3 ms·
Wouldn’t a slide-rule be a similar modern day approach?
by ghayes 7y ago
Wouldn’t a slide-rule be a similar modern day approach?
- jacobolus 7y agoAn (analog) slide rule is a whole lot faster than doing digital arithmetic. But it’s approximate, yielding about 3 digits of precision, or maybe 4 digits on a large slide rule. With an abacus or with written numbers, you can get 10 digits of precision (or 50) if you are willing to put the work in.
- mlyle 7y agoYou can iterate slide rule calculations to get more precision, too... You're not restricted to the width of your abacus nor the number of sigfigs you can get in a single slide rule calc..