David,

Thanks for your support! I'm also prototyping a slide
rule kit (build cost about $2.50) so the kids can have
a slide rule to take home after class. Would you be
interested in a copy of the instructions? You can be
one of my beta testers! I need people who know slide
rules to critique this before I jump into the shark
tank and try it out on the kids.

Thanks!

Lugh

--- David Smart <smartware@...> wrote:

> What a breath of fresh air!! You are so right and I
> wish you the best of luck.
>
> I don't know what you think about the idea of also
> spending some time with log tables - again teaching
> maths instead of button-pushing. (Of course, they
> won't have the arithmetic skills to add/subtract the
> actual logs - but maybe they can use their
> calculators for that.)
>
> I see this lack of "sanity check" on results in
> industry all the time. People will happily
> calculate a nonsensical result and just put it down
> without thinking about whether it's achievable. At
> least the slide-rule forces them to think about the
> process, so they can get the power-of-ten right.
>
> Of course, appropriate application of a different
> type of log (e.g. a 4x2) is a good teaching tool
> too. :-)
>
> Dave S
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Lugh MacSheehan
> To: slideruleforum@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2005 9:38 AM
> Subject: [Slide Rule Forum] slide rules in physics
> class
>
>
> Friends,
>
> I'm planning to use slide rules in my physics and
> astronomy classes
> next fall. Yeah, really! I'm damn tired of kids
> pounding their
> TI-85's until they get frustrated, punching the
> equal key and writing
> down whatever shows up on the display as if it
> came down the mountain
> on a stone tablet. Slide rules force you to think
> a bit and give you
> a lot better feel for the math than any calculator
> ever invented.
>
> If you have any suggestions on the following, I'd
> love to hear from you:
>
> 1. Lessons, or ideas you remember from your days
> in school learning
> the slide rule.
>
> 2. Sources for cheap or donated rules to use in
> class. (No collectors
> items, I'd want the basic plastic models like
> Sterling and others
> made. That way I won't cry if one gets broken.)
>
> 3. Anybody have a line on one of the old giant
> Pickett rules teachers
> used to have in class to teach the slide rule???
>
> Anything I develop can be posted back to the group
> for your use and
> amusement.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Lugh MacSheehan
> Hemet, CA
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>
>
>




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