Engineering, Building, and Architecture - Overview
Not many museums collect houses. The National Museum of American History has four, as well as two outbuildings, 11 rooms, an elevator, many building components, and some architectural elements from the White House. Drafting manuals are supplemented by many prints of buildings and other architectural subjects. The breadth of the museum's collections adds some surprising objects to these holdings, such as fans, purses, handkerchiefs, T-shirts, and other objects bearing images of buildings.
The engineering artifacts document the history of civil and mechanical engineering in the United States. So far, the Museum has declined to collect dams, skyscrapers, and bridges, but these and other important engineering achievements are preserved through blueprints, drawings, models, photographs, sketches, paintings, technical reports, and field notes.
"Engineering, Building, and Architecture - Overview" showing 11 items.
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Keuffel & Esser Instructions for 4098 Ever-There Slide Rule
- Description
- The citation information for this 16-page tissue paper pamphlet is: Instructions for Operating Ever-There Slide Rule No. 4098 (New York: Keuffel & Esser, 1932). The pamphlet describes an earlier version of 1989.0325.06. It lists various uses for slide rules and provides detailed drawings and explanations for reading numbers and making calculations on the slide rule. Sample problems are solved in multiplication and division, proportion, squares and square roots, cubes and cube roots, trigonometry, and logarithms.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1932
- maker
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- 1981.0933.09
- accession number
- 1981.0933
- catalog number
- 1981.0933.09
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Keuffel & Esser 4088-5 Polyphase Duplex Slide Rule
- Description
- This duplex linear slide rule is made of mahogany coated with celluloid. There are DF and D scales on one side of the base and K, A, D, and L scales on the other side. There are CF, CIF, and C scales on one side of the runner and B, S, T, and CI scales on the other side. The scales are 20 inches long (the "5" in the model number refers to a rule with scales 20 inches long) and closely divided. The indicator is made of glass with a plastic frame.
- The base is marked: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO.N.Y.; PAT. JUNE 5. ’00; DEC. 22. ’08; MADE IN U.S.A. The runner is marked: 4088-5. The serial number, on the other side of the runner, is: 72287. The slide rule is stored in a dark brown cardboard and glued leather box.
- Keuffel & Esser published catalogs in 1899, 1902, 1905, 1909, 1912, 1915, 1921, 1927, and 1936. Model 4088-2 (8 in.) and 4088-3 (10 in.) slide rules first appeared in the 1913 printing of the 1912 catalog (facing p. 304). Model 4088-5 was first mentioned in 1921 (p. 239) and then again in 1927 (p. 302). In 1927 and in the 1930s (but not in 1921), the front of the runner had a B scale in addition to the S, T, and CI scales. By 1936, the 4088-5 was replaced by the N4088-5 (p. 314). On this basis, the rule dates from between 1922 and 1935. Additionally, the donor reported that he received the slide rule from a friend in about 1930. The instrument sold for $20.00 in 1927. Compare this object to MA*318476 and 1986.0790.02.
- References: Willie L. E. Keuffel, "Slide-Rule" (U.S. Patent 651,142 issued June 5, 1900) and "Slide-Rule" (U.S. Patent 907,373 issued December 22, 1908); Peter M. Hopp, Slide Rules: Their History, Models, and Makers (Mendham, N.J.: Astragal Press, 1999), 193; Clark McCoy, Keuffel & Esser Catalogs, http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1922-1936
- maker
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- 1994.0376.001
- catalog number
- 1994.0376.001
- accession number
- 1994.0376
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Keuffel & Esser 1740 Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rule
- Description
- This paper, brass, and wood cylindrical slide rule has 20 sets of A, B, and C scales, with each set 47 cm in length. The scales are printed on paper that is glued around a sliding brass drum (with wooden handles) and on brass slats that are attached to a round brass frame on either end. The frame is screwed to a wooden base. A sheet of instructions for THACHER'S CALCULATING INSTRUMENT is glued along the top front of the base.
