POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Richardson's Pantocrat Six In One slide rule

Object No. 2010/1/420

Over the 19th and much of the 20th centuries the slide rule was the primary instrument for calculation used by many people engaged in the trades and in engineering. Although originally invented in the 17th century, and widely used for gauging (or estimating the quantities of certain products such as alcoholic spirits) it took until around 1850 for the slide rule to become generally popular. This slide rule is an example of a unique construction of the slide rule. In order to produce a device with a wide range of calculation capabilities the slide for this rule can be interchanged between five different types. As each slide has a slightly different set of scales on it and can be slid into and out of the main body of the rule, its function can be changed as required by the type of calculation to be performed. Scales made available include log-log scales ranging from 1.01 to 22,000, scales for interest rate calculations for the business man, an d so-called Polymetric and Binary scales. The 1776 slide has the basic Mannheim set of scales plus the inverted C scale and is described as the basic slide for general purpose use. The 1812 scale, by the simple act of having a "line of equal parts", (to use the much older terminology of the 17th and 18th century slide rules) is an "Add and Subtract" rule and in the instruction manual is described as the only straight rule that will add and subtract. The 1860 has scales for business type calculations including interest on capital, estimation, wages, prices and discounts. The 1860 LL has Log-Log scales and is intended for Engineering calculations involving the use of powers and roots of numbers. The 1865 O Engineer's Binary Polymetric rule (slide) has a variation on the Mannheim scale set in which there is no B and there is a CI (inverted) scale and a version of the C scale called R which has been folded at pi. Stephen Jones March 2008

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Summary

Object Statement

Slide rule with case, Richardson's Pantocrat Six-In-One, metal / leatherette, made by the Richardson Slide Rule Company, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America, 1912-1920

Physical Description

Slide rule with case, Richardson's Pantocrat Six-In-One, metal / leatherette, made by the Richardson Slide Rule Company, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America, 1912-1920 Richardson's Pantocrat Six In One Slide Rule, 28cm metal stock with 5 interchangeable slides. The stock and each slide has a folded tin backing with a white painted tin rule inserted into it. The scales are printed onto the white painted surface. The slides are then inserted into the stock as required for the calculation to be performed. In dark leather (snakeskin-look) case with gilt lettering. US Patent 1911/1/31 & 1912/3/26 Missing cursor and possibly one slide. Scales: Stock, upper: Sin, A, Slides, interchangeable: 1776: B, CI, C 1812: B, +-, C 1860: D2, CI, % 1860 LL: C, LL1, LL2, LL3 (folded at e) - Richardson's Logometric Slide 1865 O: C, CI, R - Engineer's Binary Polymetric Slide Stock, lower: D, Tan, Log (equal parts) Mfr: Richardson Slide Rule Co, Chicago, Illinois.

DIMENSIONS

Width

42 mm

Depth

6 mm

HISTORY

Notes

The American slide rule maker George W. Richardson was a veteran of the Spanish-American war of the late 1890s. He had been an electrician in the Navy and began his formal education at the International Correspondence School in 1901, at the age of 33. He established his slide rule manufacturing business in Chicago about 1907 and sold it to the Gilson Company before 1920. Richardson received a patent for his metal slide rules with scales printed in black on a white background in 1912, claiming greater long term accuracy than wooden slide rules with scales engraved in celluloid. The part numbers of Richardson's for the slides included in the Pantocrat slide rule appear to be numbered according to momentous events in American History. These were mostly wars; 1776 being the American Revolution, 1812 being a war between the USA and Britain largely over trade matters, 1860 is the year Abraham Lincoln became President of the USA and the year in which the southern states of the US began to secede, and 1865 is the last year of the Civil War and the year Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Refs: Mike Konshak, "Geo. W. Richardson Rule Works" http://www.sliderulemuseum.com/Richardson.htm

SOURCE

Credit Line

Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program in memory of Associate Professor Allan Bromley, 2010

Acquisition Date

20 January 2010

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