The most expensive slide rule

ISSN 1466-3570
June 2009
No. 32
NEWSLETTER of the UK SLIDE RULE CIRCLE
Editor: Colin Barnes, 189 Mildenhall Road, Fordham, Ely, Cambs. CB7 5NW England
Tel: 01638 720317 e-mail: [email protected]
Editorial
Paul Crowther
[email protected]
A short Editorial this time as there is
much of greater interest in this issue.
Particularly note the arrangements for the
Autumn Meeting at Bletchley Park
(TNMOC) and our Appeal for Funds to
enhance the slide rule display at this venue.
A friend of Tom Martin’s obtained
information on images of the scientific
instrument maker, R. B. Bate (1782-1847) and
his wife Anna Maria, daughter of Sikes the
well-known maker of hydrometers. These
images were to be auctioned in Cambridge and
with great forethought the Whipple Museum
was notified. Happily the Whipple took note
of this and purchased them. These images are
thought to be the only ones in existence so this
acquisition can be considered as something of
a coup.
On a completely different subject,
have you noticed that cars being driven in the
TV ads have no driver?
Willy Robbrecht
[email protected]
Sadly I have to report the death of Anthony
Manville who passed away in the middle of
March.
TNMOC - UKSRC
As promised in the last issue here are
some further images taken of the setting up of
the slide rule display at TNMOC
New Members
Thanks to Dieter von Jezierski for
recruiting Georg Schreiber to the UKSRC.
Welcome. His address:
Berliner Strasse 269
D-47918 Toenisvorst
Germany
[email protected]
Also welcome to Peter Sealy:
[email protected]
Kevin Murrell of TNMOC, Tom Martin and
two interested visitors
Address Corrections
Please note the following corrections
in your Member’s Directory:
Hans Peter Schaub should read:
CH 4123 Allschwil
Yukio Kubota
Fuji Shizuoka 421-3301
Email address changes:
Two of the UKSRC information panels
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Skid Stick Issue 32
June 2009
Photo John Robertson
MK News
NEWS RELEASE, 20 February 2009
The UK’s largest public exhibition of
slide rules unveiled at The National
Museum of Computing at Bletchley
Park
Tom and Peter put the finishing touches to the
display
Between the abacus and the computer
came the slide rule
Since our initial visit your Hon. Ed.
made a return visit to the Museum for a photo
shoot by a professional photographer. This
session was in preparation for the following
news release which has now featured in PC
World, MK News and the Guardian with
various additions by the editors of these
publications.
The diversity of slide rules, the analogue
predecessors of digital computers, is
celebrated through the newest exhibit at
The National Museum of Computing
(TNMOC) at Bletchley Park.
Curated by the UK Slide Rule Circle
(UKSRC), the display of more than 40
British slide rules spans three centuries
and shows the variety of shapes, sizes,
materials,
and
purposes
of
this
sophisticated calculating device. The
earliest exhibit is the wooden Gunter’s
Rule, first used in the mid 17 th century by
navigators and astronomers, and the most
recent is a 1960s/70s Photographic
Interpreters’ slide rule made by Blundell
Harling.
The following images were included
with the news release:
Invented in the 1620s, soon after the
publication of the concept of the logarithm,
slide rules were in use right up to the
1980s. Their decline began in the 1960s
with the advent of electronic computers
and calculators.
Photo John Robertson
PC World
"For 350 years the slide rule was the
world’s pre-eminent calculating device and
its design needed remarkably little
modification to maintain its dominance,"
said Colin Barnes of UKSRC. "In contrast
to modern calculators, slide rules were
never throw-away items. One or perhaps
two would be used throughout a career.
They are marvellous pieces of engineering
and craftsmanship and the display at The
National Museum of Computing pays
Photo John Robertson
The Guardian (Hon. Ed. and Kevin Murrell,
Director of TNMOC)
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Skid Stick Issue 32
June 2009
tribute to slide rule designers and users
across the centuries."
1980s, and many of the earliest desktops
of the 1980s and 1990s.
"We often wonder how we manage without
computers – and this slide rule display
indicates just how we did," said Kevin
Murrell, a TNMOC Trustee and Director.
"We’re delighted to work with the UK Slide
Rule Circle to bring this hidden piece of
history to the general public. It is of
tremendous educational value and we
know that will be of great interest to our
ever-increasing number of visitors."
The Museum is currently open
Thursdays and Saturdays from 1pm.
For more information, see www.tnmoc.org
To coincide with the opening of the
display, the UKSRC has produced a booklet to
provide a beginner’s guide to the world of the
slide rule. Copies of this are available from
TNMOC with proceeds shared between
TNMOC and the UKSRC. Included in this
publication are contact details for the UKSRC,
Kring, RST and OS.
Always popular with the tax man, one
exhibit dating from 1775 is a wooden foursided volume-calculating slide rule used to
determine the amount of spirits in a barrel.
Another, a circular slide rule with 18 gauge
points enabled the rapid computation of
interest payments.
Other professions and trades were also
enthusiastic users of slide rules: Ewart’s
Cattle Gauge from the 1840s has an
integrated tape measure to calculate the
live weight of cattle and percentage of
meat on the bone; and the Timber Rule
from the 1920s was one of the first
industrial applications of the slide rule and
was used to calculate timber volumes
(making allowances for bark thickness).
Passing of an Era
Some of you may have noticed that
the Stanley Auction held on Saturday 28th
March 2009 had a number of lots that included
the external and internal signage and display
cabinets, as well as the famous work-bench,
from Roy Arnold’s shop in Needham Market.
Roy has been not well for some time now, and
it is a great shame that he has obviously
decided to cease trading, and indeed that the
business could not be continued as a “going
concern”. From my point of view, I have yet
to discover whether Astragal no longer have an
agent in this country – more anon when I have
discovered what is happening
The UKSRC and TNMOC have jointly
published a ten-page booklet, A Brief
History and Types of Slide Rule. It is
available for £5 including p&p from
TNMOC www.tnmoc.org
About The National Museum
Computing at Bletchley Park
on
of
The National Museum of Computing at
Bletchley Park, an independent charity,
houses the largest collection of functional
historic computers in Europe, including a
rebuilt Colossus, the world’s first electronic
programmable computer.
