tools that allow us to accomplish efficiently things that would otherwise have been difficult or beyond our ken totally. Perhaps somewhere in our souls we know that every tool that extends out capacities in the end, extends humanity itself and even perhaps changes the future and evolution? Who knows. 

Some still think technology is the work of the devil, me - I strongly suspect that tools that allow the human spirit to soar, to envision and visualize and understand - are indeed the work of God, or perhaps bring us ever so slightly closer to spiritual enlightenment - if we use them wisely. 

Attempts to extend human cognition did not start with digital computers - this cylindrical calculating tool Thacher invented, and this wonderful book on how to do things, are good evidence that men wanting to use technology to advance humanity have always been there.

Whether you are interested in calculating a truss bridge loading or the coefficient of expansion of materials, this short pithy book gets right to the point and tells you how to do it. 

No vague meanderings of theory here, a down to earth, how do slide rules work, followed with a "what you can use if for and exactly how to do the computations". 

Ya Gotta love such books, after all the fancy theory stuff floating around written more to convince us how smart the author is, it is nice to read material more interested in making US smart than trying to convince us how smart someone else was, or might be, or might not be.  

Don't know about you, but me - I read books so that I can actually understand things or go DO real world things with the knowledge. 

If you feel the same, then this is your kind of book. 

For the historian and slide rule buff or collector, ok ok - it does function to explain how a unique computing machine from the past works and so I guess it has historical value in that sense also. Even a few drawings and the like. 

Despite years of experience with slide rules, and years of engineering and science - I learned a few things - and copied a few pages out to add to my "cheat cheat" book I use for most computing work. 

Enjoy !

User friendly PDF file format, the CD ROM is Microsoft Windows as well as MAC compatible.

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