ABSTRACT
The slide rule, the tool for all mathematical occasions. The slide rule was invented at a period in history when mathematical calculation was becoming more complex, just as the technical world of that time such as astronomy and other philosophical arts required the ability to perform reliable calculation much more quickly and accurately. The slide rule had arrived and by the mid- to late-18th century had become generally accepted and used across the technological world. Development of the basic ideas continued on several fronts. The demise of the slide rule started in about 1970, contemporaneously with the appearance of the first affordable electronic calculators. The demise occurred amazingly quickly. It took place over very few years, with most of the big manufacturers ceasing manufacture of all slide rules after about 1980. The ubiquity of the slide rule is not immediately obvious until one studies the history of technology across the developing world.
