Used by engineers for centuries, they were displaced by pocket calculators and all but forgotten until Mr. Shawlee created a subculture of obsessives and cornered the market. By Alex Traub For about ...

I’ll be honest, I have no idea how to use a slide rule. But I’ve always found them to be very intriguing, mostly because they look very complicated, and I have a soft spot for the trappings of geekery ...

WILLIAMSTOWN — They weren’t exactly a “fad” (you couldn’t wear one, a barber or hairdresser couldn’t shave or sculpt one), but slide rules nevertheless became what might be called academically ...