Very Simple Thinking
Around Numbers
The Museum complements the Bletchley
Park Trust’s story of codebreaking up to
the Colossus and allows visitors to follow
the development of computing from the
ultra-secret pioneering efforts of the 1940s
through the mainframes of the 1960s and
1970s, and the rise of personal computing
in the 1980s. New working exhibits are
regularly unveiled and the public can
already view a rebuilt and fully operational
Colossus, a working ICL 2900, one of the
workhorse mainframes computers of the
D. Len Peach
I believe that anyone who has a
natural interest in Number Handling Tools
cannot fail to have a similar innate interest and
fascination in the very root of our interest, the
Numbers themselves and how they relate to
each other. For even out of simple addition,
some surprising patterns emerge that are both
intriguing and rather amazing at the same time,
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because they can and do explain things we
might not have quite grasped the first time
round in our now far away school days.
Bookworm
“The Young Dual Arithmetician;” or, Dual
Arithmetic
Oliver Byrne
Even the word ‘difference’ was
always a difficult one for me to get to grips
with mathematically at school, and yet so much
hung on it. (I am a bird of lesser brain, and
was labelled a late developer!) Also a lot of us
now have grandchildren and this thinking
might be of help when talking about numbers
and sums with them and so add to our
credibility!
Thanks to Bill Thacker, (well maybe!)
comes this puzzle which had me scratching my
head till I got splinters. This book (available
via Google books, http://books.google.com/)
was published in London in 1866, and appears
to be one of many by Byrne (formerly
Professor of Mathematics, College for Civil
Engineers) on the subject of Dual Arithmetic,
which was completely new to me, but seemed
to promise much! The title page talks about
“Tables of Ascending and Descending Dual
Logarithms, Dual Numbers and corresponding
Natural Numbers”. I thought single logs were
interesting enough.
As a very simple example and if you
have never done it before, starting at zero just
progressively add our even numbers together,
then the uneven numbers together and finally
add the odd with the even numbers together
and note the patterns that emerge from these
successive tables of answers. There is little
point going much beyond 20 as the tables will
then show clearly the patterns that emerge. I
share this exercise because around 50% of
people suddenly realise links they did not
realise were there, especially regarding
differences and squares.
The Preface starts “Those who
examine Dual Arithmetic in all its bearings
will find that a branch of greater importance
has not been contributed to mathematical
science”. Wow! Later it continues “The tables
given in the third part are more comprehensive
and more easily used than any tables hitherto
calculated. They are equal in power to
Babbage’s and Collet’s combined and take up
less than one eighth part of their size”. Double
Wow! Suitably impressed I continued with my
study and by about page 15 or so out of 227,
found Dual Arithmetic totally and absolutely
incompressible! If anyone can make either
head or tail, and maybe more importantly, tell
us what that is in a few short paragraphs, I for
one will have learned something and probably
continue to thank my stars that I only heard
about this gobble-de-gook in my dotage!
Similarly, if you have never
multiplied 123,456,789 by 8, try it and note
that answer. Also multiply 123,456,789 by 9
and if you need to multiples of 9 and note
again the answers. Next look at the square root
of 123,456,789 and look at that answer, and
then after a minute (or two) you will probably
say: “Of course it is”. At any level the answers
are more than a little intriguing, and cause for a
little extra thought to see what has gone on.
But be warned, it can all get a little addictive
when you go to the next logical step and you
find that the clocks really are turbocharged!
“How Round is Your Circle?”
John Bryant and Chris Sangwin
Princeton University Press, 2008
ISBN 978-0-691-13118-4
Hardback £17.05 from Amazon books UK
Looking at our numbers in this simple
way does help our understanding and our
ability to see where the numbers are going and
patterns that emerge, because patterns lead to
formula and codes, and ultimately to those
things called computers.
I wonder if John Napier ever did such
exercises, certainly because the thought behind
his “Bones” shows he could.
Being subtitled “Where Engineering
and Mathematics meet” reflects the contrasting
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June 2009
backgrounds of the two authors and is what
makes the complex subject matter eminently
readable. John Bryant is a retired chemical
engineer and the UKSRC’s very own Chris
Sangwin is a lecturer in mathematics at the
University of Birmingham.
What a lovely thought, and what’s more, this
jangled bells in my memory.
The book not only does its bit to
dispel irritating modern management speak
like “squaring the circle” (Sic: one of the three
famous impossibility proofs) but takes the
reader on a revealing journey of what we often
take too much for granted. For example, could
you draw a straight line without a ruler, can
you explain how a steering wheel steers or why
a Pantograph works?
I always had a very high opinion of
the children’s version and recommended it to
many people who were looking for a simple
guide to what at that time was truly newfanged technology. Indeed one of my favourite
memories of that time is my then eight year old
son explaining to his 80 year old grandfather
the subtleties of the ZX81 he had just been
given with the aid of just this book which is
still in my collection – see above! Has anyone
seen or even got a copy of the plain cover
version?
PMH
Alongside references to Gunter rules
and sectors, the 306-page book includes a full
chapter on the slide rule. Apart from possibly
the sections on non-logarithmic slide rules and
nomograms, this chapter has little new for the
avid collector. However, like John Kvint’s
presentation at the IM2003 1, the rest of the
book gives a great insight into many related
aspects – such as how to design and engineer
an accurate scale. Also for those of a more
“Blue Peter” practical nature, the book could
well get you taking over the kitchen table and
trying to reconstruct (instructions provided)
some of the many fascinating models featured
in the book. For example, can you beat the
authors’ record of 30 overlapping tiles that
seem to defy gravity? For those with two lefthands or of a more mathematical persuasion,
the book recommends some excellent free
software for virtual model makers.
“Astrolabes at Greenwich”
Koenraad Van Cleempoel
Subtitled “A Catalogue of the Astrolabes
in
the
National
Maritime
Museum,
Greenwich” published by OUP in 2005 under
the ISBN 0-19-853069-2, is a large 12.¾”x
9.½”, beautifully produced dust-jacketed
hardback volume with slipcase.
The book is probably not a “cover-tocover” read. But by bridging the worlds of
engineering and mathematics it will open your
eyes to the wonders of many everyday items
and make you more inquisitive about how the
world around you works.
David Rance
“The Computer” How it Works
Ladybird Books - 1979
The Daily Telegraph Obituary early
in the New Year for Douglas Keen: “Editor
and creative spirit behind Ladybird Books”
included a comment that they had “Produced a
plain cover version of the Ladybird How it
Works book on the computer in the late 1970s
for the Ministry of Defence to inform its staff”.