- The right side of the paper on the drum is marked in italics: Patented by Edwin Thatcher [sic], C.E. Nov. 1st 1881. Divided by W. F. Stanley, London, 1882. Made by Keuffel & Esser Co. N.Y. A small silver metal tag affixed to the front right of the base is engraved: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. (/) NEW-YORK (/) 663. Wayne Feely has suggested that K&E began manufacturing (as opposed to simply distributing) Thacher cylindrical slide rules in 1887, indicating 1887 is the earliest date for this example of the instrument. The latest date for the instrument is 1900, because K&E changed the design of the brass frame at that time.
- The object is contained in a wooden case that bears no identifying marks. According to the accession file, the rule was found in a Smithsonian collections storage locker in the Arts & Industries Building about 1964.
- See also MA*312866.
- Reference: Wayne E. Feely, "Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rules," The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association 50 (1997): 125–127
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1887-1900
- maker
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- 1987.0107.08
- catalog number
- 1987.0107.08
- accession number
- 1987.0107
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Keuffel & Esser 68-1944 Demonstration Slide Rule
- Description
- This is a one-sided 79-inch demonstration slide rule from 1967. It is made of painted wood, with a plastic cursor that has a wooden frame. In the early seventeenth century, the Scottish mathematician John Napier discovered functions known as logarithms which make it possible to reduce problems of multiplication, division, and taking the roots of numbers to additions and subtractions.
- On a slide rule, the logarithms of numbers are represented as lengths. To multiply, one length is set on the base, and another added to it using the slide. The sum of the logarithms, which gives the product, is read off using the cursor. This slide rule also has scales for finding the squares, cubes, square roots, and cube roots of numbers.
- Slide rules first became popular in the United States in the 1890s, especially among engineers and scientists. Use of the device was taught in high schools and universities using oversized instruments like this. During the 1960s, the United States placed new emphasis on teaching mathematics and science. This slide rule was purchased and used at a high school for girls in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. By the late 1970s, slide rules would be almost entirely displaced by handheld electronic calculators.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1967
- fabricator
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- 1987.0137.01
- accession number
- 1987.0137
- catalog number
- 1987.0137.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Keuffel & Esser 1740 Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rule
- Description
- In 1881, Edwin Thacher, a "computing engineer" for the Keystone Bridge Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, received a patent for an improvement in slide rules. Thacher was a graduate of Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute who spent much of his career designing railway bridges. To assist in his calculations, he designed a cylindrical slide rule. Thacher's rule, though it fit on a desk, was equivalent to a conventional slide rule over 59 feet long. It had scales for multiplication and division and another scale, with divisions twice as large, for use in finding squares and square roots. But it had no trigonometric scales.
- To produce his "calculating instrument," Thacher turned to the London firm of W. F. Stanley. The company even designed a special dividing engine for preparing the scales for the instrument. These were printed on paper sheets, which were pasted to the drum and the slats. In this example, the paper is also printed in italics on the right side: Patented by Edwin Thatcher [sic], C.E. Nov. 1st 1881. Divided by W. F. Stanley, London, 1882.
- The drum is rotated with wooden handles. The cylinder of slats is held in place with a brass frame, which is affixed to a wooden base. A paper of DIRECTIONS AND RULES FOR OPERATING is lacquered to the front of the base. The rear of the base bears a small silver metal label engraved: Keuffel & Esser (/) New York. F. F. NICKEL is painted underneath the base.
- Keuffel & Esser Company of New York sold versions of the Thacher cylindrical slide rule from at least 1883 until about 1950. There were two models, one with a magnifying glass (K&E model 1741, later K&E model 4013), and one without (K&E model 1740, later K&E 4012). This is a model 1740. The front right corner of the instrument's metal frame is engraved with the number 107. A paper K&E label on the inside lid of the instrument's mahogany case is marked in ink: 1740/661 (/) Thachers (/) Calculating (/)Instr. The top front of the bottom of the case is also carved with 661. In 1887, the model 1740 sold for $30.00.
