It is noted for its highly acclaimed journal of the oughtred. Before the invention of the pocket or handheld calculator, the slide rule was a popular tool for calculations. Amongst his mathematical achievements were the first person to use logarithmic scales or slide rules to do multiplication and division and he is credited as the inventor of the slide rule in 1622. Over the past three decades it has evolved to an international organization with members in 20 countries. The invention of the slide rule has, until recently, been a matter of dispute. Anglican clergyman william oughtred 15741660 is considered one of the worlds great mathematicians due to his writings on the subject and his invention of the logarithmic slide rule although william oughtred was by profession an anglican clergyman, he devoted many years of his life to expanding human understanding in the areas of algebra and calculus as well as to. William oughtreds father was the rev benjamin oughtred, a writingmaster. William oughtred 5 march 1574 30 june 1660 was an english mathematician and anglican clergyman john napier invented logarithms and edmund gunter created the logarithmic scales. William oughtred, english mathematician and anglican minister who invented the earliest form of the slide rule, two identical linear or circular logarithmic scales held together and adjusted by hand. William oughtred 5 march 1575 30 june 1660 was an english mathematician after john napier invented logarithms, and edmund gunter created the logarithmic scales lines, or rules upon which slide rules are based, it was oughtred who first used two such scales sliding by one another to perform direct multiplication and division. William oughtred 5 march 1574 30 june 1660 was an english mathematician and anglican minister. The slide rule is used primarily for multiplication and division, and also for scientific functions such as roots, logarithms and trigonometry, but does not generally perform addition or subtraction there are many different styles of slide rules. From 1625 to 1800, the first 175 years after its invention, a total of 40 slide rule types, including circular and spiral designs, are recorded.
I had had the itch for a 283n and failed to pull the trigger a few years ago, but today the euro has fallen enough that i. Full text of william oughtred, a great seventeenth. After john napier invented logarithms and edmund gunter created the logarithmic scales lines, or rules upon which slide rules are based, oughtred was the first to use two such scales sliding by. The slide rule was invented by william oughtred 1574 1660, an english mathematician. Background william oughtred was born in eton, buckinghamshire, england, on march 5, 1574. William oughtred was the inventor of the slide rule which allowed mathematical operations such as multiplication and division to be calculated by reading values from graduated scales. His device was based on the logarithmic scale created by british astronomer edmund gunter 1581 1626 in 1620. The first slide rule was created in 1630 by british mathematician william oughtred 1574 1660. Gunter required the use of a pair of dividers, to lay off distances on his rule. Oughtreds name is remembered in the oughtred society, a group formed in the united states in 1991 for slide rule collectors.
Apr 05, 2017 an english mathematician, reverend william oughtred was widely credited for the invention of slide rule in the 1630. William oughtred, english mathematician and anglican minister who invented the earliest form. The use of slide rules continued until about 1974, after which electronic calculators became more popular. The sliderule produced an upsurge in calculation speeds and boosted the rate of progress in the physical sciences and engineering that began in the 1600s. His initial design was for a circular slide rule, but the principles are the same. Full text of william oughtred, a great seventeenthcentury teacher of mathematics see other formats. William oughtred made the first slide rule by inscribing logarithms on wood or ivory. An english mathematician, reverend william oughtred was widely credited for the invention of slide rule in the 1630. Gunters work, in turn, was based on the principle of logarithm set forth by scottish. Oughtred was the author of several books on mathematics and has also been credited by most historians with inventing both the linear and circular slide rules.
May 30, 2011 the book contains a double scale on one side of which is a logarithmic scale and on the other a tabular scale. Although william oughtred was by profession an anglican clergyman, he devoted many years of his life to expanding human understanding in the areas of algebra and. The slide rule s importance to the industrial revolution, and the impact of the industrial revolution upon the slide rule, are demonstrated by the proliferation of designs. The slide rule, also known as a slipstick, is a mechanical analog computer. Slide rule on watch bezel automatic watches for men. After john napier invented logarithms and edmund gunter created the logarithmic scales lines, or rules upon which slide rules are based, oughtred was the first to use two such scales sliding by one another to perform direct multiplication and division. In 1632 another english mathematician, william oughtred, designed the first adjustable logarithmic rule. William oughtred s father was the rev benjamin oughtred, a writingmaster and registrar at eton college. Cajori also wrote history of the logarithmic slide rule, engineering news publishing co. After john napier invented logarithms, and edmund gunter created the logarithmic scales lines, or rules upon which slide rules are based, it was oughtred who first used two such scales sliding by one another to perform direct multiplication and division. The oughtred society slide rule reference manual 2nd edition the manual. The first one was built by william oughtred, a cleric teaching math in england in the 1600s.
Despite its many benefits, the slide rule had some. John napier invented logarithms and edmund gunter created the logarithmic scales. Anglican clergyman william oughtred is considered one of the worlds great mathematicians due to his writings on the subject and his invention of the logarithmic slide rule. Illustrated selfguided course on international slide rule. William oughtred was a clergyman and selftaught mathematician. It only briefly touches on his sometimes parallel career as author nevil shute. Lost inventories of brand new slide rules turn up every year. This new oughtred society slide rule reference manual contains basic slide rule instructions, plus over 100 color photos of slide rules, and much contemporary information, including chapters on such subjects as history of the slide rule, slide rules on the internet, cleaning and caring for your slide rule, collecting slide rules, major slide.