The book came at a suitably reduced
price from Postscript, and is the third in a
series on the collections of the National
Maritime Museum. It is 339 pages, with much
excellent high quality monochrome and a
number of colour illustrations. There are a
number of essays on the features of Astrolabes
by various expert authors; Van Cleempoel is
1
John Kvint: “Proceedings of the 9th International
Meeting of Slide Rule Collectors”, The Netherlands, 2003,
pg 29, Euro 15.00 (KRING Jubileum DVD only)
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the editor and author of the detailed catalogue.
A fascinating read on the background to the
collection, as well as being the authoritative
document on all aspects of these devices.
PMH
First we have from Guus Craenen of
the Dutch Kring: “Rechenschieber im Wandel
der Zeit. 1787 – 1906” (“Slide Rules in
changing times. 1787 – 1906”). This will be
available to order in Greifswald at the German
IM in September, and all orders will be sent
out shortly afterwards. The book:
- 100 Pages
- 100 Colour pictures, 60 B/W-pictures
- 12 Manufacturers and 12 Inventors in 3
Countries (UK, France and Germany)
- Correspondence with Hans Dennert
- 25 Experts
- 40 Conclusions
Guus says it is his best book to date!
To order:
- Price: Euro 35, plus P&P Euro 5.Contact Guus at:
[email protected]
DVD Set – WWII in Colour
Daily / Sunday Telegraph
I had always associated both World
Wars as “Black & White” conflicts, so the
recent availability of “True Colour” DVD sets
for both conflicts was an education in itself –
both wars look so completely different in
colour, even more harrowing and awful if that
is at all possible.
Then we have Peter Hopp’s long
awaited book on 2-foot, 2-fold slide rules:
“JOINT SLIDE RULES; Sectors, Two-Foot,
Two-Fold & Similar Slide Rules”; which
should be available via his publisher’s web
site:
www.jeremymillspublishing.co.uk at
about the same time.
Advance Notice
IM 2010
Preparations for the organisation of
IM2010 in Holland have started. We are
planning to have this International Meeting in
the old city of Leiden on 17 and 18 September,
2010. As always, we would like to have
contributions from abroad for presentations.
We have no theme into which presentations
need to be fitted, so any subject on slide rules
or calculating instruments will be welcome.
Anyone who maybe has some
research under consideration that would benefit
from reporting in an international environment
and who is willing to prepare and give a
presentation would they please contact Otto
van Poelje
[email protected]
The 7 DVD set for WWII runs for just
under 6 hours, the 2nd DVD covering the air
war and the special 7th giving the “True Story
of the Dam Busters” both contain sequences
showing a slide rule, a “whizwheel” and
Barnes Wallis using his slide rule. That apart,
the different approach taken is educational and
enlightening. Recommended.
PMH
A couple of new slide rule books are
planned for publication later this year.
Amazing find in the wilds of
Norfolk!
One of these devices, a “Washington
G36” concrete calculator, was displayed and
very briefly described at the last IM (see
IM2008 Proceedings, page 113). However
exactly how it works is a mystery, and the
functions of all the various widgets and buttons
on it equally so. Subsequently a second
example in excellent condition has come to
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June 2009
light in the wilds of Norfolk, the picture only
hints at its splendour!
as in the original article. Apparently these are
distinguished by having the window in the top
part – as did the Golden one. See below:
This device came with a 1984
calendar from Montevideo in Uruguay, and a
set of Spanish Manuals – hence, pending
translation, its workings remain a mystery!
There is a separate insert for the scales. The
plaque on the beast is: Brevetto Italiano;
N236298; Serie G; N978
However, Bill Thacker who generated
the original article, has since come up with the
ultimate web site for absolutely anything to do
with
Curta
calculators,
see:
http://www.vcalc.net and for sectioned models
add /eu-demo.htm
This site is well worth a look. There is
an incredible range of devices produced at
various times by Contina for demonstration,
training and also I’m sure, for sales. I have
borrowed a couple of images of the most
extraordinary. Illustrated on the web site, but
not here, is a model with Perspex body on
display in the Deutsches Museum. I would hate
to think just how much one would have to pay
for such a device were it ever to come on the
market! Then we have a cased collection of a
sectioned Curta with various associated piece
parts.
If you can cast any further light on the
device and its use or help with a translation
of the Spanish instructions, please contact:
John Hunt Snr.
[email protected]
CURTA GOLDEN CUT
MODEL (Contd.)
Peter Hopp
The piece in last Skid Stick prompted
several responses on sectioned Curtas, not least
it reminded David Rance that a fellow collector
had bought a demo/shop window normal-sized
CURTA at the German IM2001. This was fully
working except the outside shell was made of a
clear plastic so that the workings could be seen
as it was used - a bit like a transparent Swatch!
Anyway, I contacted said member who kindly
let me have pictures of that Curta which was
not actually one with a plastic shell, but an
example of a Contina produced sectioned Curta
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Skid Stick Issue 32
June 2009
These Curta cases seem relatively
common, one features in the 1992/3 Millers
Collectors Price Guide with a guide price of
£650–£700, probably very expensive even
then. The next device, a chromed example
(below) I picked purely for its gleaming
magnificence, but to what purpose I have no
idea, personally I prefer the raw devices!
If anyone comes across any other
examples please do let us know.
Musings 32
Peter Hopp
One of my regular sources of
inspiration has come up trumps again.
Admittedly looking through old Scientific
Instrument Society Bulletins is a sad and nerdy
occupation, however all such actions on my
part start with good intentions – research – and
then rapidly go to pot as I get distracted
elsewhere! My better half is quite insistent that
as I have got older I have got ever more easily
distracted. My lame excuse from a Musing or
two ago that I now study things much more
deeply hardly even gets off the runway.
Anyway, two headlines from the autumn 1997
SIS Bulletin No 54 blare off the page (can the
SIS Bulletin actually have headlines that blare
off the page? Answers on a postcard please) or
at least strike a chord in this fevered brain, and
are still as relevant 12 years later.
“Reproduction or Fake” says one headline;
“To polish or not to polish” queries the
second; both are topics you have heard me on
about previously. Without belabouring the old
horse at all, it was new responses and points of
view that caught my eye: What should the
collector do about reproductions or fakes, we
were asked.
Truly beautiful, and it would be quite
something to have on display!
Then we had another interesting Curta
on e-Bay, this time a skeleton Curta which sold
for about £400 which seems very cheap until
one looks at the device, see below.