- Frank Ferdinand Nickel purchased this example around 1883 and donated it to the Smithsonian in 1945, through his son, Henry W. Nickel. The elder Nickel was born in Hanau, Germany, in 1857. He came to the United States around 1883 and worked as a mechanical engineer in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. He also taught at Columbia University in the 1910s. He wrote Direct-Acting Steam Pumps (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1915).
- See also 1987.0107.08 and 1987.0808.01.
- References: Edwin Thacher, "Slide-Rule" (U.S. Patent 249,117 issued November 1, 1881); "Thacher's Calculating Instrument or Cylindrical Slide Rule," Engineering News 16 (18 December 1886): 410; Wayne E. Feely, "Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rules," The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association 50 (1997): 125–127; Wilfred Scott Downs, ed., "Nickel, Frank F.," Who's Who in Engineering, vol. 3 (New York, 1931), 957; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser (New York, 1887), 128. This was the first K&E catalog to list the model 1740.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1883
- maker
- Stanley, William Ford
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- MA*312866
- accession number
- 169701
- catalog number
- 312866
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Keuffel & Esser 4015 Fuller's Spiral Cylindrical Slide Rule
- Description
- This rule consists of an outer wooden cylinder that both slides up and down and rotates. Two brass rings lined with felt are inside this cylinder. The cylinder is covered with paper marked with a single spiral logarithmic scale graduated into 7,250 parts and having a length, according to the maker, of 500 inches (nearly 42 feet). This length permitted computations up to four or five significant digits.
- Inside the outer cylinder is a longer wooden cylinder, covered with paper marked with decimal, conversion, and sine tables. A solid mahogany handle is at one end. A brass index is screwed to the top of the handle. A second, longer brass index is screwed to the mahogany base and marked with a scale of equal parts used in finding logarithms. A third, removable, nickel-plated brass cylinder is inside the instrument and attached to the base. There is no case.
- The tables on the middle cylinder include: decimal equivalents of feet and inches in feet; decimal equivalents of quarter weights and pounds in hundredweights; decimal equivalents of ounces and pounds in fractions of a pound; decimal equivalents of pounds, shillings, and pence in fractions of a pound; decimal equivalents of pence in shillings; days of the year as a fraction of the year; decimal equivalents of subunits of an acre; properties of various metals and woods; decimal equivalents of minutes of a degree in degrees; the Birmingham wire gauge; various conversion factors (mostly for weights and measures); and natural sines.
- The outer, sliding cylinder is marked near the top: FULLERS SPIRAL SLIDE RULE. Near the bottom is marked: ENTD. STATS. HALL; STANLEY, Maker, LONDON. The bottom is stamped: 1389. The top of the long brass index is engraved: 1389 (/) 1901. According to Wayne Feely, these numbers indicate the instrument has serial number 1389 and was made by Stanley in 1901. A white celluloid tag affixed to the handle reads: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. (/) ST. LOUIS. CHICAGO. (/) NEW YORK. (/) U.S.A. In the 1901 Keuffel & Esser catalog, Fuller's Spiral Slide Rule is listed as Model 4015 and priced at $30.00.
- See also MA*311958, 1998.0046.01, and MA*316575.
