calculating machines on Safehold

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Re: calculating machines on Safehold
by wingfield » Fri Jul 10, 2015 9:00 am
wingfield Lieutenant Commander Posts: 110 Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2015 12:15 am Location: Melbourne, Australia	Expert snuggler wrote:Come to think of it, why on earth hasn't Merlin done anything to make slide rules happen? I mentioned some weeks ago how I missed my old slide rule. Were RFC to put one in I'd get all sentimental.
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Re: calculating machines on Safehold

by wingfield » Fri Jul 10, 2015 9:00 am

wingfield
Lieutenant Commander

Posts: 110
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2015 12:15 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Expert snuggler wrote:Come to think of it, why on earth hasn't Merlin done anything to make slide rules happen?

I mentioned some weeks ago how I missed my old slide rule.

Were RFC to put one in I'd get all sentimental.

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Re: calculating machines on Safehold
by evilauthor » Fri Jul 10, 2015 10:43 am
evilauthor Captain of the List Posts: 724 Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2014 8:51 pm	Expert snuggler wrote:Come to think of it, why on earth hasn't Merlin done anything to make slide rules happen? THere aren't any slide rules? Doesn't some of the new applied math basically require slide rules to do?
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Re: calculating machines on Safehold

by evilauthor » Fri Jul 10, 2015 10:43 am

evilauthor
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Posts: 724
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2014 8:51 pm

Expert snuggler wrote:Come to think of it, why on earth hasn't Merlin done anything to make slide rules happen?

THere aren't any slide rules? Doesn't some of the new applied math basically require slide rules to do?

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Re: calculating machines on Safehold
by MTO » Fri Jul 10, 2015 3:13 pm
MTO Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Posts: 37 Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2015 1:35 pm	evilauthor wrote: THere aren't any slide rules? Doesn't some of the new applied math basically require slide rules to do? There is no math that must be done on a slide rule. Slide rules allow fast computation of good approximations. Slide rules were a minor improvement on a previous system used by astronomers involving trigonometric identities (eg sin(a)*sin(b)=(cos(a+b)-cos(a-b))/2) . Using lookup tables, this could dramatically speed up calculations. Logarithms saved a few steps and improved accuracy, while only requiring one lookup table instead of 6. In the real world, this was all done by mathematician astronomers who were trying to predict the location of heavenly bodies. It seems to me the proscriptions mean, among so much else, that there is little research into astronomy. So I wonder who would come up with these methods? Wikipedia has a good page on the process, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosthaphaeresis
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Re: calculating machines on Safehold

by MTO » Fri Jul 10, 2015 3:13 pm

MTO
Lieutenant (Junior Grade)

Posts: 37
Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2015 1:35 pm

evilauthor wrote:
THere aren't any slide rules? Doesn't some of the new applied math basically require slide rules to do?

There is no math that *must* be done on a slide rule. Slide rules allow fast computation of good approximations. Slide rules were a minor improvement on a previous system used by astronomers involving trigonometric identities (eg sin(a)*sin(b)=(cos(a+b)-cos(a-b))/2) . Using lookup tables, this could dramatically speed up calculations. Logarithms saved a few steps and improved accuracy, while only requiring one lookup table instead of 6.

In the real world, this was all done by mathematician astronomers who were trying to predict the location of heavenly bodies. It seems to me the proscriptions mean, among so much else, that there is little research into astronomy. So I wonder who would come up with these methods?

Wikipedia has a good page on the process, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosthaphaeresis

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Re: calculating machines on Safehold
by n7axw » Fri Jul 10, 2015 3:19 pm
n7axw Fleet Admiral Posts: 5997 Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 8:54 pm Location: Viborg, SD	wingfield wrote: Expert snuggler wrote:Come to think of it, why on earth hasn't Merlin done anything to make slide rules happen? I mentioned some weeks ago how I missed my old slide rule. Were RFC to put one in I'd get all sentimental. I haapened across my K&E the other day. Over 50 years old and still remember how to use it! Don When any group seeks political power in God's name, both religion and politics are instantly corrupted.
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Re: calculating machines on Safehold

by n7axw » Fri Jul 10, 2015 3:19 pm

n7axw
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Posts: 5997
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 8:54 pm
Location: Viborg, SD

wingfield wrote:
Expert snuggler wrote:Come to think of it, why on earth hasn't Merlin done anything to make slide rules happen?

I mentioned some weeks ago how I missed my old slide rule.

Were RFC to put one in I'd get all sentimental.

I haapened across my K&E the other day. Over 50 years old and still remember how to use it!

Don

When any group seeks political power in God's name, both religion and politics are instantly corrupted.

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Re: calculating machines on Safehold
by wingfield » Fri Jul 10, 2015 6:47 pm
wingfield Lieutenant Commander Posts: 110 Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2015 12:15 am Location: Melbourne, Australia	n7axw wrote: wingfield wrote: I mentioned some weeks ago how I missed my old slide rule. Were RFC to put one in I'd get all sentimental. I haapened across my K&E the other day. Over 50 years old and still remember how to use it! Don Mine would have been nearly that by now (about 45 years old) but I can't remember the brand. In my head I can visualise slipping it straight to a simple calculation!
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Re: calculating machines on Safehold

by wingfield » Fri Jul 10, 2015 6:47 pm

wingfield
Lieutenant Commander

Posts: 110
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2015 12:15 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

n7axw wrote:
wingfield wrote:
I mentioned some weeks ago how I missed my old slide rule.

Were RFC to put one in I'd get all sentimental.

I haapened across my K&E the other day. Over 50 years old and still remember how to use it!

Don

Mine would have been nearly that by now (about 45 years old) but I can't remember the brand. In my head I can visualise slipping it straight to a simple calculation!

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Re: calculating machines on Safehold
by shaeun » Wed Sep 30, 2015 8:33 pm
shaeun Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Posts: 44 Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2015 8:27 pm	evilauthor wrote: Now I'm wondering if the Inner Circle's access to Fed Tech computing systems might actually retard the development of early computing systems in Charis. They "know" that something like a Babbage machine won't work, so they never give projects like that proper funding. Honestly, we know that the Difference Engine and the Analytic Engine both work as they have both been built and they do work. These machines are excellent analogues for digital computing and would be best built by the Go4... Imagine the Go4 trying to replicate them.. Charis doesn't have to build them, just make the Go4 think they are... It would then also explain where all of the artillery and log/sin/cos tables generated by OWL came from.
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Re: calculating machines on Safehold

by shaeun » Wed Sep 30, 2015 8:33 pm

shaeun
Lieutenant (Junior Grade)

Posts: 44
Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2015 8:27 pm

evilauthor wrote:
Now I'm wondering if the Inner Circle's access to Fed Tech computing systems might actually retard the development of early computing systems in Charis. They "know" that something like a Babbage machine won't work, so they never give projects like that proper funding.

Honestly,

we know that the Difference Engine and the Analytic Engine both work as they have both been built and they do work.

These machines are excellent analogues for digital computing and would be best built by the Go4...

Imagine the Go4 trying to replicate them.. Charis doesn't have to build them, just make the Go4 think they are... It would then also explain where all of the artillery and log/sin/cos tables generated by OWL came from.

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