⊙ AntiQuark

Truth, Beauty, Charm, Strange

2005/02/01

Pickett N525-ES StatRule

Cool acquisition: the Pickett N525-ES StatRule.




(click for larger images.)

SCALES FRONT and BACK:

sp, p [ q, z, pL, y, N ] d, X2, Sig. Level

(p + q)n, X2df , A [ B, BI, L, CI, C ] D, ODD√, EVEN√


I picked this up at eBay for $35 (ruler and case only). The NIB (New In Box) ones usually go for about $75, so I figured this would go for a bit more than $35. After all, it's not just a slide rule... it's a slide rule that does statistics! Then again, slide rule collecting is already at the outer extremes of geekiness -- maybe combining slide rules and statistics is something that goes beyond the pale (geekily speaking.)

The friggen' over-honest seller who sold me this marked it as "merchandise" on the customs form, rather than "other" or "gift" or "sample" like all the other sellers do. As a result, I was dinged by the postal carrier with an extra $7 for duty and taxes. Grrr. I had to go down to the front desk to pay, and some coworkers hanging around were stunned that I (A) had purchased an actual slide rule, and (B) that I already owned more than one. I'd say that "slack-jawed bewilderment" is an accurate description of their expressions.

The rule didn't come with a manual; fortunately, one of the kind people over at the International Slide Rule Group, Ron Knapp, scanned his copy and emailed it to me.

Here are all the pages of the manual in GIF format, collected into a zip file: pickett-525-manual.zip (4.4 MB).

UPDATE: the StatRule has been virtualized!


2 Comments:

  • At 4/15/2010 9:55 PM, Blogger rprice said…

    I simply must share with you a psychological effect of your virtualization: I have never seen a slide rule up close, nor known what I was looking at when I've seen one in use. I've learned the basics from the documents scanned here, and I'm working through the N-525 manual.

    Several times now, when I've hidden the simulator window to read another bit of the Pickett book, and arrive at the next batch of exercises, I go looking for the physical slipstick among the papers on my desk! You know the feeling: "I just had it, I set it down, where did it go?" Takes a few seconds to remember that I had only been interacting with a simulation.

    Take it from a newbie: your gallery is fantastically educational.

     
  • At 4/15/2010 10:12 PM, Blogger Derek said…

    Thanks! That's an interesting perception effect you've described. I never thought the virtual rules would give the illusion of being real, in some cases. Maybe it's a case of "phantom ruler," haha.

     

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