- References: Wayne E. Feely, "The Fuller Spiral Scale Slide Rule," Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association 50, no. 3 (1997): 93–98; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser (New York, 1901), 290; James J. Fenton, "Fuller's Calculating Slide-Rule," Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 22 (1886): 57–61; Dieter von Jezierski, Slide Rules: A Journey Through Three Centuries, trans. Rodger Shepherd (Mendham, N.J.: Astragal Press, 2000), 42–43; George Fuller, Instructions for the Use of the Fuller Calculator (London: W. F. Stanley & Co., Ltd., [about 1950]), http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/KEManuals/4015/4015.htm. An 1879 first edition of the instructions manual was received with the instrument and is stored in the accession file.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1901
- inventor
- Fuller, George
- retailer
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- maker
- Stanley, William Ford
- ID Number
- MA*313751
- catalog number
- 313751
- maker number
- 1380/1901
- accession number
- 179682
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Keuffel & Esser 1742 Fuller's Spiral Cylindrical Slide Rule
- Description
- This rule consists of an outer wooden cylinder that both slides up and down and rotates. Two brass rings lined with felt are inside this cylinder. The cylinder is covered with paper marked with a single spiral logarithmic scale graduated into 7,250 parts and having a length, according to the maker, of 500 inches (nearly 42 feet). Inside the outer cylinder is a longer wooden cylinder, covered with paper marked with decimal, conversion, and sine tables, and half-lined with felt. A solid mahogany handle is at one end. A brass index is screwed to the top of the handle. A second, longer brass index is screwed to the mahogany base and marked with a scale of equal parts used in finding logarithms. A third and removable brass cylinder is inside the instrument and attached to the base.
- The tables on the middle cylinder include: decimal equivalents of feet and inches in feet; decimal equivalents of quarter weights and pounds in hundredweights; decimal equivalents of ounces and pounds in fractions of a pound; decimal equivalents of pounds, shillings, and pence in fractions of a pound; decimal equivalents of pence in shillings; days of the year as a fraction of the year; decimal equivalents of subunits of an acre; properties of various metals and woods; decimal equivalents of minutes of a degree in degrees; the Birmingham wire gauge; various conversion factors (mostly for weights and measures); and natural sines.
- The outer, sliding cylinder is marked near the top: FULLERS SPIRAL SLIDE RULE. Near the bottom is marked: ENTD. STATS. HALL; STANLEY, Maker, LONDON. The bottom of the outer cylinder and the top of the long brass index are stamped: 858. According to Wayne Feely, the serial number 858 dates this instrument to 1895 or 1896.
- The rule is in a rectangular mahogany case marked in script on the top: Calculator. A paper Keuffel & Esser label on the inside lid of the instrument's mahogany case is marked in ink: 1742 (/) Fuller's (/) Spiral (/) Slide Rule. Fuller's Spiral Slide Rule was first listed in Keuffel & Esser's 1895 catalog and sold for $28.00.
- George Fuller, professor of civil engineering at Queen's University in Belfast, Ireland, patented this instrument in 1878. The Stanley firm made about 14,000 Fuller's spiral slide rules over nearly one hundred years, with K&E distributing a large share of the instruments sold in the United States. The Naval Engineering Division of the U.S. Coast Guard transferred this example to the Smithsonian in 1959. The Coast Guard engineers provided brief instructions:
- "To calculate (5 X 6 X 4)/3 turn the outer cylinder until the first factor (5) is opposite the fixed pointer, set the slot in the movable indicator to read (0), turn the outer cylinder until the second factor (6) appears opposite the movable indicator. (The result will be found on the outer cylinder opposite the first indicator.) To multiply by the third factor (4), set the slot in the movable indicator to (0), turn the outer cylinder until the movable indicator indicates the third factor (4); (the result will be found opposite the fixed indicator.) To divide by (3) set the movable indicator to (3), turn outer cylinder until the slot in the movable indicator is (0) on the outer cylinder and the result will be found opposite the fixed pointer."
- See also MA*311958, 1998.0046.01, and MA*313751.
- References: William Ford Stanley, Surveying and Leveling Instruments, 3rd ed. (London, 1901), 542–543; Wayne E. Feely, "The Fuller Spiral Scale Slide Rule," Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association 50, no. 3 (1997): 93–98; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser (New York, 1895), 190.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1895-1896
- maker
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- Stanley, William Ford
- ID Number
- MA*316575
- accession number
- 225751
- catalog number
- 316575
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Keuffel & Esser 4012 Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rule
- Description
- The brass core of this cylindrical slide rule is covered by paper marked with forty A scales. The core fits in an open rotating frame that holds twenty metal slats; each slat is lined with cloth, covered with paper, and marked with two B and two C scales. Wooden knobs on each end of the core rotate the instrument. The frame is attached to a mahogany base.
