4 ms·
They had slide rules which can multiply, divide, and compute roots and trig functions very quickly, albeit only to about 3 digits of precision.
by dreamcompiler 3y ago
They had slide rules which can multiply, divide, and compute roots and trig functions very quickly, albeit only to about 3 digits of precision.
- 082349872349872 3y agoEE "Doc" Smith's SF can be amusing to read today, because they're zooming around the universe in FTL spaceships with coruscating destructive rays powered by bus bars the size of office buildings back on earth, and every time a rakish commander needs confirmation on a hunch, one of his engineers spends a few seconds with the "slip stick" (how did you think they navigated?) and reports back, yes, it checks out to 10 decimal places...
- QuesnayJr 3y agoIn Skylark of Valeron (1934), the hero finally invents a "mechanical brain", i.e. a computer.