Slide Rule Library
Text and Reference Books

Scanned Books Archived by the ISRM Library
and from numerous on-line resources
Note: Books still inprint and available for sale are listed in the last section
KEEP ISRM FREE!
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• Reprints • General • USA • Russia/China • Japan • British/Australia • Europe/S.A. • Pickett • Post • K&E • Dietzgen • Catalogs •
Our library is overflowing! Help us to downsize. Most of the original hardcopy books and manuals shown below are available for purchase for a minor fee (less than $10) in our Duplicate books and manuals. page. Here's your chance to expand YOUR library.. Available Books

COVER DESCRIPTION ELECTRONIC FILES
Bagaimanakah kita bekerdja dengan mistar hitung dan dengan tjakera hitung?
How Do We Work with Linear and Circular Slide Rules?
Scanned by Marvin Clarence of Jakarta from the original book in National Library of Indonesia..
Originally authored by C. de Galan; literary/scientific translation assistance by A. Pratikno, Copyright 1952
N.V. De Technische Uitgeverij H. Stam, Haarlem (Nederlands)
Penerbit Buku Tehnik - H. Stam, Djakarta-Raya (Indonesia)
135 pages, Softbound, Indonesian Language (RSS)
Note: This book may be used in a classroom/course setting or by an autodidact learner as a course- and workbook. It includes numerous practice problems and answers.
Also note that circular slide rules have been generalised to 'Alro' because it is the most common brand of circular slide rule used within the Dutch Empire.
 38.3MB
All About Slide Rules - a 2012 Oughtred Society Publication

111 pages Compiled by Richard Davis and Ted Hume from an original design by Bob Koppany.

6.8MB
History of the Logarithmic Slide Rule
by Florian Cajori
School of Engineering, Colorado College
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA 1909.
Scanned using OCR, with linkable table of contents.
 2.03MB or
5.64MB
REF - Scan provided by Steven Decker
Slide Rule In Electronics
by John Carper, Director of Training, Calfornia Technical Trade Schools.
Howard W. Sams
Copyright ©1967
8-1/2in x 11in
162 pages, Spiral bound
Note: 12 lessons, Used as a workbook as it includes many sample exercises
 17.9MB
ISRM M314 - Gifted with Kutsuwa 10" slide rule by By Phillip Rodley, UpperHutt, New Zealand
The Slide Rule for Students of Science and Engineering
By T.G.C. Ward, E.R.D., M.A., Head of The Mathematical Department, Welbeck College.
And G.W. Blakely, B.A., Senior Lecturer, Department of Mathematics, The Royal Academy, Sandhurst.
English Universities Press
City of London
Published 1955
5in x 7-1/4in
100 pages, Softbound in 50 scans,
Note: Used as a workbook as it Includes many sample exercises 		6.73MB
ISRM M314 - Gifted with Kutsuwa 10" slide rule by By Phillip Rodley, UpperHutt, New Zealand
The Slide Rule for Ships Officers
A treatise on slide rules for cargo, navigation and general use on board a ship both in port and at sea. (uses Mannheim slide rule as example.
By J.C. Podmore
Brown, Son & Ferguson, LTD.
52-58 Darnley Street
Glasgow
Reprinted 1949
5in x 7-1/4in
130 pages, Softbound in 65 scans,
 17.2MB
ISRM M286 - Gifted with Kutsuwa 10" slide rule by By Phillip Rodley, UpperHutt, New Zealand
How To Use The Slide Rule
Forum House Publishing Company
Copyright ©1968
5-1/2in x 8-1/2in
110 pages, Softbound
Note: Used as a workbook as it Includeds many sample exercises 		27.2MB
M273 - Donated By Susan Jackson,Boulder, CO in memory of her father Jim Rodgers (1928-2012).
Review Of Mathematics And Slide Rule - Nuclear Weapons Employment Course - c1955
Note: This course required that the student, Jim Rodgers in this case, a Naval aviator, be nominated to attend the course, by his command. The first chapter consisting of 18 pages is a review of albebra and the formulas of physics used in the deployment of nuclear warfare. The second chapter of 8 pages describes the application of the slide rule in solving the equations, which involves numerous exponents.

