London – Science Museum (Slide Rule)

I definitely need to get out more, since I now find myself posting about slide rules.

But, it’s an interesting slide rule, as much as these things can be. It was made by William Cary of The Strand in London in 1815 and is a slide rule for weights, measures and currency conversions. It’s made from wood, but the front is made from paper, with these apparently being popular in the early nineteenth century (I didn’t know that, the Science Museum web-site helpfully told me this little titbit).

It makes me pleased to have a smartphone though, I can’t imagine having to traipse this sort of thing around and it has limited entertainment value….