- The first A scale runs from 100 to 112 and the fortieth runs from 946 to 100 to 105. The first B scale runs from 100 to 112, the last from 946 to 100 to 105. The first C scale runs from 100 to 334, the last from 308 to 305. The paper covering the core is also printed in italics on the right side: Made by Keuffel & Esser Co., New York; Patented by Edwin Thatcher [sic], C.E. Nov. 1st., 1881.
- The paper of instructions and rules for operating THACHER'S CALCULATING INSTRUMENT, normally glued to the top front of the base, is coming loose and is torn on this example. A large chip is also missing from the left handle. The top back of the base is stamped: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. (encircling N.Y.); 4012 (/) 4218; TRADEMARK (below the K&E logo of a lion).
- Keuffel & Esser sold versions of the Thacher cylindrical slide rule from about 1883 until about 1950. There were two models, one with a magnifying glass (K&E model 1741 before 1900, K&E model 4013 after) and one without (K&E model 1740 before 1900, K&E model 4012 after). This is a model 4012; the serial number suggests it was manufactured around 1915. The marking on the core also no longer references W. F. Stanley, the English firm that originally manufactured the instrument for sale by K&E. Stanley continued to provide the engine-divided scales after K&E began making the rest of the instrument in 1887. K&E took over printing the scales in the 1910s. Model 4012 sold for $35.00 in 1916, $60.00 in 1922, and $70.00 in 1927.
- Compare markings on the core to MA*322730. See also MA*312866 and MA*326628.
- References: Wayne E. Feely, "Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rules," The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association 50 (1997): 125–127; Keuffel & Esser Co., Slide Rules and Calculating Instruments (New York, 1916), 22; Keuffel & Esser Co., Slide Rules and Calculating Instruments (New York, 1922), 21; Keuffel & Esser Co., Slide Rules and Calculating Instruments (New York, 1927), 20.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1915
- maker
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- MA*323504
- accession number
- 251559
- maker number
- 4218
- catalog number
- 323504
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Keuffel & Esser 4012 Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rule
- Description
- The brass core of this cylindrical slide rule is covered with paper marked with forty A scales. The core fits in an open rotating frame that holds twenty metal slats; each slat is lined with cloth, covered with paper, and marked with two B and two C scales. Wooden knobs on each end of the core rotate the instrument. The frame is attached to a mahogany base.
- The first A scale runs from 100 to 112; the fortieth runs from 946 to 100 to 105. The first B scale runs from 100 to 112, the last from 946 to 100 to 105. The first C scale runs from 100 to 334, the last from 308 to 305. The paper covering the core is also printed in italics on the right side: Made by Keuffel & Esser Co., New York; Patented by Edwin Thatcher [sic], C.E. Nov. 1st., 1881.
- A paper of instructions and rules for operating THACHER'S CALCULATING INSTRUMENT is glued to the top front of the base. The top back of the base is stamped: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. (encircling N.Y.); 4012 (/) 4917; TRADEMARK (below the K&E logo of a lion).
- The instrument is stored in a mahogany rectangular case. A square off-white label inside the lid is printed: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. (/) NEW YORK HOBOKEN, N.J. (/) CHICAGO ST. LOUIS SAN FRANCISCO MONTREAL (/) DRAWING MATERIALS, SURVEYING INSTRUMENTS (/) MEASURING TAPES (/) No. 4012 (/) SERIAL 4917.
- Keuffel & Esser sold versions of the Thacher cylindrical slide rule from about 1883 until about 1950. There were two models, one with a magnifying glass (K&E model 1741 before 1900, K&E model 4013 after) and one without (K&E model 1740 before 1900, K&E model 4012 after). This is a model 4012; the serial number suggests it was manufactured around 1920. Model 4012 sold for $35.00 in 1916, $60.00 in 1922, and $70.00 in 1927.
