Measuring & Mapping

Where, how far, and how much? People have invented an astonishing array of devices to answer seemingly simple questions like these. Measuring and mapping objects in the Museum's collections include the instruments of the famous—Thomas Jefferson's thermometer and a pocket compass used by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their expedition across the American West. A timing device was part of the pioneering motion studies of Eadweard Muybridge in the late 1800s. Time measurement is represented in clocks from simple sundials to precise chronometers for mapping, surveying, and finding longitude. Everyday objects tell part of the story, too, from tape measures and electrical meters to more than 300 scales to measure food and drink. Maps of many kinds fill out the collections, from railroad surveys to star charts.

This spectroscope was designed to be used with a telescope to study the light of the sun. It was made in Dublin in 1877 by the famous instrument maker Howard Grubb (1844–1931).
Description
This spectroscope was designed to be used with a telescope to study the light of the sun. It was made in Dublin in 1877 by the famous instrument maker Howard Grubb (1844–1931). It was used with the 9 ½ inch Alvan Clark & Sons refractor at Princeton University.
When the College of New Jersey at Princeton hired the astronomer Charles A. Young in 1877, they also gave him funds to equip the new John C. Green student observatory. One of his first purchases was this instrument. It was custom-made, and Young helped refine the design. (Grubb's company later advertised that this was the first such spectroscope that they had sold.) The most unusual feature of this instrument is the use of a complicated system of multiple prisms to disperse the light and produce a highly detailed view of the solar spectrum.
In use, the spectroscope was mounted at the eyepiece end of the telescope and light from the sun would be directed through it. As the light passed from one prism into the next, it would be increasing dispersed, or spread out. To make the instrument more compact, the beam of light was directed first through the upper portion of the prisms and then back through the bottom part. Depending on how it was configured, the light could thus be passed through either 2, 4, 6 or 8 prisms. A particular area of the solar spectrum could be viewed by turning a small chain that moved each prism by the same amount. Because of the large number of optical surfaces involved, the light loss in this instrument was almost certainly in the 90 percent range. This was an advantage when viewing the Sun, but it reduced the usefulness of this instrument for other purposes, such as measuring the spectra of stars. The success of this instrument in making precise measurements of the solar spectrum (and thus revealing information about the composition of the sun and its atmosphere) led to its wider adoption as an important astronomical tool.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1877
user
Young, Charles A.
maker
Grubb, Howard
ID Number
PH.328885
accession number
277637
catalog number
328885
Keuffel & Esser termed this a "high grade" sextant as made for the U.S. Navy. The frame is gun metal. The scale is silvered, graduated every 10 minutes from -5° to 155° and read by vernier with tangent screw and magnifier to 10 seconds of arc.
Description
Keuffel & Esser termed this a "high grade" sextant as made for the U.S. Navy. The frame is gun metal. The scale is silvered, graduated every 10 minutes from -5° to 155° and read by vernier with tangent screw and magnifier to 10 seconds of arc. The inscription reads "KEUFFEL & ESSER Co NEW YORK 4652." The serial number indicates that it was made in 1900. New it cost $120.
Ref: Keuffel & Esser, Catalogue (New York, 1906), p. 414.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1900
maker
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
2003.3107.01
catalog number
2003.3107.01
nonaccession number
2003.3107
This sextant was made during World War II. The limb is graduated to single degrees. A drum micrometer, the teeth of which mesh with teeth cut into the edge of the limb, reads to 1 minute and, with vernier, to 6 seconds of arc.
Description
This sextant was made during World War II. The limb is graduated to single degrees. A drum micrometer, the teeth of which mesh with teeth cut into the edge of the limb, reads to 1 minute and, with vernier, to 6 seconds of arc. The inscription reads "BENDIX AVIATION CORPORATION ECLIPSE-PIONEER DIVISION TETERBORO, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A. TYPE NO. 3052-1-A." A plaque in the box reads "U.S. NAVY BUREAU OF SHIPS E.T.S. SEXTANT MARK 2 MOD. 0 N 24359 1944."
E.T.S. stands for Endless Tangent Screw. Heath & Co. applied for a British patent on the form in 1909 (issued the following year).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1944
maker
Bendix Aviation Corporation. Eclipse-Pioneer Division
ID Number
2003.0353.01
catalog number
2003.0353.01
accession number
2003.0353
An advertising novelty for American Saw & Mfg. Co., maker of Lenox saws. The ruler is a twelve-inch folding ruler made of ivory-grained celluloid.
