Red lighting is so useful for being able to find things at night without ruining your dark-adapted vision. Key to visual astronomy.
Also, we now understand, for parties. Like, more than just star parties.
Red Light
Month: September 2024
Force Table (again)
We’ve pointed out our old and reliable force tables before – classics of the undergraduate physics experience – which arrived here in several installments. Previously, 1957. This young’un only appeared in April of 1964, intended for the Physics 107-8 lab. Not listed in any recent course catalog, we’re uncertain of exactly what that was.
We could probably go pester some librarians, because surely there’s a record, but those folks are awfully busy on more important matters. Leave the idle wondering to the fellows here in the basement.
At any rate, they paid a healthy sum of $96.75 for this precision-machined beast. In today’s dollars: $985.65.
Do you think we’ve gotten our money’s worth yet?
Postage Stamp
First class postage as of January 27th, 1956 cost three cents.
Slide Rule
At one point in time, the slide rule was an essential tool in a physics/math/engineering education. Built and etched with high precision, they enable a skilled user to perform all sorts of mathematical operations with speed and ease. It’s the power of logarithms in a hand-held device.
Which, if you’re the sort of person who can master a slide rule, means you can also fully grasp the particulars of how one works.
It’s a smidge harder to get there with an everyday calculator. The gulf between the solid-state electronics inside one and the button-pressing interface is enormous.
At one point in time, this beast was a handy demonstration device at the front of the lecture hall. Visible from way in the back, it lets an instructor illustrate proper slide rule use to an entire class at once.
Not that that happens much anymore, but this thing is awesome. If you found one back in the closet, you’d keep it handy, too.