Weapons Employment Course
Nuclear Warfare School
Nuclear Weapons Training Center - Atlantic
8-1/2" x 11" 28 page type written booklet with sketches of scales.

 4.17MB
M291
Mathematics Made Easy - With a section on slide rule use.
By Frank A. Rappolt, B.S., C.E., M.S. and P.E.
Professor of the School of Technology
College of the City of New York
Copyright 1941
Austin Technical Publishers, Newark, New Jersey.
76 pages, on 38 scanned sheets, Softbound
 21.73MB
M292
Simplified Mathematics For Daily Use an How To Use the Slide Rule
By Frank A. Rappolt, B.S., C.E., M.S. and P.E.
Professor of the School of Technology
College of the City of New York
Copyright 1943 by A. Neil Sawyer
Doubleday & Doran Company, Garden City.
209 pages, Hardbound
Note: Scan includes Title, Preface, Table of Contents and Part Two on slide rules, with Log tables.
 18.2MB
M29
A Course In Slide Rules
By E. Justin Hills, Los Angeles City Schools
Revised Edition, Copyright 1943, 1950 by Ginn and Company
Copyright 1938 by E. Justin Hills
108 pages, Softbound
Note: Includeds Illustration of K&E, Pickett, Gilson and Rotarule slide rules 		34.2MB
M30
The Modern Slide Rule A Manual of Self-Instruction for Schools, Colleges and the Professional User
By DR. Richard Stender & K.K. McKelvey
Third English Edition, Macmillan and Company Ltd., London
First Published 1960, reprinted 1964
120 pages, softbound
Note: Uses Aristo Scholar Slide Rule in Illustration Examples
 28.8MB
M231
The Slide Rule And Its Use In Problem Solving
by George C. Beakley, Arizona State University
and H.W. Leach, Bell Helicopter Company
Fourth Printing 1970, Copyright 1969 - The Macmillan Co.
10" x 7" Paperbound, 194 pages
Note: Earlier edition entitled The Slide Rule (c)1953 by Leach and Beakely. Part one reprinted from Engineering: An Introduction to a Creative Profession. Part Two reprinted from Careers in Engineering and Technology 		44.0MB
M22
Slide Rule - A Practical Guide to its Use
Formerly published under the title: Practical Use of the Slide Rule
By Calvin C. (Collier) Bishop, Pasedena, California
Second Edition, 1952. Copyright 1947, 1952
Barnes & Noble, Inc., College Outline Series
Note: The Original red cover is priced at $0.75 USD. Text is the same as M28 Slide Rule and How to Use it.
 26.7MB
M28
Slide Rule How To Use It - A Practical Guide to its Use
Formerly published under the title: Practical Use of the Slide Rule College Outline Series
By Calvin C. (Collier) Bishop, Pasedena, California
Third Edition, 1955. Reprinted 1960, Copyright 1947, 1952, 1955
Barnes & Noble, Inc., Everyday Handbooks
Note: 6 printings in circulation with 4 versions (in ISRM archives) with prices marked $1.00, $1.25 or $1.50 USD. The Original red cover is priced at $0.75 USD.
 27.5MB
M233
The Slide Rule And How To Use It (1953)
by Hobart H. Sommers, M.A., Austin High School
Harry Drell B.S., Lockheed Aircraft Company
and T.W. Wallschlaeger, M.S., Illinois Institute of Technology
1953 Version, Copyright 1942,1947 - Follet Publishing Co.
6-1/4" x 9-1/4" Hardbound, 208 pages

Note: The 1941 (red), 1942 (blue), and 1947 versions had a larger format, cover size: 9" x 10-1/2" which include space for an included Lawrence Deluxe Slide Rule. The sleeve for the slide rule was glued to the front cover for use by the student. All versions have identical text and problem sets.

