Slide rule
British Thornton Ltd
Category
Education objects
Date
circa 1940 - 1949
Materials
Perspex and wood
Measurements
Main Unit with Sliding Scale – 1805 mm (length), Cursor – 225 mm (length); 335 mm (height), Main unit –330 mm (height), Sliding Scale - 122 mm (height)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 661158
Summary
A very large slide rule (1940s) with mirror plates for fixing it to a wall. It was used for teaching at Buxton High Peak College in the 1940s and 1950s. It is made of wood with two fixed scales at top and bottom and a loose sliding scale between them. Each scale is divided and marked with figures in black and red on a creamy white background. There is also a sliding Perspex cursor with a black line down its centre. This cursor has wooden guides at top and bottom enabling it to slide along the rule so that the cursor indicates any desired value. Total number of items is 3.
Provenance
Donated to the Museum of Childhood by Mr John Baines January 1991.
Marks and inscriptions
Back of main unit: MADE IN ENGLAND FOR / BRITISH THORNTON Left hand end front of object: THORNTON /NO P271/ MADE IN IN ENGLAND
Makers and roles
British Thornton Ltd, maker