Description (Brief)
An advertising novelty for American Saw & Mfg. Co., maker of Lenox saws. The ruler is a twelve-inch folding ruler made of ivory-grained celluloid. It's marked in inches and centimeters.
Description
Folding 12-inch celluloid ruler marked in inches and centimeters, with inscriptions that read “AMERICAN SAW & MFG. CO. / SPRINGFIELD, MASS., U.S.A.” and “LENOX / HACK / SAWS.” Inscriptions on the back identify Lenox as “The Blade in the Plaid Box.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1915-1930
maker
Whitehead and Hoag Company
ID Number
2006.0098.1700
catalog number
2006.0098.1700
accession number
2006.0098
Thomas Edison and others considered element number 6, carbon, ideal for lamp filaments in part because it has the highest melting point of any element. Element number 74, tungsten, has the next highest melting point but it then existed only as a powder.
Description
Thomas Edison and others considered element number 6, carbon, ideal for lamp filaments in part because it has the highest melting point of any element. Element number 74, tungsten, has the next highest melting point but it then existed only as a powder. Attempts to make it into a workable form failed until early in the 1900s when a burst of invention occurred in Europe. A pressing technique called "sintering" (squeezing a material into a dense mass) was adopted by several inventors.
The most commercially successful design proved to be that of Dr. Alexander Just and Franz Hanaman of Austria. Their work on sintering tungsten was based on a prior sintering process developed by Carl Auer von Welsbach for his filament made of osmium. Just and Hanaman made a tungsten and organic paste, squirted it through a die, baked out the organic material, then sintered the tungsten in a mix of gasses. The resulting filament gave about 8 lumens per watt and lasted 800 hours.
Another Austrian, Dr. Hans Kutzel, used an electric arc to make a tungsten and water paste. He then pressed, baked, and sintered the tungsten in a manner similar to Just and Hanaman's procedure. Yet another pair of Austrians, Fritz Blau and Hermann Remane, adapted the osmium lamp process (they worked for Welsbach) by making a filament from an osmium and tungsten mix. They soon changed their "Osram" lamp filament to tungsten only. (The German word for tungsten is wolfram.)
All three filaments were brittle and collectively known as "non-ductile" filaments. Individual filaments could not be made long enough to give the proper electrical resistance, so lamps needed several filaments connected end-to-end. U.S. companies quickly licensed rights to all of the non-ductile patents. This particular lamp was made under license by General Electric and sent to the National Bureau of Standards for use as a standard lamp.
Lamp characteristics: Medium-screw base with glass insulator. Five single-arch tungsten filaments (in series) with 5 upper and 8 lower support hooks. The stem assembly features soldered connectors, Siemens-type press seal, and a cotton insulator. Tipped, straight-sided envelope with taper at neck.
Date made
ca 1908
date made
ca. 1908
maker
General Electric
ID Number
1992.0342.16
catalog number
1992.0342.16
accession number
1992.0342
Arthur Wadsworth received U.S. patent 55,750 for a stem-winding device for a watch on June 19, 1866. The Newark Watch Co., a short-lived firm operating between 1864 and 1869, made a small number of watches on Wadsworth’s design.
Description
Arthur Wadsworth received U.S. patent 55,750 for a stem-winding device for a watch on June 19, 1866. The Newark Watch Co., a short-lived firm operating between 1864 and 1869, made a small number of watches on Wadsworth’s design. Stem-winding and stem-setting watches gradually became practical and replaced those wound and set with a separate key.
Details:
Partial movement: regulator, plate engraved: “New York/1202/Arthur Wadsworth”; Partial silver case (no back) marked: “4470” on covers
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1866
patent date
1866-06-19
licensee
Wadsworth, Arthur
inventor
Wadsworth, Arthur
ID Number
ME.309022
catalog number
309022
patent number
55,750
accession number
89797
This promotional white plastic six-inch ruler is divided along the top edge to sixteenths of an inch and numbered by fourths from 1 to 6. The ruler is marked: MONROE CALCULATING MACHINE COMPANY, INC.
Description
This promotional white plastic six-inch ruler is divided along the top edge to sixteenths of an inch and numbered by fourths from 1 to 6. The ruler is marked: MONROE CALCULATING MACHINE COMPANY, INC. (/) CALCULATING • ADDING • ACCOUNTING • BOOKKEEPING • CHECK WRITING MACHINES (/) J. C. Fleming, Representative 1320 Eighteenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., COlumbia 5-1222. A list of decimal equivalents of fractions is on the back of the ruler. Below the list is the Monroe logo and the words: MADE IN U.S.A.
