Pickett Slide Rules

Slide rules

• Pickett slide rules were similar to those that other companies made. They had the capability to multiply, divide, calculate the square and square root, cube and cube root, quadratic equations, trigonometric functions, and most other functions an electronic calculator will do. Standard slide rules consist of an upper and lower body with an open space in the middle. The bodies are marked with graduations on both sides and held in place by a brace at each end. The slide is the graduated section that moves back and forth in the open section of the body. The cursor, a clear window with a hairline, slides along the edges of the upper and lower body to make reading the answer on the scales easier. Pickett and other companies also made circular slide rules with a cursor where rings rotate around a central point.

Picket Slide Rules

• Early models of Pickett slide rules were made of gray magnesium alloy. Moving the slide back and forth caused the magnesium to break down and turn to powder, so Pickett switched to aluminum. After switching to aluminum, Pickett became known as a maker of a quality slide rule with a variety of versions for specialized applications. Early models were white, but later versions were yellow and they used ES, for eye saving, in the model designation. When plastic became common, Pickett switched part of its production to that, mostly for student versions. In 1959, Pickett started to make pocket slide rules. Pickett pocket slide rules went into space with astronauts on some of the Apollo missions. About the same time, Pickett copyrighted model N4-ES that had 34 scales, the most of any slide rule. Pickett supplied the military with purpose-made slide rules.

  Pickett 14 military slide rules were a 10-inch version for artillery use, and came with a leather case stamped U S. Included was a plastic insert of trigonometric formulas that were for memorization. Pickett also made a slide rule, N700-T USAF Aerial Photo A2, for the Army Air Force to calculate speed, altitude and other navigational calculations.

After Electronic Calculator

• Pickett was popular and covered a wide range of uses and professions. It made circular slide rules that were popular with some users. Pickett made slide rules for engineering, chemical, electrical, physics, economics and business, and other professions. Pickett was a major American manufacturer of slide rules whose models ranged from circular, pocket and 10-inch up to 4 and 7 feet used for demonstrations in schools. Slide rule users developed affection for their calculators, and some preferred certain brands. Pickett slide rules, and others, are found most commonly in drawers, private collections, or museums after electronic calculators made them obsolete.