A number of very simple actions were
proposed for the collector, I quote:
- Firstly be more interested in learning about the
subject than making money. A novice collector
will make mistakes and learn, a greedy collector,
more interested in price than value, will get
badly burned.
- Learn the difference between new wood and
old wood, modern brass and old, French polish
and varnish, black plastic and vulcanite, new
screws and old screws and so on.
Acquire an eye for anachronisms in
restoration.
I heartily agree with everything
suggested, and as the article goes on to note, this
would soon weed out the amateur fake. The
professional fake will be harder to detect, but
“experience will develop your eye and
intuition”. Yes, there is no substitute for
experience, and that is one reason why I just like
looking at slide rules. The learning curve is ever
upwards the more of them you see – even
Uniques! More later. However, one area the
article only skirted around was what should be
the attitude or reaction of the collector when
This does not look in any way
complete, one can only speculate whether it is
original or a ‘bitsa’ made up out of spares or
remains. It is still an attractive device, and
cheap – relatively. By the way, the next
“Golden” model stood at over £1900 with over
a week to go when last I looked, a nice little
earner I would say.
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Skid Stick Issue 32
June 2009
confronted with a fake. The article went on to
waffle about guidance and codes of practice,
neither of which, in my opinion, are worth
powder or shot. Those who will be dishonest
will be dishonest despite codes etc, and the real
nub of the matter is whether one is brave enough
to declare that you believe something to be fake
or reproduction. I remember the very dusty
reactions that Hon Ed. and I got when we were
debating ivory, bone or plastic with some dealers
at an antique fair. This is a much more difficult
decision and probably less likely to be
fraudulent. It makes me think that one would
need a hide like a rhino and a good team of
bodyguards to be really outspoken about a fake!
Fortunately slide rule collectors still do not have
much to worry about, however watch out for
those French sectors and Indian “Stanley” repro
instruments!
Having had a politically incorrect
“People and Slide Rules” picture in the last
Musing, how’s about another one? Courtesy of
Dieter von Jezierski and e-Bay comes the one
adjacent. Shows again how fashions change! I
must admit that this struck a chord – I used to
classify problems as one or two (or more)
cigarette problems!
The earlier comment about Unique
raises a different problem. Many years ago I was
shown a Unique Log-Log slide rule on a thick
Paxelin stock by a fellow collector and asked my
opinion. He was absolutely convinced that he
had a very rare factory “prototype”, and as such
a valuable “find”. My opinion was pretty
straightforward. What he had was an amateur
repair or transplant. The wood on the original
had probably got wet and warped. That owner
had then taken the scales (which probably had
also fallen off as a result of getting wet) and
stuck them onto a lump of Paxelin he had in his
junk box, and milled out the bit in the middle to
make room for the slide. When he had come to
mill the slots for the cursor, he had made a real
bog of this as he had milled the slots at the top of
one and at the bottom of the opposite side, hence
no cursor would ever fit. He had then flogged the
result at a boot fair! Ergo, the new owner had
junk. We agreed to differ! Experience tells me I
was right. I know diplomacy is not my strong
suite, but what would you have said?
Help!
Aston & Mander post 1900
Aston & Mander has featured several
times in SS as well as UKSRC International
and National meetings. They are a top-flight
maker who produced a fascinating and
comprehensive range of rules by Hoare,
Hannyngton and many others. However, we
have never really been able to come to a
conclusion about their later life, indeed when
they finally ceased trading is, to my knowledge
anyway, still a mystery.
The 2005 IM Survey had at least one
A&M (1917) slide rule. No one could tell us
what the significance of the 1917 date was.
Dixon’s listing of London Makers gives A&M
as working till ~ 1918, but again with no detail.
The “polish or not” question was
actually an impassioned reply from two dealers
who said that if a customer was prepared to pay
them good money to polish a “valuable antique
instrument” into becoming an “ornament”, then
why should they not do so? The purist in me
shudders, the businessman agrees with them!
Truly a terrible dilemma. Again, what would you
do?
In 2005 Ray Hems and I swapped emails with a delightful Lady Police Officer in
New Zealand about an Aston & Mander fingerprinting pad which she was trying to date for
their Police Museum. We came to the
conclusion that it must have been made or sold
much earlier than her original guess of post
WW2, and was probably pre WW1, the
perception was that they were around much
later than we know so far.
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Skid Stick Issue 32
June 2009
such a rule and don’t know how to use it. The
rule measures in total 352mm. Additional
information: On the upper edge there are two
scales, one scale for ORDINATES with
divisions in different spaces and a scale for
“56” from 0 to 70; on the lower edge there is a
scale for “24” from 0 to 30 and an inch-scale
from 0 to 12. I assume that a spread sheet had
belonged to this rule because of the scale
ordinates and the pointer on the cursor. I also
think that the positions of the scales on the
back have to be considered. I hope that
somebody has an explanation.
Now we have this delightful rolling
rule (courtesy of an eagle eyed J.H. Snr. and eBay) which logically we would guess is yet
another manifestation of the company, and is
dated 1944 with the broad arrow. Can anyone
help with the later history of this fascinating
company?
Peter Hopp
Peter Fox also writes: “In SS31 under
What is it? ‘Calculating Rule’ from Barron, the
photos show a similar rule to one I had
purchased a few months previously. I must
confess that I did not notice one of these rules
at the International Meeting. The scales and
cursor are the same, it is also made by T G
Barron but the address is Zilleberke, Linden
Grove, West Hartlepool. I had intended to
enquire through the pages of Skid Stick as to
the use of this rule but was beaten to it by
Brian Harwood.
With scales on the back
being marked LBS TO THE INCH I wondered
if it could be related to springs, but have no
idea as to how you would use it. Hopefully
someone out there with a greater knowledge
than mine or Brian’s can enlighten us”.
Yet another Strange Rule
Mind the Edge
David Rance
Courtesy of Werner Rudowski, comes
another unusual rule, not a slide rule, a ruler
which, according to the Buenos Aires dealer
who sold it to him, should be a “Carpenter’s
rule to measure the content of trees in cu-ft”.
It has a square 1” x 1” section and the length is
605 mm (a shade under 24”). The four sides
are numbered at the right end 8, 9, 10, 11; 12,
13, 14, 15; 16, 17, 18, 19; 20, 21, 22, 23.