In 1912, Jay Randolph Monroe purchased a factory in Orange, N.J., to manufacture mechanical calculators on a design by Frank Stephen Baldwin. The Monroe Calculating Machine Company quickly became a leader in its field, opening sales offices around the world and building additional factories in Virginia and Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Litton Industries purchased the firm in 1958, changed its name to Monroe Systems for Business in 1980, and sold it in 1984 to Jeffry M. Picower.
The company refocused on calculators in 1998 and was purchased by Carolina Wholesale Office Machine Company in 2001. J. C. Fleming was presumably the Monroe sales agent for Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian collections include 25 Monroe calculating machines and over 30 pieces of related documentation. For promotional rulers by Monroe's chief competitors, see MA.293320.2811, MA.293320.2813, and MA.293320.2816. Large American cities used postal zone numbers from 1943 to 1963, hence the dating of the object.
References: Frank S. Baldwin, "Calculating and Recording Machine" (U.S. Patent 890,888 issued June 16, 1908); John Wolff, "The Monroe Calculating Machine Company," May 27, 2012, John Wolff's Web Museum, http://home.vicnet.net.au/~wolff/calculators/Monroe/Monroe.htm; Monroe Systems for Business, "History," http://www.monroe-systems.com/history/.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1943–1963
distributor
Monroe Calculating Machine Company
maker
Monroe Calculating Machine Company
ID Number
MA.293320.2812
catalog number
293320.2812
accession number
293320
One rule is 24" long and is held together by corroded brass hinges. The blades may be solid ebony. Small metal buttons in the center of each blade assist with positioning the instrument.
Description
One rule is 24" long and is held together by corroded brass hinges. The blades may be solid ebony. Small metal buttons in the center of each blade assist with positioning the instrument. This rule has no identifying markings.
The second rule is 18" long and is held together by nickel plated brass hinges. The blades are made of ebonized boxwood. Two metal knobs at the center of each blade are used to position the instrument. On the left of the knob on the top blade is marked: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO (/) N.Y. Below the knob is marked: 1784. On the right of the knob is marked: TRADEMARK (below the K&E lion logo). The bottom blade is marked: PAT. JUNE 1, 1915.
By 1880 Keuffel & Esser of New York imported ebony parallel rules with brass hinges and positioning buttons, selling the 24" size as model 706 for $2.00. By 1890 the firm was also making its own version of the rules, since the imported wood, which was often grown in Africa, warped and shrank in the climate of the United States. The imported rules were sold as model numbers 1790 (6", 35¢) through 1795 (24", $1.75). K&E stopped selling imported ebony rules in 1909. Rules manufactured at the company's factory in Hoboken, N.J., from hardwoods stained black were sold as model numbers 1780 through 1785. The 18" model 1784 was priced at $1.25 in 1890 and $1.50 in 1913. The company discontinued this product line after 1936, when model 1784 sold for $2.50.
The first rule thus dates to between 1880 and 1909. Charles Christ Pfeiffer (b. 1874) received the patent mentioned on the second rule, for replacing one of the rivets securing one of the hinges with an adjustable screw. He emigrated from Germany as a child and worked as a cabinetmaker and foreman in Hoboken, possibly for K&E since he assigned the patent to the company. In the 1920s Pfeiffer moved to New London, Conn., where he purchased a farm in the 1930s. The second rule dates to between 1915 and 1936.
References: Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 13th ed. (New York, 1880), 115; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 21st ed. (New York, 1890), 133; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 33rd ed. (New York, 1909), 201, 223; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 34th ed. (New York, 1913), 197; Catalogue and Price List of Keuffel & Esser Co., 36th ed. (New York, 1921), 144; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 38th ed. (New York, 1936), 228; Charles C. Pfeiffer, "Parallel Ruler" (U.S. Patent 1,141,483 issued June 1, 1915); 1900–1940 U.S. Census records; World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880-1936
maker
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
MA.333946
catalog number
333946
accession number
296611
Laurits Christian Eichner (1894–1967) was a Danish engineer who married an American, Sarah Craven, and settled in Bloomfield, N.J., in 1925.
Description
Laurits Christian Eichner (1894–1967) was a Danish engineer who married an American, Sarah Craven, and settled in Bloomfield, N.J., in 1925. During the Depression, he began marketing his skills as a metal craftsman, eventually branching out from bronze bowls and pewter tableware to replicas of historical scientific instruments and modern precision instruments, such as interferometers, astrophotometers, and telescopes. In the 1950s the Smithsonian hired him to restore and reproduce instruments and machines in preparation for the opening of the Museum of History and Technology (now the National Museum of American History).