49.8MB

M220
An Easy Introduction to The Slide Rule
by Issac Asimov - Copyright 1965
Fawcett Publications
67 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036
1941, 4 x 7", Softbound, 160 pgs (200 dpi)
 33.1MB
REF
The Slide Rule, A Practical Manual
by Charles N. Pickworth
6th Edition - Copyright April 1900
Emmott and Co.
204 pages
 2.82MB
REF
Technical Mathematics - Textbook
by Harold S. Rice and Raymond M. Knight
Copyright 1954 - Library of Congress Cat #: 53-12436
McGraw-Hill Book Company
6" x 9" 750 pages
File covers only sections using slide rules to solve problems.
Scans: 22 sheets - 44 pages
 23.5MB
REF - Scanned by John Krijnen, Netherlands
Der Rechenschieber (The Slide Rule)
By H.W. Fricke - 1970
200 pages Hardbound
German Language		 33.5MB
REF - Scanned by John Krijnen, Netherlands
Der Rechenstab Und Seine Verwendung
(The slide rule and its use)
By Dr. Helmar Lehmann - 1970
124 pages Hardbound
German Language		 17.5MB
M163 -
The Slide Rule
By Lee H. Johnson, Dean of Engineering, Univ of Mississippi
Third Printing, D. Van Norstrand Co.
First Published 1949, Reprinted 1951, 1953
6" x 8-1/2" - 240 pages Hardbound
Uses K&E slide rules in illustrations and examples 		1949 1st Edition
7.8MB
REF - Digitized by Google Book Search
A history of Mathematics
By Florian Cajori, Phd
2nd Edition, The McMillan Co. - 1893, 1919
537 pages 		15MB
REF - Scanned by Google Book Search
The Colorado School of Mines Magazine Index - Volume VII 1917
See Page 88-89 (PDF page 98-99) A historical Sketch of the Developement of the Slide Rule
By F.A. Brown Class of '18
Colorado School of Mines
254 pages 		13.7MB
REF - Digitized by Microsoft
William Oughtred, A Great 17th Century Teacher of Mathematics
by Florian Cajori
The Open Court Publishing Co. 1916 - 114 pages 		7.98MB
REF - Digitized by Microsoft
A Treatise of Mathematical Instruments
By Heather, J. F. (John Fry), d. 1886
John Weale, publisher. 1856 - 216 pages. Contains a complete description of a range of tools that are useful in mathematics, surveying, architecture, navigation, drafting, gunnery, physics, and illustration. It covers the sector (a form of calculator that predates the slide rule), the gunner's calipers, the proportional compasses, and a variety of lesser instruments. Examples show how to use all of the instruments, with extensive details on architectural drawing, plane geoemtry, spherical trigonometry, unit conversion, surveying, perspective drawing, and ship's guns (cannons and mortars). 12 plates of figures illustrate and clarify the text. 		10.3MB
As scanned

9.41MB
Black and White

REF - Digitized by Google Book Search
Slide-Rule Notes
By H.C. Dunlop and C.S. Jackson
Longman's Mathematical Series - 1913
144 pages Hardbound 		1.67MB
REF - Digitized by Google Book Search
Marks Mechanical Engineers Handbook 1st Edition
Editor Lionel Marks
McGraw-Hill - 1916
1892 pages Hardbound

See Sections on Logarithms (page 91) and the Slide Rule (page 94)

81.96MB
M225 - Gift to Mike Konshak by Chuck Ernst
Marks Mechanical Engineers Handbook 2nd Edition
Editor Lionel Marks
McGraw-Hill - 1924
1892 pages Hardbound

Only the Section on the Slide Rule (page 94-97) is scanned at 300 dpi.