- The National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology) declared this object excess property and transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1965. In 1968, the Department of Commerce borrowed the slide rule to exhibit in the U.S. Pavilion at HemisFair, an international exposition held in San Antonio, Tex. According to the accession file, a staffer replaced four missing screws on the base before returning the rule.
- See also MA*312866; MA*323504; and MA*322730.
- References: Wayne E. Feely, "Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rules," The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association 50 (1997): 125–127; Keuffel & Esser Co., Slide Rules and Calculating Instruments (New York, 1916), 22; Keuffel & Esser Co., Slide Rules and Calculating Instruments (New York, 1922), 21; Keuffel & Esser Co., Slide Rules and Calculating Instruments (New York, 1927), 20.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1920
- maker
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- MA*326628
- accession number
- 261654
- maker number
- 4917
- catalog number
- 326628
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Keuffel & Esser 4013 Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rule
- Description
- This desktop slide rule is in a mahogany case. It has a cylindrical brass drum covered with paper printed with forty A scales. A wooden handle is fastened to each end of the drum. The drum fits in an open rotating brass frame; twenty brass slats span the frame. The right side of the paper on the drum is printed in italics: Patented by Edwin Thatcher [sic], C.E. Nov. 1st 1881. Divided by W. F. Stanley, London, 1882. Made by Keuffel & Esser Co. N.Y.
- The slats are lined with cloth and covered with paper. Each slat is printed with two B and two C scales. The first A scale runs from 100 to 112; the fortieth runs from 946 to 100 to 105. The first B scale runs from 100 to 112; the fortieth runs from 946 to 100 to 105. The first C scale runs from 100 to 334; the fortieth runs from 308 to 305.
- The front of the frame is spanned by a brass pyramidal bar. A brass and metal mount with three thumbscrews is attached to the bar. A magnifying glass found within the case may be positioned on the mount. The mount may be adjusted by height, and it slides along the bar.
- The frame is screwed to a mahogany base. A paper with instructions is glued to the top front of the base. The top back of the base is engraved: KEUFFEL & ESSER Co (encircling N.Y.); 4013 (/) 2151; TRADE MARK (below the K&E lion logo). A paper K&E label loose inside the case is also stamped: No. 4013 (/) Serial 2151. A plastic label inside the case lid is imprinted: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. (/) NEW YORK (/) ST. LOUIS CHICAGO (/) SAN FRANCISCO. An index card with the letter V and a rectangle drawn in red pencil is also loose inside the case.
- The model number and shape of the frame indicate this instrument was manufactured after 1900. The serial number and evidence that Stanley was still dividing the scales for K&E suggest a manufacturing date before 1910–1915. (K&E began to divide and print its own scales in the 1910s and subsequently dropped the reference to Stanley from the drum.) In 1906, the model 4013 Thacher cylindrical slide rule sold for $45.00.
- The object was received with MA*271855.01.03, Directions for Using Thacher's Calculating Instrument (1907), which is a reprint of a booklet Edwin Thacher first published in 1884. The object was also received with a cardboard exhibit label, MA*271855.01.02, indicating that the Armour Institute of Technology donated the object to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, which in turn donated it to the Smithsonian in 1966 with a large supply of electrical apparatus. In Chicago, according to pencil markings on the case, label, and booklet, the object's museum catalogue number was 39.168.
- See also MA*315663.
- References: Edwin Thacher, Thacher's Calculating Instrument or Cylindrical Slide-Rule (New York: Van Nostrand, 1884); Wayne E. Feely, "Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rules," The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association 50 (1997): 125–127; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser (New York, 1906), 314.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1900-1910
- maker
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- MA*327886
- accession number
- 271855
- catalog number
- 327886
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center