What is a slide rule, and why was it’s invention such a big deal?
In: 1999
It’s a ruler that you can use as if it’s a calculator, once you know how. It’s a zero-technology, battery-less, accurate and fast device that can do complex calculations very simply. It’s basically a few bits of ruler wood, with markings in particular places like on a ruler, where parts slide up and down against each other (hence the name).
But you can literally use it to do the physics calculations that got us to the moon, to the accuracy that was necessary to do that, from something that you can carry in your pocket or your toolbox.
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