Nearly in the middle at 305 mm there is a
common division; i.e. 1 foot is divided into 8,
9, … 23 equal parts. It is strange that the
second part measures only 300 mm, it might be
that the ruler was shortened at one time. The
photographs show details.
Often a slide rule stays on my desk for
weeks. Mostly it just serves as a reminder to do
something but on occasions it is because
something about it is … well “odd”.
Annoyingly I usually cannot put my finger on
what is odd – it could be a scale out of place or
just something that does not look quite right.
After a recent tidy-up, a 28cm
pearwood Faber-Castell 361 ended up on my
desk. From the blind back-stamp of “1” and the
paper table of conversion factors, it dated from
1921 (in the 1920’s F-C used a single digit for
the date year). Like all 361’s it is basically a
simple Mannheim rule but it looked “wrong”.
Eventually it dawned on me what was out of
place: it had both a top (cm) and a bottom
(inch) bevelled side edge. A quick check
confirmed my hunch – rules from the F-C 300
series usually have a single bevelled top edge.
To find out more I turned to the ever-helpful
Dieter von Jezierski. It seems early on in the
300 series the 361, the 366 (System
Schumacher) and the famous 368 all had both a
Does anyone have any ideas as to what it
is please?
Peter Hopp
Barron’s “Calculating Rule”
Following the piece on this rule in SS
31, word comes from Werner Rudowski that he
too has an example. He writes: “I have also
10
Skid Stick Issue 32
June 2009
top and a bottom bevelled edge. Besides being
the first electro rule1, the 368 uniquely also had
a “hooked” cursor extension for reading off the
LL3 and LL2 scales that F-C initially put on
the top bevelled edge before switching to the
bottom bevelled edge. However, from 1924 FC stopped making the 361 with two bevelled
edges and not too long after the 368 was
replaced by the wider bodied (making room for
the LL scales on the stock) 378. So from the
1930’s all the models in the F-C 300 series had
the characteristic single top (cm or inch)
bevelled edge and a flat bottom edge.
all the way from Czechoslovakia a couple of
early Fullers (with the owner looking for
inspiration on how to get into them) as well as
a lovely small and early Tavernier Garvett
Soho (seems odd that the French should copy
an English design). During the course of the
day we also looked at a variety of planimeters,
a couple of interesting Gebr. Wichmann
catalogues, and of course, as always, it was the
chat that made the meeting so worth while.
After a most excellent lunch, the small amount
of formal business included:
- The agreement to a voluntary collection
from the members for a third cabinet at
TNMOC to increase our slide rule display
there.
- Discussion on the proposed International
Meeting to be hosted by the OS in the
USA (Boston) in 2011, and how it might
impact on the next UK IM which will now
be held in 2012 instead.
- Discussion on the possibility of holding
the next (Autumn) meeting of the UKSRC
at TNMOC in Milton Keynes (this was
popularly received as an idea)
A proposal by Dave N. to award Rod and
Tom free UKSRC subscriptions as a small
gesture of thanks for their considerable
contributions was agreed by acclaim,
however both were reluctant to accept this
and instead agreed that this years
subscriptions would be the start of
TNMOC cabinet appeal!
- It was agreed by all that the UKSRC
would not be the most appropriate lead to
any future Napier quadricentenary
celebrations in 2014, but if so asked we
would happily contribute.
- The meeting also sent its collective best
wishes to Bruce Williams, and David
Blight who would normally have attended
but have not been well.
1921 “double-edged” F-C 361
Although, except for the 366, they are
not super rare, pre-1930 double bevelled-edged
F-C rules from the 300 series are uncommon.
So look out for them – they can add an edge to
any collection!
UKSRC Spring Meeting
Chandlers Ford, 26 April 2009
12 members were welcomed to
Chandlers Ford by Dave and Jenny Nichols
and enjoyed a great meeting, as usual the
conversation seamlessly segueing from the last
meeting a year ago! It was great to welcome
two new faces, “Joe” Davies from Basingstoke,
and Len Peach from just down the road at
Romsey. Once again Ray Hems had just
returned from the colonies, and also Colin
Barnes, Pete Hopp, Rod Lovett, Jerry
McCarthy, Tom Martin, David Riches, Derek
Slater, Peter Soole, and of course our host
Dave Nichols. There being no specific theme
this time, there was an eclectic mix of slide
rules to view, including a couple of Pilot
Balloon examples, a strange circular Logarex
Len Peach, Tom Martin, Ray Hems and Peter
Soole relax after an excellent lunch
Business successfully concluded, it
was back to the slide rules and then members
1
Bob Adams: “Proceedings of the 13th International
Meeting of Historical Calculating Instruments”, The
Netherlands, 2007, pg 156, Euro 20.00 (CD only).
11
Skid Stick Issue 32
June 2009
began to gradually drift away to homes, replete
with slide rule conversation and hospitality.
Our grateful thanks to Dave and Jenny who
were exemplary hosts and contributed to yet
another memorable meeting.
Whereabouts is Dr.
Strangelove’s Slide Rule?
John Hunt Snr.
We all know the whereabouts of
Einstein’s, Teller’s and astronaut’s slide rules –
but what about the slide rule used by Dr.
Strangelove? Reference was made by Peter
Hopp in his “Musings” of the image of
Dr.Strangelove to sell a Radiac Nuclear slide
rule on eBay (Skid Stick Issue 17 June 2003).
Fleeting film images look like a Radiac slide
rule – but look very carefully at Peter Seller’s
forefinger and thumb – and you see they are
adjacent to or controlling cursors – which is
definitely not present in Radiac Mk 1 or Mk 2.
Originally, the film was due to be
premiered on November 23rd 1963, but as
everybody knows John F. Kennedy was
assassinated on the 22nd. Stanley Kubrick and
Columbia decided to pull the premier. The film
was finally premiered after a decent interval –
in late January 1964 – and after making script
changes to the venue of the pilot’s throw-away
line “You could have a good week-end in
Dallas” to “Vegas”.
The plastic “computer” allowed the
film-goer to estimate the biological effects of
nuclear bombs bursts at various radii and
various yields and an estimation of exposure to
heat and radiation – according to the flyer. I
guess that the promoters of the “Strangelove
computer” didn’t design from scratch and took
an actual model of a typical Radiac calculator.
However, in the early 1960s – these were
restricted items – issued only to civil defence
chiefs and commanding officers of HM
services – who had signed the official secrets
act. Our leaders would not want the Radiac or
a Radiac type slide rule to come into the hands
of the CND movement and face the scathing
rhetoric of Bertrand Russell, Michael Foot or
Canon Collins.
