International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) San Francisco Bay Area Chapter December 8, 1998 Tuesday Evening Monthly Program "Computing Without Zeroes -- The History of Slide Rules and More" Presenter: Dr. Robert K. Otnes + + + + + Abstract ~~~~~~~~ You're invited to join us on this historic journey of mathematics and computing devices as related by the Bay Area's renown authority on slides rules and calculating machines, Dr. Robert Otnes. The age of calculation began in 1614 when a Scotsman, John Napier, announced his discovery of logarithms. Napier's place in mathematics and history was assured when: o He made the mathematical discovery of logarithms. o He calculated and published a table of the logarithms of the sines and cosines. The effort was immense, it took nearly 20 years of calculation to create the table using only pen, paper and a set of wooden sticks (now known as Napier's Bones). About 1624, Edmund Gunter invented his rule which was a short table of logarithms marked out on a wooden ruler, requiring a pair of dividers to add distances. William Oughted's Circles of Proportions in 1630 described two of his inventions: the circular and the linear slide rules. In 1642, appeared the first mechanical calculator, the Pascaline. It wasn't until 1850 that calculators were manufactured in small quantities. Burrough's dependable adding machines arrived around 1910. Electronic handheld calculators were introduced in the late 1960's. In this entertaining talk, we'll learn: o The connection between the American Revolution and a slide rule. o How slide rule manipulation come to be associated with engineering school. o The role the SF Bay Area played in the early development of calculating machines. o How the first Japanese handheld electronic calculator is related to today's Pentium microprocessor. Join us and enjoy the display of antique devices. Presenter's Background ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr. Robert K. Otnes is a consultant after having been with Lockheed Martin, TRW (formerly ESL), The Aerospace Corporation, and Douglas Aircraft where he started as a computer programmer trainee in 1958. His specialty is time series analysis (statistical signal processing) and pioneered some early work on digital filtering in the 60's. He is the co-author of three books on the subject. More recently, he has worked on computer simulation projects. Bob has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from UCLA. He is the co- founder of the Oughtred Society (for Slide Rules), with 430 members worldwide, and is the editor of the "Journal of the Oughtred Society", published twice per year. His passion for collecting computational devices started in the early 70's -- his collection of slide rules, planimeters and mechanical calculators well exceeds 300. Dated pieces in this extensive collection range from 1750 to this year. + + + + + Tues, Dec. 8: 5:30 PM Social Half-Hour (hors d'oeuvres) 6:00-7:00 Talk followed by questions. Networking and sidebars to 8 PM. Place: GTE Government Systems, Mountain View, Bldg 7 Auditorium. 100 Ferguson Drive (Central Expressway and Highway 237) Access to GTE is from Central Expressway or Hwy 237 using Ferguson Drive (road parallels 237). {ASCII map below.} Donation: FREE for members; $4 for non-members Reservations: Contact Lew Lee, TRW S&ITG Sunnyvale 408-743-6474, lew.lee@trw.com NOTE - Please Pre-Register to Facilitate Check-In *************************************************** * To properly view this announcement, * * use a small monospace font such as courier 10 * *************************************************** + + + + + Jan. 12 Meeting: Topic to be Announced. Speaker: Chris Hoeber, Space Systems/Loral More Systems Engineering Tutorials begin in January 1999. Visit our website for announcements. Our programs are posted at URL=http://www.relay.net/~lew/sfbac.html The INCOSE website is at http://www.incose.org + + + + + The mission of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), a non-profit professional society, is to "foster the definition, and practice of World Class Systems Engineering in industry, academia, and government." The SF Bay Area Chapter presents thought-provoking monthly programs for its members and their guests. Learn about the INCOSE at www.incose.org. + + + + + ASCII Map (send fax number to Lew Lee for a graphical map) (Use Courier 10 or a small monospace font to view map) ** Driveway entrances on Ferguson shown as "<=" ** to Hwy 101 | || | /||\ | / || | | Maude | || | ---+---------------------------------+-++-+------ | | || | | | || | | Middlefield | || | ---+-------------------------------+-+-++-+------ | | \|| | W | \ ||/ h | F | || i | e | || H +-- s | r | || w |\ m | g | || y \ a | u | || \ n | s | || 2 North | o | || 3 \ | n | || 7 \ | Parking | || | | || | +-----+ walk +-----+ <=| || | |Bldg | : |Bldg | | || | | 7 *-+ : | 6 | | || | +---+ <.: +-----+ <=| || | Lobby <=| || | | || | | || __| Ferguson -->| || / | | || | | | || | | (construction area) | || | | | || | | | || =+====================================+=||======== Central Expressway || || to Mt. View INCOSE visitors enter through the lobby of Building 7. Please park in the lot north of the building and walk between Bldg 6 and 7 to the front of 7. Additional parking is available on the Central Express side of Bldg 6. Visitor sign-in is in the lobby. Handicapped Access Parking close to the lobby is available in the lot in front of Bldg 7. Contact Lew Lee for more access information. Suggested Driving Directions: East on Central Expressway -- exit at Ferguson. West on Central Expressway -- exit at Ferguson. West on Hwy 237 (going towards Mtn. View) -- take Middlefield exit. Right at Middlefield then a quick left onto Ferguson. East on Hwy 237 (going towards Milpitas) - take Middlefield exit. Left at Middlefield, cross under 237 then a left onto Ferguson (2nd traffic light past 237). South on Hwy 101 -- take Hwy 85 to Central Expressway. Make a left (east) onto Central then left at Ferguson. North on Hwy 101 -- take Hwy 237 West (Mtn. View - Alviso Hwy) exit. Take Middlefield exit, right at Middlefield, then a quick left onto Ferguson. ###