6.8MB
REF - Digitized by Google Book Search
The 50 Centimetre Slide Rule as Applied to Tacheometry and Curve Ranging with Tables
By T. Graham Gribble
Cambridge University Press - 1911
21 pages Hardbound 		800KB
REF - Digitized by Google Book Search
Instructions For The Use Of The Slide Rule
Applied to Computations Relating to
Practical Husbandry and of The Cattle Gauge
For Ascertaining the Carcass Weight of Oxen
By John Ewart_
Newcastle-on-Tyne - 1847
101 pages 		1.96MB
REF - Scan by Greg Scott
The Slide Rule - A Complete Manual
by Alfred L. Slater, Los Angeles City College
Copyright 1967, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.
306 pages 		14.3MB
REF - Scan by Greg Scott
The Complete Side Rule Instructor
Containing upwards of three hundred questions and solutions for the improved slide rule, adapted for the use of engineers, millwrights, cotton spinners, mechanics, blacksmiths, moulders, and artisans in general.
by William Patten, Engineer, Ashton-Under-Lyne.
1858, Kent and Co. London
85 pages 		1.71MB
REF - Scan by Greg Scott
The Slide Rule For Air And Sea Navigation
by J.C. Podmore
1933, 1957, 1974, Brown, Son & ferguson, Ltd, Glasgow.
140 pages 		5.67MB
REF - Scan by Greg Scott
Mechanics Assistant: Mensuration And The Sliding Rule
Teaching the manner of drawing all regular superficies and the most concise methods of finding areas of all regular superficies, and the contents of all regular solids. Treating also the laws of motion, The descent of falling bodies, The strength of materials, the mechanical powers, The elasticity and force of steam, specific gravities, The leveling, The pendulum, etc. by D.M. Knapen, A.M.
1849, D. Appleton & Co. New York
140 pages 		8.09MB
REF - Digitized by Google Book Search
The Compass - Monthly Journal, Vol 3, 1893-1894
Wide variety of topics. Edited By William Cox
1894, Keuffel & Esser Co. New York
183 pages 		3.66MB
M91
A Programmed Sequence On The Slide Rule
By Roberts - 1962
by Eugene Roberts, Polytechnic High School, San Francisco, California
Copyright 1962 by the Regents of the University of California
Chemical Education Material Study
W.H. Freeman and Company, San Francisco, 64 pages
 13.7MB
REF Digitized by Google Book Search
The Use Of The Slide Rule
by Allan Reginald Cullimore 1915
Toledo University
Keuffel & Esser New York, NY
40 pages

1.25MB
M232
Using The Slide Rule In Electronic Technology
by E. Charles Alvarez, Pierce College, Woodland Hils, California
Fourth Printing 1966
Copyright 1962, John F. Rider Publisher Inc., New York
23.4MB
M67
The Slide Rule
By Rufus T. Strohm, Dean of Faculty
International Correspondance Schools
Copyright 1939, International Textbook Company Scranton, Pennsylvania
86 pages
26.1MB
M27
Newn's Slide Rule Manual
By F.J. Camms, editor Practical Engineering"
George Newnes Limited
Morrison and Gibb Ltd, London and Edinburgh
Copyright 1944, 1946, 1948
112 pages Hardbound
27.4MB
M68
Teach Yourself - The Slide Rule
By Burns Snodgrass. M.B.E., A.R.C.S.
1955, 1958. The English Universities Press
102 Newgate Street, London
207 pages Hardbound
Note: Uses "Unique" Slide Rule in example illustrations
45.7MB
M230
Simplifying The Slide Rule
by Robert W. Marks
Copyright 1964, Bantam Books, New York
Practice exercises by Keuffel & Esser, Copyright 1938,1944,1945,1947,1954,1955,1962
4 in x 7 in, 142 pages
20.7MB
M199 - Donated by Tom Grosh, Sierra Vist, AZ.
Scanned by Kent Berglund, PhD.Cary, IL
The Slide Rule - Tutortext
By Robert Saffolf and Ann Smalley - 1962
Doubleday - Prepared by U.S. Industries, Educational Science Division
6" x 8-1/2" - 470 pages Hardbound, 235 scanned pages.
13.78MB

This group may be still in print and available for sale new in various outlets

However, please check out our Excess books and Manuals For Sale
COVER DESCRIPTION ELECTRONIC FILES

REF - “THE ALRO CATALOGUE” (2020), in a hardback bound book format, with more than 200 pages of descriptions, tabular data, documentary annexes, a new coding system for identification, and — most importantly — the high-resolution colour images of each and every ALRO that is known today. “THE ALRO CATALOGUE” has been prepared and produced by Otto E. van Poelje, under the aegis of the Dutch Circle for Historical Calculating Instruments, with support by the IM2019 organizing team.
Order from KRING

M370 - Gift of Jüergen Nestler
Die Nestlers - Geschichte einer Lahrer Unternehmerfamilie or The Nestlers - History of a Lahr (a city) Entrepreneur Family Edited by Joachim Becker and Bernd Friedrich
2016, 9in x 10in, Hardbound, 368 pgs