Columbia, the makers of the film via
their Promotions Department, made an actual
atomic fallout slide rule – see photos below.
Maybe, although the film was shot in
Shepperton Studios, the “computer” was only
produced in the US and didn’t come to these
shores.
Has anyone got a specimen or knows more
details?
These images were taken from a
promotional flyer to all film distributors in
1964.
12
Skid Stick Issue 32
June 2009
More Slide Rule Pictures
Help – replies
Mr Spock. David Hoare suggests that
Mr Spock is using a Concise slide rule. This is
certainly a good guess but the mystery still
remains – why did he need one in the 23rd
century? Won’t the problem of the crashing
computer have been solved by then? In a
message from Andrew West, he is convinced
that the rule is a pilot’s whizwheel. So does
Derek Slater who says “Mr Spock seems to be
using a "flight computer", such a pilots of light
aircraft would use to calculate wind drift. I
have a Dutch made "Mercator" which looks
identical”.
Our thanks to Robert Evans for
spotting this slide rule featured in a recruitment
ad for the Ministry of Defence. Amazingly
this was found in the Daily Mail on 22 nd
January, 2009!
Gareth Morris sends the following
image and says: Watching the film ‘The Core’,
which contains the worst physics in the history
of the film industry, I saw an astronaut using a
slide rule whilst trying to plot an alternative
landing site for the Shuttle. I captured the
frame as best I could and have attached it to
see if any member knows what kind it is.
Hudson. In answer to David Riches
enquiries, David Rance (and others) found the
following image of Hudson’s Horse-power
Computing scale in Stanley’s catalogue of
1924. The scale is 4½ x 2¼ x 1/16 inch, made
of cardboard. No price is given but a second
version supplied in an opaque celluloid case is
mentioned.
[A “whizwheel” yes, but can anyone identify
the maker? Ed]
David Rance also supplied the
following insight into the query regarding the
Wichmann 3503:
WICHMANN & the Eagle
I checked my copy of the Wichmann
master catalogue (Hauptcatlog). It is a 20th
edition but it is unclear from which year it
dates. Regrettably although listing over 40
pages of slide rules, the 3503 does not feature.
There is virtually nothing in the 3xxx range
and those that are (34xx) are all 100 and
150cm demonstration/training rules.
If it is the same as the "Adelaar" blind
stamped in the back of a rare 30cm Nestler air
navigation time/distance slide rule I have in my
collection, then I can confirm it is a German
This next picture comes from Ford
Motor’s Plant at Dagenham. This would
appear to be a Pickett rule in their famous
“eye-saver yellow”. (BBC Four – Ford’s
Dagenham Dream)
13
Skid Stick Issue 32
June 2009
military stamp. Several years ago I learnt from
Dieter von Jezierski and Gunter Kugel that the
eagle stamp designated supplies ordered by
various German military authorities from the
likes of D&P, F-C, Nestler, etc. (although
according to Dieter the eagle may not have
made it onto all the F-C orders!). It seems that
regardless of whether the order was destined
for the “Wehrmach”, “Marine” or the
“Luftwaffe” they all had got the Eagle stamp
(n.b. a swastika is not part of the stamp).
As a result of this enquiry, Dieter also
informs that the rule is by F-C as witnessed by
the three wooden pins holding the scales at
each end.
enough to find it (and not break your teeth on
it) you could keep it!
Jerry McCarthy
[Jerry was lucky to keep his silver 3d piece. In
our house we had to return ours for use the
following Christmas.
It was however
redeemable for a current 3d piece. Ed,]
Both Rod Lovett and Derek Slater
suggest that the gauge mark on Werner
Rudowski’s rule at 1760 refers to yards in a
mile.
John Hunt Snr. has no special answer
to Werner’s enquiry but has prepared a tongue
in cheek article on metrication for this year’s
Gazette.
3sh / 6½d / x 25 = ? I read Mr
Rudowski's article with interest, and I think I
can make some points.
Firstly, I don't think that the shilling
was actually abbreviated to “sh”, but instead,
just “s” was used. The reason for this was
actually
that
the “s” didn't in fact stand for “shilling”, but
actually for the Latin word “solidus” (plural
“solidi”). When we wrote “two shillings and
sixpence”, (a week's pocket money in my
youth), it would be written as “2s 6d”, or even
as “2/6d”. Note that the punctuation character
“/” can even today be referred to as a
“solidus”. The other units, the “L” and the “d”
in their turn stood for “libra” (pl. “librae”) and
“denarius” (pl. “denarii”). I don't think that we
would ever have written “3s/6d”, “3sh 6d” or
“3sh/6d”, although I am referring to the later
practices for the 15-odd years before the £ s d
system was replaced by the decimal system.
Rod Lovett suggests that the giant
Thacher on Pg 17. of SS 31 looks like one of
the larger LOGAs.
Multiplication would have been done
individually for each currency type, so, for 25
items at 3/6d we would have calculated 25 x 6d
and 25 x 3/-, the latter showing how "3
shillings and no pence" would have been
written. Of course, the cash registers in those
days (the ones with the pop-up monetary
symbols) were well capable of doing the
necessary multiplication, probably by repeated
addition.
In reply to Werner’s enquiry
regarding slide rules for feet and inches, Gerald
Stancey says he doesn’t know if they existed
but that he has a set of log tables that do. “It is
a hard backed book, 5” x 7” x 1” thick and the
cover is embossed ‘SMOLLEY’S Parallel
Tables of Logarithms and Squares, 10th
Edition, USA, 1943’. The table are laid out
with the pages assigned to feet. On each page
there are three columns assigned to inches.
Each line is from 1/32” incrementing to 31/32” by
32nds. Within each column the log and the
square of the number is given. It goes up to
200 feet but from 50’ to 199’ the lines are
reduced 1/16” increments and 1/8” increments for
100’ to 200’. The foot is taken as the base unit
so that the log of 2’ is 0.30103 and 20’ is
1.30103. The log of 28’ 63/16” is 1.45496. The
book also contains five figure log tables and
other useful data.
