Re: Biggest Barnacle On Heinlein's Memory?

On May 26, 5:14 pm, djhe...@xxxxxxxxxxx (Dorothy J Heydt) wrote:
In article <slrnh1ol83.gs4....@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,





David DeLaney <d...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Tue, 26 May 2009 11:01:45 -0500, Jonathan Schattke
<wiz...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
ncwa...@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
On 25 May, 18:41, Jonathan Schattke <wiz...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Howard Brazee wrote:
And nobody
believes anymore in family spaceships going around the solar system..
I do!

But will they do their navigating based on calculations made using a
slide-rule [1]

Only in extremis, or as a teaching exercise.

Possibly the laptop will be installed in a case highly resembling a
slide rule,
with input methods based on slipsticking. A retropunk design, if you would.

Actually, I'd be surprised if no one has already invented
such a thing.  Or a slipstick-emulating iPhone app.

(And if no one has, feel free to invent one.  You could
probably sell not a few online.)

A true story (or so my brother claims): my elder niece came home from
grade school one day and announced that the school required she have a
calculator. My brother asked her what functions the calculator
needed, and found them fairly rudimentary. So he broke out the high-
quality slide rule he had purchased cheap soon after the market for
high-quality slide rules collapsed, and said "let me teach you about
something called 'logarithms'." Fast forward some years, to high
school when the math teacher tells her she has to give up the slide
rule and get a real calculator. "Why?" she asks. "Because you won't
be able to keep up with the rest of the class" he replies. "Wanna
bet?" she asks. Follows an exercise where the teacher fills the chalk
board (OK: white board) with a series of calculations, with my niece
competing against the rest of the class, and beating them easily. She
had to give in a few years later when they required a graphing
calculator, but the principle was established, and she thoroughly
understood the math involved. She'll be getting her Ph.D. in
chemistry in a year or two.

My younger niece came home from school one day and announced the
school required she have a calculator "and if you try to give me one
of those sticks I'll break it." She also is in grad school, studying
piano performance.

Richard R. Hershberger
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Biggest Barnacle On Heinleins Memory?
    ... A true story (or so my brother claims): my elder niece came home ... grade school one day and announced that the school required she have ... My brother asked her what functions the calculator ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: Biggest Barnacle On Heinleins Memory?
    ... grade school one day and announced that the school required she have ...  My brother asked her what functions the calculator ... quality slide rule he had purchased cheap soon after the market for ... There's a section in _Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman_, where Dr ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: Not Just the US With Education Problems
    ... that anyone did much about logarithms anymore, ... The point is that we don't have people learning the 'skills' involved ... But again a great example---a good slide rule ... I used both a calculator and a slide rule. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Forts in Chatham Area?
    ... it's purpose from anyone under 30 no matter what school they came from. ... the "log tables" were the calculator of the day. ... stuff" behind logs are still in the GCSE ... mental maths, a calculator paper, and a non-calculator paper. ...
    (uk.local.kent)
  • Re: 128 students suspended at Ind. school
    ... What if the student's family can't afford the necessary supplies? ... if an item is required for school (in a required ... While a graphing ... calculator would not be required for any class necessary to graduate ...
    (misc.kids)
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