Eichner's workshop made this octagonal wooden rule from an original at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. The larger end is marked: LCE (/) 1964. An ivory handle around the larger end has black geometric markings. Ivory plates on each side of the rule show the length of the ell, a traditional "arm's length" measurement, in eight German cities. (One plate is broken.) Each side also has rounded notches marking off divisions for each length of ell.
Each city’s lengths are as follows: Bobwische 20.3, 40.3, 60.4, 70.3, 80.2 cm; Nurmberger (Nuremberg) 16.5, 32.7, 49.2, 57.3, 65.4 cm; Inspriger 20.6, 40.6, 60.7, 70.7, 80.7 cm; [. . .]rger 15.2, 30.2, 45.2, 52.7, 60.3 cm; Bayrisch (Bayreuth) 20.9, 41.4, 62.2, 72.6, 62.7 cm; Augsburger Wullin 14.6, 29.2, 43.9, 51.2, 58.3 cm; Wiener (Vienna) 19.3, 38.5, 57.9, 67.7, 77.2 cm; Brabondische 17.7, 34.4, 51.8, 60.6, 69.0 cm.
Reference: Robert P. Multhauf, Laurits Christian Eichner, Craftsman (Washington, D.C., 1971).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1964
date received
1964
maker
L. C. Eichner Instruments
ID Number
MA.325631
accession number
262287
catalog number
325631
Michael Faraday found that the magnetic force of the earth could induce electrical currents in metallic bodies in motion. Building on this idea, Charles Delezenne in France introduced an earth inductor of this sort in 1844.This example belonged to the U.S.
Description
Michael Faraday found that the magnetic force of the earth could induce electrical currents in metallic bodies in motion. Building on this idea, Charles Delezenne in France introduced an earth inductor of this sort in 1844.
This example belonged to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and dates from the early 1870s. The inscription reads "HAWKINS & WALE MAKERS STEVENS INSTITUTE HOBOKEN, N.J.'
Ref: Charles Delezenne, "Notions élémentaire sur les phénoménes d'induction," Mémoires de la Societé; des Sciences de Lille 23 (1844): 1-132, on 109-120.
Adolphe Ganot, Elementary Treatise on Physics (London, 1867), pp. 701-702.
James W. Queen & Co., Priced and Illustrated Catalogue of Physical Instruments (Philadelphia, 1888), p. 106.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Hawkins & Wale
ID Number
PH.316432
accession number
223721
catalog number
316432
Lebbeus Dod (1739–1816) made clocks and mathematical instruments in Mendham, New Jersey. During the Revolution he established an armory for the manufacture and repair of muskets.
Description
Lebbeus Dod (1739–1816) made clocks and mathematical instruments in Mendham, New Jersey. During the Revolution he established an armory for the manufacture and repair of muskets. Various design features—the face reads clockwise, the bar is narrow, and the vertical sights are held in place with dovetails—indicate that this compass dates from early in Dod's career. The signature reads "Lebbeus Dod, Mendham."
This compass was owned by King's College, which had been established by royal charter as the College of the Province of New–York in the City of New–York in America in 1754. An advertisement of that date mentions instruction in such subjects as numbering, measuring, surveying, and navigation. King's College was renamed Columbia College after the Revolution.
Ref: Silvio A. Bedini, Thinkers and Tinkers. Early American Men of Science (New York, 1973), p. 241.
William E. Drost, Clocks and Watches of New Jersey (Elizabeth, N.J., 1966), pp. 98–104.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Dod, Lebbeus
ID Number
PH.335207
catalog number
335207
accession number
317998
Warren P. Valentine began making refractometers when World War I limited the import of European instruments into the United States.
Description
Warren P. Valentine began making refractometers when World War I limited the import of European instruments into the United States. By 1920 the National Bureau of Standards had reported that his precision refractometer was "the most accurate Abbé refractometer we have so far tested." In 1928, Valentine received the Edward Longstreth Medal of the Franklin Institute in "consideration of the meritorious work shown in the improvement of the mechanical and optical parts of the Abbé refractometer, thereby increasing its accuracy."
By that time, these instruments were used in the paint, oil and drug industries, and in chemical and physical laboratories. In dispensaries they measured the quantity of albumin or protein in blood serum and urine. They were also used to determine the oil content of flax, cotton, and other oil-bearing seeds, to control the melting point in the hardening of vegetable and mineral waxes and the hydrogenation of soap stock, to measure the total solids in tomato juice and catsup and the concentration of sugar syrups as in sugar manufacture and the sugar content of fruit jellies and preserves. This example is marked "WARREN P. VALENTINE, HADDONFIELD, N.J. U.S.A. No. 334."