It is said to be for
‘Engineers, Architects and Students’. The
cover sheet also that it is a second printing of
the tenth edition and that the total issue is
94,000 copies. I find it hard to believe that
such a book was really needed but the number
printed shows how wrong one can be”
It was interesting to see in this article
the display of the old £sd coins; it reminds me
that the copper half-penny was exactly (well,
close enough anyway) to an inch in diameter,
so it could be used as a handy measurement
aid: also the silver 3d piece had been replaced
by a twelve-sided brown-coloured coin (I don't
know of what metallic mix) by the time I was
interested in money, but the silver 3d piece still
existed as a “lucky” token to be put into
Christmas puddings. If you were lucky
Table of Sines. Further to Klaus
Kühn’s article on “Table of Sines” (SS31) I
think I can make some points.
There is a practice of deliberately
inserting errors in dictionaries, or even madeup words, so that if a malefactor copies a
dictionary, there is something of a trail of
evidence that one dictionary is a copy of
another. In a similar way, I wonder if it could
be possible that some of these sine errors could
have been deliberately planted.
14
Skid Stick Issue 32
June 2009
Having said that, I’ve recently been
reading a biography and an auto-biography of
Charles Babbage (the former being “The
Cogwheel Brain” by Doron Swade, and the
latter being “Passages from the Life of a
Philosopher”)
In both of these, the tale is told of how
he was sitting with his friend John Herschel
checking manually created tables and
he (Charles Babbage) became so exasperated
that he exclaimed “I wish to God these
calculations had been executed by steam.” Out
of that, of course, came his obsessions with
various mechanical calculating machines
resulting in designs for his Difference Engines
and Analytical Engine, none of which was
actually built in his time, although a D.E. has
been built in more modern times and is on
display in the Science Museum in London.
Jerry McCarthy
The Rockwell Slide Rule
3sh / 6½d / x 25 = ?
Much to the disappointment of the
children, the following image of Werner
Rudowski’s rule that was featured in the last
issue was omitted. Here you are kids, a picture
to show your grandchildren.
For Sale
19
Aristo simplex slide rules, model no.
0911 in very good condition, in their cream
and red cases. Approx. half of then have
instructions. 1
Aristo simplex slide rule,
model no. 911 in .cardboard case.
1
Faber Castell 57/87 Rietz in a clear
plastic case. All are in good condition.
Contact:
Linda Cross
[email protected]
Old Wine in New Bottles
Peter Fox
Having read Peter Hopp’s article ‘Old
Wine in New Bottles’, SS 30, it stirred
memories of my own first scientific calculator.
After some rummaging about in the loft I
found it, I’m not one to throw useful stuff
away, a Rockwell 202 Slide Rule. There were
no instructions, not that you really need any,
and no power supply.
The battery
compartment was empty, probably just as well
as 30+ year old batteries would probably have
destroyed the calculator. I put 4 re-charged
AA batteries into the compartment and turned
in on. Much to my delight it worked! This set
me thinking that maybe I should collect
electronic calculators as well as slide rules, but
my wife drew the line at this suggestion. So
this will be the only slide rule that I own that
will need batteries.
Matters arising…
Responses to SS31 etc.
SS31 has once again generated a great
collection of response! The extra half-dozen
“natural laws” prompted a corollary and a new
one: Rance’s Law from David of the same
name: “a synonym is a word that you use when
you cannot spell the first word you thought of”.
This jangled huge bells for me, I must be
suffering the first stages of dementia because I
find myself gazing at the screen either praying
for a word or how to spell a word I no longer
remember!
Rod Lovett had a brilliant
corollary to the first law of Socio-genetics: “If
your parents don’t have children, you won’t.”
15
Skid Stick Issue 32
June 2009
The “Golden Cut” Curta article
produced a number of memories, so much so
that there is a separate short article elsewhere
in Skid Stick.
intermediate answer, just the total. From my
part I was reminded of a bloke who used to
work for me who could add and subtract up
and down a column of figures with a pencil
almost as fast as he could move the pencil – an
amazing sight! It was certainly faster than a
bloke with an electronic calculator, and was
invaluable when we were doing tender vets.
He would quote a figure and minutes later the
bloke with the calculator would agree – I have
no idea why we just did not take Greavsie’s
word, it just did not seem the done thing! He
was only overtaken when Spreadsheets arrived.
On a couple of famous occasions after, he
found basic faults in the worksheets we used,
(it remained an instinct to always mentally add
up columns of figures) and on one memorable
occasion a basic fault in Excel which involved
some strange happening in a particular cell in
the sheet – that reminded me that there are
supposed to be all sorts of strange things buried
in the far reaches of Excel, including a flight
simulator program?
A number of members congratulated
us on the slide rule display at TNMOC, Colin
and I hope that you all make the effort to go
and view not only our display but the whole of
the Bletchley Park experience.
Reference the request for data
regarding the Stanley Catalogue, I got the dates
round my neck, sorry! In case it confused
anyone, the telephone number in the catalogue
is a HOLborn exchange number rather than an
AFN, and that change took place in 1965 – so
we are looking for a date prior to 1965 and
after the previous catalogue was published.
We now have over 30 examples of
Planimeters owned by members. Joachim
Fischer in Germany has been able to provide
dates of manufacture for all of them, and in
some cases intriguing facts such as the shop
that originally bought it, or the supply to a mail
order organisation in Germany during WW2,
and the subsequent sale to somewhere in the
UK, despite the war! So if you have a
planimeter, analyser or similar device you have
not yet let me know about, you still are very
welcome to do so.
Several comments that the gauge
mark on Werner’s rule at 1760 is yards in a
mile. I have a feeling it may not be that simple,
or else we have missed how it is used.
Continuing with the subject of
computers, should you care to send us anything
on CD – remember we do not all have
broadband! – then the CD, either wrapped in a
covering letter, or a plastic sleeve, and an
ordinary B4 envelope easily gets into the
cheapest small letter rate! If by mischance
some idiot tries to bend it through our
letterboxes then it is easy and cheap to send a
replacement CD. See, we save you money as
well!
It is always great to receive responses
to anything in Skid Stick, Derek Slater noted
that Mr Spock seems to be using a “flight
computer”, such as pilots of light aircraft
would use to calculate wind drift – strange
when travelling at “warp speed”! Also that Rod
Lovett is quite right about the dog-latin, and
his version is an improvement on the original,
but that Derek had recently seen a drawing of a
fifth-century
tombstone
(March
issue
“Postscript” catalogue) with “Hic jacet”, so
iam and jam are the same! I love it when we
get to the roots of the weeds ….!
