Path: csiph.com!usenet.pasdenom.info!weretis.net!feeder1.news.weretis.net!news.swapon.de!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: Adam Funk Newsgroups: comp.lang.python Subject: Re: Significant digits in a float? Date: Thu, 01 May 2014 22:05:32 +0100 Organization: $CABAL Lines: 33 Message-ID: References: <535f0f9f$0$29965$c3e8da3$5496439d@news.astraweb.com> <535f3bf7$0$11109$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com> <77Sdnblwr9UrOP_OnZ2dnUVZ_uednZ2d@giganews.com> X-Trace: individual.net GVa1KTo+oP5T+UhMlCbEIw/Cj1KUvtSr3b+5L62oe8ldSMp/zn X-Orig-Path: news.ducksburg.com!not-for-mail Cancel-Lock: sha1:Bd8wi9pGb3HhXWOv0NhFR7FSqgU= sha1:DM9oc7h2BwcRZGtbHPXZn3Zdl+o= User-Agent: slrn/pre1.0.2-9 (Linux) Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.python:70827 On 2014-05-01, Larry Hudson wrote: > On 05/01/2014 05:56 AM, Roy Smith wrote: >> For those who have no idea what we're talking about, take a look at >> http://www.ted.com/talks/clifford_stoll_on_everything. If you just want >> to see what you do with a slide rule, fast forward to 14:20, but you >> really owe it to yourself to invest the 18 minutes to watch the whole >> thing. >> > > Anyone (besides me) ever seen a cylindrical slide rule? I have one -- unfortunately misplaced > at the moment. :-( > > The scales were helical around a cylinder giving (it was claimed) to be the equivalent of a > five-foot rule. But that still only gave one additional significant digit. Only two scales, > however, which limited its use to multiply/divide and logs. But interesting. I have a "circular" (really spiral) slide rule that I inherited from my grandfather. http://www.ducksburg.com/atlas_slide_rule/ One of my uncles told me that he took it (or a similar model) to university (ca. 1960, I guess) & got an F on a calculus test because his answers were too accurate & precise to be honest. He went to the professor's office, showed him the circular slide rule, & got an A. -- To live without killing is a thought which could electrify the world, if men were only capable of staying awake long enough to let the idea soak in. --- Henry Miller