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<blockquote data-quote="Tom Gaynor" data-source="post: 14382" data-attributes="member: 4034"><p>This post is RICH, rich, I tell you, in Vincent context...</p><p></p><p>I can't help with logs, although I used to go to night-school at Napier College in Edinburgh (Napier discovered logarithms) , and my son went to the same establishment, by then Napier University. I just followed instructions, and lo! A result!</p><p>But I can tell you that slide rules are what real engineers use, because slide rules don't delude one into thinking that engineering is an exact science. Slide rules give approximations, and approximations are what engineers need. 2 + 2 may very well equal 4, because 2 is an integer. But 2.0 + 2.0 (real numbers) may very well equal 3.99999999, or 4.00001, and an engineer needs to know this. Engineering is NOT science, it is art. Engineers are trying to find answers when it is not at all clear what the questions should be. </p><p>I could rest my case (Your Honour) by pointing out that Phil Irving's nom-de-plume was not "calculator" but "sliderule".</p><p>But.</p><p>I add the comforting thought, as you wend your way about Britain, that every bridge, by definition, is a prototype. You'd best hope that the engineer's guess was right.</p><p>I never cross the Forth Road Bridge, dammit, without thinking that. I reckon that until I hit dry land again, my sphincter could shear a 1/2" diameter iron bar.</p><p></p><p>Tom</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tom Gaynor, post: 14382, member: 4034"] This post is RICH, rich, I tell you, in Vincent context... I can't help with logs, although I used to go to night-school at Napier College in Edinburgh (Napier discovered logarithms) , and my son went to the same establishment, by then Napier University. I just followed instructions, and lo! A result! But I can tell you that slide rules are what real engineers use, because slide rules don't delude one into thinking that engineering is an exact science. Slide rules give approximations, and approximations are what engineers need. 2 + 2 may very well equal 4, because 2 is an integer. But 2.0 + 2.0 (real numbers) may very well equal 3.99999999, or 4.00001, and an engineer needs to know this. Engineering is NOT science, it is art. Engineers are trying to find answers when it is not at all clear what the questions should be. I could rest my case (Your Honour) by pointing out that Phil Irving's nom-de-plume was not "calculator" but "sliderule". But. I add the comforting thought, as you wend your way about Britain, that every bridge, by definition, is a prototype. You'd best hope that the engineer's guess was right. I never cross the Forth Road Bridge, dammit, without thinking that. I reckon that until I hit dry land again, my sphincter could shear a 1/2" diameter iron bar. Tom [/QUOTE]
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