The 46th
International Antique
Scientific,
Early Technology and
Medical Instrument Fair
Werner Rudowski’s article made a
number of us feel like dinosaurs. Derek Slater
remembers being drilled at school to add,
subtract multiply and divide in pounds,
shillings and pence. Both his grandfather (a
shopkeeper) and father (a land agent) could
add columns of L s and d (no pounds sign on
his keyboard), working from right to left and
down, doing the “carries” at twelve and twenty
by mental arithmetic. He could visualise his
father with a pencil in his right hand, using
three fingers of his left hand to keep track of
his place.
He didn’t write down any
An individual’s impressions
Sunday, 26th April 2009. Thistle Hotel,
Bryanston Street, W1. 1000 to 1500 hours.
Entrance fee £7.50.
Word was quickly passed around the
collectors waiting for the doors to open that a
new venue for future fairs had been found –
not, as previously rumoured at Alexandra
Palace, but in Bloomsbury, central London.
16
Skid Stick Issue 32
June 2009
The number of exhibitors has
bottomed-out to a core of around 32, with a
strong presence of Dutch, German, French and
Austrians. About a third of the stalls had some
kind of calculating devices, including rules –
notably Wallis Fletcher and our own member,
Conrad Schure. For myself, the most
interesting were the French exhibitors. I bought
a 19th century rule where the sines and tangents
were engraved in grads (100 degrees to a rightangle) – it could be a very early stadia rule.
Also, a Great War French aerial observation
circular rule – enabling the pilot to indicate to
the gunners on the ground where their shells
were falling.
A quiet interval in the Fair, showing a corner
of the Edinburgh Suite, at the Thistle Hotel.
Seated at their tables, on the left is David
Coffeen of Tesseract and on the right is Wallis
Fletcher. On the tables are a pristine Fuller and
a Hannyngton together with a collection of
ullage and other wooden slide rules, timber
rules and sliding Gunters.
Since the budget, the government and
the media have warned us about deflation - but
not at this fair. On several stalls there were
tired non-descript ordinary wooden Gunters asking price was in excess of £120.
Tesseract has returned to the fair,
exhibiting an eye watering series of goodies of
museum quality – but at bank-busting prices.
Appeal for Funds
These are not words usually found in
the vocabulary of the UKSRC but we believe
this to be an exceptional situation.
The Scientific Instrument Society was
promoting various books – I liked and bought
“Making Scientific Instruments in the
Industrial Revolution” by A.D.Morrison-Low.
But there were three stall-holders who
indicated that this was a clearance sale – they
were thinking of quitting the antiques game.
Reasons given - the difficulty of getting good
items and the ubiquitous eBay. It could be a
selling ploy but if not it is a worrying trend.
As you will be aware The National
Museum of Computing (TNMOC) has
generously provided the UKSRC with space
and financed the purchase of two high-quality
display cabinets for our permanent display of
slide rules. Space is available for a third
cabinet and this is something that the UKSRC
should finance. Whilst the first cabinets have
been filled with a wide range of types of rules
from various countries, it is envisaged that the
third cabinet will be used for rotating themed
displays.
One exhibitor, Michael Bennett-Levy,
who had produced a flyer showing a cellar full
of antiques, including early calculators, is
intending to migrate to France. He is selling off
his entire stock at Bonhams – down to the last
gramophone spring without reserve. Contact
via email: Michael.bennett-levy @ virgin.net
for more information – he has a two minute
preparatory video ready on the internet.
In view of this situation and the
importance of having a national display at a
prestigious venue we are asking all members to
contribute to the cost of the third cabinet.
Next Fair, the 47th Antique Science
and Technology Fair, will be on Sunday 18 th
October 2009 1000-1500 hrs, entrance fee £5,
at the Holiday Inn, Bloomsbury, Coram Street,
London WC1N 1HT, Russell Square is the
nearest underground station. Additional details
can be found on the internet at:
scientificfair.com,
or:
scientificfair.blogspot.com
– it looks like every dealer must have a
website!
All contributions, however small, will
be welcomed. It is our intention to treat all
donations as anonymous. Cash, cheques and
postal orders to Dave Nichols please at:
80 Pine Road
Chandler’s Ford
Eastleigh
Hants SO53 1JT
Our overseas members contributions will also
be very welcome and these can be made by
PayPal to the account of:
[email protected]
17
Skid Stick Issue 32
June 2009
Please ensure that the reason for your
contribution is clearly indicated whichever
method of payment is made.
Subject to the response from your
good selves, we hope that the third case will be
in place in time for our Autumn meeting at
TNMOC. (See below).
The third cabinet will be as shown in
the following image of one of the two existing
cabinets.
The details are as follows:
Brushed aluminium
5 Glass shelves
6 Lights
Lockable doors
Tempered glass
1000mm (w) x 250mm (d) x 1200mm (h)
Bletchley Park Mansion
Programme:
 1100/1130 Meeting start
 1130 Tour of the Bletchley Park
complex and exhibits (£10.00*)
 13.30 Lunch in the restaurant. A
reasonably priced hot and cold menu
available.
 1415 a tour of TNMOC exhibits
including Colossus, the world’s first
semi-programmable computer and of
course our own slide rule display
followed by our usual chance to chat
and deal with any other business.
To register please contact Colin Barnes 7/10
days in advance:
01638 720317
[email protected]
*
Providing we have more than a dozen
members, a reduced rate and dedicated guide
has been arranged. We sincerely hope that as
many members as possible will be able to
attend this special meeting.
Special Autumn Meeting
Vincent Square
Sunday, 4th October, 2009
From Jenny Hutchinson, co-author of
“Never Mind the Quality….Feel the Width”
(Gazette 9), we hear that the father of Jeff
Vincent, the great grandson of W D F Vincent
has recently died. It was Jeff whose assistance
provided so much of the information in the
article. His father would have been W D F’s
grandson.
The National Museum of Computing
has kindly offered to host our Autumn meeting
at their facility at Bletchley Park, the home of
the WWII codebreakers. This is a fantastic
chance to, not only hold one of our friendly
meetings, but an opportunity to visit the whole
of the complex with its vast array of exhibits.
Special arrangements have been made
with TNMOC for parking on site close to the
meeting room. Entrance to the complex is a
few hundred yards from the railway station
(Bletchley) with services from London, Euston
and Birmingham, New Street. Further details
will be given on your registration of
attendance. (See also maps in Appendix).
Unfortunately, at the time of going to
press we have no further information.
18