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6All About Slide RulesIt was the state of the art technology for calculating until inexpensiveelectronic calculators became available in the early 1970’s. Click Here tosee a chapter on the history of slide rules.In fact, there is some rocket science here, as slide rules were carried (andpresumably used) on Apollo Space Missions. We will assume they were not usedto swat space flies, and had some real merit, as every payload ounce was veryprecious. You could calculate exactly how precious with your slide rule.They were an incredibly weight effective back up computer system to theonboard computers. Pilots all over the world still carry the E6B flight computerand its relatives today, a specialized circular slide rule for doing speed, distance,wind and fuel calculations. Image It is fast, easy, and the batteries never godead on final approach.While slide rules blossomed with up to 34 scales, sometimes more, thesimpler designs retained their power and popularity. Wernher von Braun’sfavorite was a 9 scale Nestler 23R slide rule that he used during his career atNASA. Albert Einstein also used a Nester 23R in his work.