For more than a hundred years, the Nestlers play an important role in the economic life of the city of Lahr. With ten contributions from seven authors, the book illuminates the family and economic history of the Nestlers in different ways. The Albert Nestler family, is of particular interest to Slide Rule Collectors and researchers. Lahr is located on the western edge of the Black Forest where the Schutter Valley merges with the Upper Rhine River Plains from the east. The text is all in German. Juergen Nestler signed and donated a copy for the ISRM curator. "For Mike". Available on Amazon. ISBN 978-3-86372-046-9


REF
Our World-wide Knowledge on Calculating Machines, Slide Rules and Calculating Tools. - An Approach for a Comprehensive Overview of the Knowledge from Past until Present .
By Dr. Detlef Zerfowski
2013, Din A4, Hardbound, 1574 pgs, Indian ISBN number 978-81-8465-827-9. Written in both German and English languages. Has references to over 9000 books and articles and lists over 9100 patents in the domain of mechanical calculating machines and tools.

Can be purchased directly through Detlef's website. It will be shipped from his home in India.

When you buy this book, please let Detlef know that you heard of it through sliderulemuseum.com. Thank you!

Sample Pages
p0003-0010 Contents and Preface 107KB
p1123-1124 Patents slide rules 53KB
p1259-1260 Patents slide rules 60KB

M71
Slide Rules Their History By Peter Hopp
1999, 8.5 x 11, Softbound, 310 pgs
Featuring: Mostly European. This is the first book that the ISRM curator reaches for when looking for historical references on artifacts. A must have for the collector. Monumental in its scope and the wealth of detail it provides, this book is an invaluable reference on slide rules, their makers, manufacturers, and retailers. Covering the period from the instrument's invention in the early 17th century to the present day, this comprehensive treatise illuminates all aspects of slide rule design and production. The author includes a staggering amount of information, all cross-referenced, on slide rule models and their makers and manufacturers. In all, several thousand slide rule descriptions are catalogued. The book also includes: a history of the slide rule and the evolution of standard designs, biographies of some of the influential figures in slide rule design; approximately 500 world-wide patents, catalogued by year for dating purposes; descriptions of scales and gauge marks; a section on the care and restoration of slide rules; a glossary of terms used; 8 appendices and 18 tables of correlated information; a comprehensive bibliography.
USED BOOK
AVAILABLE
FROM ISRM

REF
Joint Slide Rules By Peter Hopp
2009, 8.5 x 11, Softbound, 202 pgs
For hundreds of years, the slide rule has been a useful calculating device. In his second book, Joint Slide Rules: Sectors, 2-foot 2-fold and similar slide rules, expert Peter M. Hopp examines the joint rule, completing an important but neglected part of slide rule history. The book is a comprehensive account of joint rules and contains detailed information on over two hundred joint slide rule makers from around the world. Calculating devices that preceded the slide rule, such as sectors and timber rules, are examined, as are special joint rules that incorporate additional elements, such as callipers. Special jointed devices, such as dip rods that allow calculation, are also included. With the addition of over one hundred detailed illustrations of joint slide rules and a glossary of terms, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in joint slide rules and their history.
USED BOOK
AVAILABLE
FROM ISRM

REF
Slide Rules: A Journey Through Three Centuries >By Dieter Von Jezierski
Originally published in German in 1977 as the first major book on the history of the slide rule since Florian Cajori's A History of the Logarithmic Slide Rule, this newly revised and translated edition of Slide Rules, A Journey Through Three Centuries, offers readers a fresh, more Continental perspective on this most fascinating of calculating instruments. The book is an important piece of historical and technological research, in which the author includes the history of the slide rule from its beginnings in the 17th century, through its gradual adoption and development worldwide during the 19th and 20th centuries, to its sudden and almost complete demise in the mid-1970s. He also covers the evolution of various slide rule components, technologies, and manufacturing processes, as well as histories of the major slide rule manufacturers and their product lines during the last 100 years. There are detailed references to original sources throughout, which the reader may use as a springboard to further study and research. Readable and very informative, this is a book that, together with those of Cajori and Peter Hopp, any slide rule collector or historian of technology will find of great interest and real benefit. 		USED BOOK
AVAILABLE
FROM ISRM