Happy birthday william oughtred, inventor of the slide rule til mathematician william oughtred introduced the symbol for multiplication as well as the abbreviations sin and cos for the sine and cosine functions in for todays math monday, we are celebrating the birthday of william oughtred. In 1630, william oughtred of cambridge invented a circular slide rule and in 1632 he combined two gunter rules, held together with the hands, to make a device recognized as the modern slide rule. The oughtred society was founded in 1991 by a group of slide rule collectors and is dedicated to the preservation and history of slide rules and other calculating instruments. Slide rule invented by william oughtred event computing. The book became famous under the title of clavis mathematicae the key to. The idea of putting two of these scales together to perform calculations came from another english mathematician, william oughtred, in 1632. William oughtred, by florian cajori project gutenberg.
The earliest and bestknown book of oughtred was his clavis mathematicae, to which. English mathematician and anglican minister who invented the earliest form of the slide rule, two identical linear or circular logarithmic scales held together and adjusted by hand. The book contains a double scale, one side a logarithmic scale and the other a tabular scale. Well, i stumbled on this forum googling some slide rule info, and id like to say thanks for both the link to the slide rule book pdf and to fabercastells online shop. Oughtred is widely credited with inventing the slide rule in the 1620s. Stone, concrete, asphalt aggregate slide rule calculator. William oughtred 5 march 1574 30 june 1660 was an english mathematician and anglican clergyman. This design soon evolved into the slide rule known today, with additional variations of style into cylindrical, spiral, and circular slide rules. Credit for the invention of the circular slide rule was claimed by both teacher and pupil, resulting. Slide rule is nevil shute norways autobiography about his early years as an aeronautical engineer.
We have given williams date of birth as 5 march 1574, and indeed most biographies give this as his date of birth, but in fact it is the date that he was baptised. Improvements involving the familiar inner sliding rule came later. Find 4 on rule b and it will be lined up with the sum on rule a, which is 7. After john napier invented logarithms and edmund gunter created the logarithmic scales lines, or rules upon which slide rules are based, it was oughtred who first used two such scales sliding by one another to perform direct multiplication and division. However, today we do not recognise his name and neither is his truly remarkable invention still in use. To the invention of this oughtred has a clear title. Today, slide rules can be found on ebay, antique stores and estate auctions. English mathematician, born at eton, and educated there and at kings college, cambridge, of which he became fellow. The slide rule is an analog device for performing mathematical computations.
His invention the slide rule is a victim of the calculator and the computer. A bitter controversy sprang up between delamain on one hand, and oughtred and some of his pupils on the other, on the priority and independence of invention of the circular slide rule. We shall see that oughtred invented slide rules about 1622, but the. Credit for the invention of the circular slide rule was claimed by both teacher and pupil, resulting in. Oughtred s name is remembered in the oughtred society, a group formed in the united states in 1991 for slide rule collectors. Being admitted to holy orders, he left the university. William oughtred march 5, 1574 june 30, 1660 was an english mathematician and anglican minister. Generally, they are either have a linear form or that of a circle. He is credited with inventing the slide rule in about 1622 he also introduced the. But oughtred had invented also a rectilinear slide rule, a description of which appeared in 1633. William oughtred 1574 1660 william oughtred was one of the worlds great mathematicians. Full text of william oughtred, a great seventeenthcentury. He slid one next to another to do direct multiplication and division. I had had the itch for a 283n and failed to pull the trigger a few years ago, but today the euro has fallen enough that i decided to go for it.
William oughtred march 5, 1574 june 30, 1660, english. William oughtreds father was the rev benjamin oughtred, a writingmaster and registrar at eton college. The book is concise and argued for a less verbose style of mathematics, with. William oughtred was an english mathematician and anglican clergyman. A very good biography of william oughtred was written by florian cajori entitled william oughtred, a great seventeenthcentury teacher of mathematics, open court publishing co. Oughtreds invention of the slide rule consisted of taking a single rule, already known to gunter, and simplifying the method used to employ it. We have been able to establish that william oughtred was the first inventor of slide rules, though not the first to publish thereon. The book contains a double scale on one side of which is a logarithmic scale and on the other a tabular scale.
Slide rule invented by william oughtred event computing history. After john napier invented logarithms, and edmund gunter created the logarithmic scales lines, or rules upon which slide rules are based, it was oughtred who. He used the prior inventions of logarithm and logarithm scales by john napier and edmund gunter respectively a few decades ago to create the slide rule, becoming the first person to use two scales of logarithm, one sliding on the. We have given william s date of birth as 5 march 1574, and indeed most biographies give this as his date of birth, but in fact it is the date that he was baptised. Oughtred also designed the first linear slide rule, although the familiar inner sliding rule was invented by the english instrumentmaker robert bissaker in 1654. Oughtred made the step of sliding two rules past each other to achieve the same ends. Oughtred s invention of the slide rule consisted of taking a single rule, already known to gunter, and simplifying the method used to employ it. The first half of the book covers his involvement during the late 1920s up to 1930 in a very exciting venture in which england sought to develop its own aeroship. William oughtred 5 march 1574 30 june 1660 was an english mathematician born in eton. In 1630, william oughtred of cambridge invented a circular slide rule, and in 1632 he combined two gunter rules, held together with the hands, to make a device that is recognizably the modern slide rule. Ironically, this concentric slide rule, which oughtred designed for use as a navigational instrument, had been described in a book titled grammelogia. Then slide rule b so that the zero point of rule b lines up with 3 on rule a. It was based on john napiers discovery of logarithms. This new oughtred society slide rule reference manual contains basic slide rule instructions, plus over 100 color photos of slide rules, and much contemporary information, including chapters on such subjects as.