Slide rule
Regla de cálculo
- Date
- c. 1622 (circular) / 1630 (lineal) · confidence high
- Place
- London and Cambridge, England
- Credited to
- William Oughtred; Edmund Gunter's logarithmic scale (1620)
- People
- 👤 William Oughtred1574–1660
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Two logarithmic scales that slide against each other to multiply and divide by adding lengths. It was the calculator of engineers and navigators for 350 years.
Richard Delamain published a circular slide rule in 1630 and disputed priority with Oughtred, his former teacher.
What it led to
- Rapid calculation in navigation, artillery and engineering
- A culture of analogue calculating instruments
- The engineering of the Industrial Revolution (Watt's slide rule)
Built on
- Logarithms1614
- Gunter's scale
- Galileo's sector (proportional compass)
Made possible
- Genaille's rulers (Genaille–Lucas rulers)1885-1891
- Mannheim slide rule (1859)
- Analogue calculators