REF
A Treatise of Mathematical Instruments
By John Robertson, David Manthey
A reprint of A Treatise of Mathematical Instruments - 1856 by J.F. Heather contains a complete description of a range of tools that are useful in mathematics, surveying, architecture, navigation, drafting, gunnery, physics, and illustration. It covers the sector (a form of calculator that predates the slide rule), the gunner's calipers, the proportional compasses, and a variety of lesser instruments. Examples show how to use all of the instruments, with extensive details on architectural drawing, plane geoemtry, spherical trigonometry, unit conversion, surveying, perspective drawing, and ship's guns (cannons and mortars). 12 plates of figures illustrate and clarify the text. This is a good book, well produced, but remember that it is a reporing of a book from 1856, the cover is a lot more recent. It is a fac-simile of the original edition, which can be awkward to read with its strange letters "s" and antiquated terminology. A free download of the original book is available above in the ISRM library. 		USED BOOK
AVAILABLE
FROM ISRM

REF
Calculating On Slide Rule and Disc By I. J. Schuitema, H. van Herwijnen
Author IJzebrand Schuitema owns one of the largest slide rule collections in the world. In the course of his collecting, he came upon rules that were unknown to him and that excited his curiosity. This book is a compilation of the articles he wrote about these wonderful slide rules, each one made for a specific and unique use, and about the men who designed and manufactured them. There is the slide rule that computes road curvature, one that calculates for sewerage applications, one that provides navigational information for flyers, one for brewers that computes barley malt, water, hops, and yeast and then takes into account time, temperature and pressure and there are many, many more. Ir. Schuitema was fortunate to have as his associate in this enterprise Herman van Herwijnen, who describes himself as a slide rule collector and computer freak. He has compiled a marvelous CD, designed for the PC and included with the book, featuring an enormous number of photographs (in full color and from all sides and angles) of all the rules mentioned in the book, as well as a great many additional ones. Each rule is accompanied by a description material it is made of, size, name, etc. Each picture can be enlarged several times, so that every detail is seen. The disc can be searched, browsed, its index can be used to take the reader to a particular slide rule maker or to a particular slide rule, and individual pictures can be printed or copied. 208 pages. 7 x 10. Profusely illustrated. Soft cover. 		USED BOOK
AVAILABLE
FROM ISRM

REF
The Slide Rule, Simplified, Explained, and Illustrated for the Mechanical Trades
By Robert Riddell
Once more, Astragal Press has rescued an old and rare book from obscurity, allowing for the broad circulation of information previously limited to the select few who could afford access. This book, first published in 1881, was written about the use of the first standard slide rule made in the United States: a Mannheim-type slide rule made by Stephens Co., a mjor rule manufacturer. Included in Riddell's book, aimed primarily at carpenters and joiners, is a wealth of fascinating instruction on the use of the slide rule in everything from making the calculations necessary for constructing circular porches and spiral stairways, to calculating wages owed or the cost of hauling lumber. Included, as well, are lovely plates illustrating various geometric and trigonometric calculations used in construction. As a source book, it should be of great interest and value to tool collectors, slide rule 		USED BOOK
AVAILABLE
FROM ISRM
REF
A History of the Logarithmic Slide Rule and Allied Instruments and on the History of Gunter's Scale and the Slide Rule During the Seventeenth Century
By Florian Cajori, PHd.
Astragal Press, 1994, Hardcover, 164pgs.
 USED BOOK
AVAILABLE
FROM ISRM
M220
An Easy Introduction to the Slide Rule Paperback by Isaac Asimov
January 1, 1967

Note: the book is available for download from ISRM on a PDF, but it is better to get something you can hold.It is hard to find, so buy it if you can.

 USED BOOK
AVAILABLE
FROM ISRM

A Manual of the Slide Rule: Its History, Principle, and Operation by J.E. Thompson
January 27, 2021 This manual of slide rule history andd usage, as well as a detailed guide to its functions, includes typical use, problems, and settings. Originally published in 1930 by D. Van Nostrand Company.
 USED BOOK
AVAILABLE
FROM ISRM
Slide Rule Simplified
By Charles Overton Harris
1948, 1961, 248 pages		 USED BOOK
AVAILABLE
FROM ISRM
Copyright © 2003-
International Slide Rule Museum