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The transition was nearly instantaneous. We all used slide rules in high school chemistry and physics. Two years before I entered freshman engineering, “engine
by dbcurtis 8y ago
The transition was nearly instantaneous. We all used slide rules in high school chemistry and physics. Two years before I entered freshman engineering, “engineering computation” was taught with slide rules. The next year, you could optionally take the traditional course or the new version based around calculators. My freshman year, the calculator-based course was required. As a senior, I bought the most high-end Post slide rule at the campus bookstore at the clearance sale for $3.00.
- ghaff 8y ago>The transition was nearly instantaneous. The first pocket scientific calculator was the HP-35 in 1972 (costing about $2,500 in today's dollars). Within 3 years, at least for most university engineering programs in the US, slide rules were completely gone. [That's incredibly fast.]
- 7402 8y agoIn my freshman physics class (1972-73) that price was a brief ethical issue. The professor said that for a midterm we could use one page of written notes and a slide rule. One student asked if he could use a calculator instead of a slide rule. "Are you going to buy calculators for everyone else in the class, too?" the professor asked. He felt it would be unfair to give such a big advantage to those few who could afford an HP-35 at that time.
- ghaff 8y agoI’m now a bit curious when the switch flipped at the school I attended. There was no question when I started in 1975 that you needed a calculator. I suspect that those in the class ahead did as well. But that must have been very new.