Pickett N515-T Duplex Slide Rule for Electronics

Object Details

Pickett & Eckel, Incorporated

Description

This ten-inch white aluminum linear slide rule has a nylon cursor. (The N in the model number is for "nylon," and the T denotes the rule's "traditional" white color.) The rule is held together with stamped aluminum contoured posts. The front of the base has (Lr) H, (fx)2Π, A, D, L, and Ln scales. The front of the slide has (Cr) B, S, T, CI, and C scales. The left end of the slide is marked (facing vertically): ELECTRONIC (/) MODEL N-515-T. A gray Pickett logo in the style used between 1958 and 1962 is at the right end. The number 349 is printed above the logo.

The back of the rule contains various formulae relating to electronics, such as temperature conversion, Ohm's Law for AC and DC circuits, parallel resistance, coupled inductance, and efficiency. Short (approximately 2.5 inches) scales on the slide are used with the reactance and resonance decimal point located at the left end of the rule. A logo at the right end of the slide has an i superimposed on a C, superimposed on a book, superimposed on an atom. The number 340 is to the right of the logo and above a registered trademark symbol.

There is a red-orange leather case lined in gray plastic. A faded Pickett logo in the style used between 1958 and 1962 is below the slot for the flap. The front of the case is also stamped: CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ELECTRONICS and has a yellow label marked: URIE. The back of the case has a metal ring, leather strap, and metal clasp for attaching to a belt.

The lower right corner of the back of the rule is marked: CLEVELAND INSTITUTE (/) OF ELECTRONICS (/) CLEVELAND, OHIO 44114 (/) PATENT NO. 3,120,342 (/) MADE IN U.S.A. The Cleveland Institute of Electronics worked with Pickett & Eckel, Inc., to develop this slide rule. In 1958, Darrell L. Geiger, an instructor at the Cleveland Institute, applied for a patent for a slide rule useful in calculations relating to electronics. Patent 3,120,342 was granted in 1964 and incorporated into the Pickett Model N-515 slide rule. Since the logo on the instrument was only used until 1962, it seems likely that this rule was made soon after the patent was issued.

Geiger wrote about a dozen instructional booklets on electronics and elementary mathematics in the 1950s and 1960s. The Cleveland Institute, a distance education institution, utilized programmed learning in the 1950s.

References: Darrell L. Geiger, "Slide Rule" (U.S. Patent 3,120,342 issued February 4, 1964); Darrell L. Geiger, Electronics and Your Slide Rule (Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Institute of Electronics, 1962); Rodger Shepherd, "Pickett Metal Slide Rules," Journal of the Oughtred Society 1, no. 1 (1992): 5–8; Brian Borchers, "Five Pickett Electronics Slide Rules," Journal of the Oughtred Society 11, no. 2 (2002): 4–7; Cleveland Institute of Electronics, "New . . . Electronics Slide Rule with Four-Lesson Auto-Programmed Instruction Course," (Cleveland, Ohio, [1969]), http://sliderulemuseum.com/Pickett/Pickett_N515-T_Electronic_CIE_Pamphlet.pdf.

Location

Currently not on view

Credit Line

Gift of James R. Lee

ca 1964

ID Number

1990.0154.01

accession number

1990.0154

catalog number

1990.0154.01

Object Name

slide rule

Physical Description

plastic (cursor material)

aluminum (overall material)

leather (case material)

Measurements

overall: 3.5 cm x 33.5 cm x 7.3 cm; 1 3/8 in x 13 3/16 in x 2 7/8 in

place made

United States: California, Santa Barbara

See more items in

Medicine and Science: Mathematics

Science & Mathematics

Slide Rules

National Museum of American History

subject

Rule, Calculating

Mathematics

Engineering, Electrical

Record ID

nmah_1214634

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746aa-947b-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa