25 April, 2007 Chairman of the Committee on Division and Reference's Message
Welcome to the first of many messages from me. For now, they are from the Chairman of the Committee on Division and Reference. But all too soon, the will be from the Grand Master. I am encouraged by the fact that you are reading this. Of course I don't know you are reading it, because the Chairman is not "all-seeing, all-knowing". It takes being the Grand Master to attain that skill and ability. (You can start laughing anytime now. I won't hear it, but I can imagine.) Anyway, since I am an optimist, I will assume that somebody is reading this so I can be encouraged.
I suppose the first question everyone has is: "What's that funny looking yellow ruler with the state of Iowa on top. Well, friends and brothers, that is what is know as a slide rule, a.k.a. slip stick or a mechanical calculator. It needs no batteries, and compute multiplications, divisions, powers, logarithms, and other high falutin' mathematical operations almost as fast as a calculator. This is the device that helped put men on the moon, and although the computers of today offer more precision, and much faster calculations, they cost a whole lot more, require software, and have been known to "crash". Here is a slightly larger picture of the device.
So why is it on this Grand Master's page? For the same reason that it is on the top of the front fender of my motorcycle, I am an engineer. And although my proficiency with a calculator or a computer is several orders of magnitude higher than my skill with a slide rule, none-the-less, I actually own a couple of them. And my pin for 2007-2008 will be pretty much like the picture you see here.
There is actually a slight Masonic connection to the slide rule. The slide rule operation is based on a mathematical principle called a logarithm, which was first invented in 1594 by John Napier, Baron of Merchiston in Scotland. Edmund Gunter, Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College in London, conceived in 1620 the idea of using log scales constructed with anti-log scales for simple mathematical operations. William Oughtred, who lived near London, first used Gunter's logarithm scales in a sliding combination in 1630. Sir Isaac Newton was one of many who later improved and further developed these types of computing devices. Of course, Gresham College is where the Royal Society originated, through the efforts of several known Masons. See my review of Lomas' book on this topic HERE.
Education is to be a major emphasis of mine during 2007-2008. See some of my ideas on this topic HERE.