AboutMe
I was given my first
slide rule, a Concise 28 carrying an airline logo, when I was 10
years old. It was a fascinating gift from an air navigator, a
father of a school friend. 42 years later he still provides me
with valuable information concerning Astro Navigation from Boeing
707s, periscope bubble sextants, sun compasses and the like.
On joining a technical high school at 15 I was issued with a
state of the art Hemmi 259D which I last saw in my parents’
house a few years ago. I still hope to find it packed in a loft
box one day.
In 1974, upon seeing an electronic calculator for the first time,
I had the same mixed feelings I had years later when I first
navigated using a GPS receiver – amazement at the ease,
speed and accuracy, combined with the sense that inevitably and
irreversibly, the human element is slowly being taken out of the
loop.
I do not consider myself a slide rule collector, although I have
some 50 different examples. Rather I am an inquisitive
enthusiast, keen to re-familiarise myself with slide rules and
their efficient and accurate operation.
In the last couple of years I turned my attention to high end
rules, trying to understand the tradeoffs their designers had to
make and to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their
different layouts. I suppose it was part of the quest for the
‘perfect’ slide rule, a quest that is probably never
going to reach a conclusion.
I see the UltraLog as an
evolutionary rather than a revolutionary step in slide rule
design. It has a simple, clear, no frills scale arrangement
bringing together what I consider to be the most successful
elements of several ‘best of breed’ slide rules. I hope
you will enjoy owning and using one soon.