THE TIMES - HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT

London, May 14 2004 –  n° 1640  –  www.thes.co.uk

Call for rules to halt skills slide

Measuring up: Giovanni Pastore want to see the return of the slide rule to Improve students' ability to think

Paul Bompard

ROME

Slide rules could make a come-back in mathematics classes, according to an engineering lecturer at Potenza University, in southern Italy.
Giovanni Pastore, 50, believes students would benefit from using slide rules, alongside calculators and computers, because it makes them learn to think.
He also wants to preserve knowledge of how these instruments are used and is preparing a 600 page book covering general-purpose mathematical rules and the many specialist models designed for mechanics, chemistry, topography, electricity, reinforced concrete, navigation, aviation, commerce and other areas.
Professor Pastore said: "Today's students pull out their calculator to divide or multiply by ten. A slide rule encourages the student to think, rather than just press buttons. This develops the student's grasp of the subject."
"Television has not made radio obsolete, nor have cars universally replaced horses or bicycles. In some kinds of calculations there are distinct advantages to using a slide rule. Of course, precision is limited compared with a calculator, but inaccuracies of less than 0.5 per cent are negligible for most practical purposes."
Bruno Bassan, 47, a mathematician at Rome's La Sapienza University, said: "Professor Pastore's idea sounds a little like asking people to ride a horse while taking driving lessons. It is a nice idea, but perhaps more for amusement than for serious inclusion in university studies."
Professor Pastore graduated from Turin Polytechnic in 1978. He worked at Fiat for two decades before turning to freelance civil engineering and teaching, first at Cosenza University and now at Potenza.
He has almost 300 slide rules in his collection and has helped to set up a slide rule section in the Mathematical Museum at La Sapienza. There, the rules are displayed alongside an early edition of John Napier's book on logarithms, which paved the way for the slide rule.
Professor Pastore's website is very popular with academics and slide-rule collectors. Among other things, it shows photographs of scientists Wernher von Braun and Sergej Korolev with their favourite slide rules.

Details: www.giovannipastore.it

THE TIMES - HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT - London, May 14 2004 - n° 1640 - (jpg)

Giovanni Pastore
ANTIKYTHERA E I REGOLI CALCOLATORI
Tecnologia e scienza del calcolatore astronomico dei Greci
Istruzioni per l’uso dei regoli calcolatori logaritmici matematici, cemento armato e speciali, con numerosi esempi di calcolo

© Copyright 2006 - Giovanni Pastore, Italy - All rights reserved – Any partly or total reproduction is forbidden. Antikythera e i regoli calcolatori by Giovanni Pastore was printed in Rome on February 2006 and it is protected by the current civil and criminal law on copyright.
This work is the result of more than six years of researches and personal efforts, aimed to rediscover a huge scientific legacy, unknown to the new generations of engineers, mathematicians and technicians.

This book, written in Italian, in a smart typographic form, A4 size (30x22x6 cm), in colour, XVI-990 pages, ISBN 9788890471513, hardcover with titles in gold at spine and laminated full-color dust jacket, it is not distributed through bookshops. If you are interested, you may order your copies directly from the author, at the address given below: act fast because not many copies are left! Shipping costs outside Italy (international express courier) will be quoted upon request, depending on destination.

L’autore: The author: Giovanni Pastore (Rotondella - Basilicata, Italy), received his degree with full marks in Mechanical Engineering at Turin Polytechnic University. Even before graduating he was offered a contract at Fiat Mirafiori in Turin, where for the many years he worked at the automotive design office, dealing with structural calculations. He was a reserve officer with the Army Corps of Engineers at the plant of ex-combat vehicles STAVECO at Nola (Naples, Italy), appointed with the task of the revision and testing of tanks (Leopard and M113). Some years later he was recalled to duty, at the same plant, for technical updates and degree advancements. He has lived and worked in Policoro (Basilicata, Italy), where he works as a freelance engineer and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at several Italian universities. He has published numerous scientific articles and books: Gli infortuni domestici. Come prevenirli (ISBN 9788890471506), Antikythera e i regoli calcolatori (ISBN 9788890471513), Il Planetario di Archimede ritrovato (ISBN 9788890471520), Pitagora nel mondo contemporaneo. Influenze della filosofia scientifica pitagorica nel mondo moderno e contemporaneo (ISBN 9788890471537) and The Recovered Archimedes Planetarium (ISBN 9788890471544). He wrote in Il Sole 24 Ore, L’Unione Sarda, La Stampa, Corriere della Sera, Davlos (translated into Greek by Yannis Lazaris), Mathesis, Advances in Space Research, Ancient Origins, Il Quotidiano del Sud, La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno.

For more information please contact:

Book by Giovanni Pastore
THE RECOVERED ARCHIMEDES PLANETARIUM
Science, technology, history, literature and archaeology, certainty and conjecture on the most ancient and extraordinary astronomical calculating device. With two other scientific studies: on the Antikythera Planetarium and the Pitcher of Ripacandida.
With the appendix:
Pythagoras in the contemporary world. Influences of Pythagorean scientific philosophy in the modern and contemporary world.
Summary in: English - Italiano - Ελληνικά - 日本語 - Español - Français - Português - Deutsch - Tiếng Việt
(The book is written in English, ISBN  9788890471544)

Libro di Giovanni Pastore
IL PLANETARIO DI ARCHIMEDE RITROVATO
Scienza, tecnologia, storia, letteratura e archeologia, certezze e congetture sul più antico e straordinario calcolatore astronomico
Con altri due studi scientifici:
sul Planetario di Antikythera e sulla Brocchetta di Ripacandida
Summary in: Italiano - English - Ελληνικά - 日本語 - Español - Français - Português - Deutsch - Tiếng Việt
(Il libro è scritto in Italiano, ISBN  9788890471520)

Alla pagina web del libro di Giovanni Pastore
GLI INFORTUNI DOMESTICI
Come prevenirli

Copyright © 2001-2024 by Giovanni Pastore