2-839-766 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

This chemical slide rule used for determining the mass of atoms and molecules belonged to Dr. Sally K. Ride. Before pocket-sized electronic calculators became available in the 1970s, slide rules were used as an aid to complex mathematical operations. Ride used this device as a university student. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space when she flew on the STS-7 shuttle mission in 1983.