Slide the Slide

I was very surprised when I came upon this website. I was even more surprised to learn that there is a Slide Rule Convention (it took place last month). Anyhow, there are really old ones here, and also slides from other countries. I don't see a whole lot of dates here. There is a mention of the inventor though. His name was William Oughtred (1574 - 1660). He invented the slide rule around 1632. Interesting thing though, is that I saw in other sites that he was born in 1575. Regarding the invention, other sites state that it was either Edmund Gunther who invented the slide, or that they both invented it.

The rule slides also include the circulars and the rotary (I'd love to see one in person!) I'd like to mention this site has a lot of mathematical info. So for us who are mathematically challenged, it'll probably take only a few minutes to browse through. Grin.

The Slide Rule Museum
http://www.sliderulemuseum.com/


I got the additional info regarding William Oughtred and Edmund Guntherfrom:

The Robinson Library
http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/science/mathematics/biography/oughtred.htm

The Slide Rule
http://www.math.wichita.edu/history/topics/calculators.html#sliderule