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Valentine, Warren P.
ID Number
PH.318123
catalog number
318123
accession number
231765
This plane compass inscribed "B. Rittenhouse" and "A. ELLICOTT" was owned by the noted American surveyor, Andrew Ellicott, and remained in the Ellicott family until a descendant donated it to the Smithsonian.
Description
This plane compass inscribed "B. Rittenhouse" and "A. ELLICOTT" was owned by the noted American surveyor, Andrew Ellicott, and remained in the Ellicott family until a descendant donated it to the Smithsonian. A remarkably similar compass, with the same inscriptions, is found at Fort Necessity National Battleground. For his survey of the southern boundary of the United States in the late 1790s, Ellicott used a Benjamin Rittenhouse vernier compass.
Ref: The Journal of Andrew Ellicott, Late Commissioner on Behalf of the United States During Part of the Year 1796, the Years 1797, 1798, 1799 and Part of the Year 1800 For Determining the Boundary Between the United States and the Possessions of His Catholic Majesty in America (Philadelphia, 1803).
Location
Currently not on view
owner
Ellicott, Andrew
Douglas, Henry B.
maker
Rittenhouse, Benjamin
ID Number
PH.310815.01
accession number
128427
catalog number
310815.01
310815
This one-page, two-sided flyer was received with 1990.0689.01. At the top of the front, it is marked with the Sterling Plastics logo and the words: STERLING metric converter (/) BASED ON THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM OF UNITS (SI).
Description
This one-page, two-sided flyer was received with 1990.0689.01. At the top of the front, it is marked with the Sterling Plastics logo and the words: STERLING metric converter (/) BASED ON THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM OF UNITS (SI). The instructions explain how to read off the sixteen conversions between metric and English units that are found on the Metric Converter slide rule. Tables of metric prefixes and of common equivalents and conversions are also provided. At the bottom of the back, the flyer is marked: STERLING PLASTICS DIVISION OF BORDEN CHEMICAL, BORDEN INC. • SHEFFIELD ST., MOUNTAINSIDE, N.J. 07092 (/) PRINTED IN U.S.A. The Borden logo appears to the right of the mark.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1972
maker
Sterling Plastics
ID Number
1990.0689.03
accession number
1990.0689
catalog number
1990.0689.03
The cartouche reads “H. SCHEDLER’S / CELESTIAL GLOBE / (12 inch diameter) / Exhibiting all the stars visible to / the naked eye up to the sixth magnitude / H. SCHEDLER. / JERSEY CITY, N.J. / Patented Nov.
Description
The cartouche reads “H. SCHEDLER’S / CELESTIAL GLOBE / (12 inch diameter) / Exhibiting all the stars visible to / the naked eye up to the sixth magnitude / H. SCHEDLER. / JERSEY CITY, N.J. / Patented Nov. 1868 / Entered according to Act of Congress.” Broken black lines represent the constellation boundaries, while the constellation figures are in red.
The globe has a three-legged wooden stand with metal braces, a metal horizon circle, and a metal meridian circle.
Joseph Schedler was a German immigrant who worked in New York and New Jersey, publishing books and globes. His globes won medals at several local and international exhibitions, and were widely used in the public schools of several American cities. His son Herman continued the business from the late 1880s until after the turn of the century. The referenced patent on this globe was #84,398 issued to Edward Weissenborn. It pertained to an “Improvement in the Construction of School Globes.”
This example was owned by Samuel Corby, an itinerant science lecturer who succeeded to the business begun by his father-in-law, Charles Came.
Ref: Schedler’s Illustrated Manual for the Use of the Terrestrial and Celestial Globes (New York and Jersey City: H. Schedler, 1889).
D. J. Warner, “The Geography of Heaven and Earth,” Rittenhouse 2 (1988): 125-127.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
maker
Schedler, Joseph
Schedler, Herman
ID Number
1989.0743.438
accession number
1989.0743
catalog number
1989.0743.438
Background on Scintillation counter for uranium prospecting, Object ID 1994.0125.37A scintillation counter is an instrument for detecting and measuring ionizing radiation by using the excitation effect of incident radiation on a scintillator material, and detecting the resultant
Description
Background on Scintillation counter for uranium prospecting, Object ID 1994.0125.37
A scintillation counter is an instrument for detecting and measuring ionizing radiation by using the excitation effect of incident radiation on a scintillator material, and detecting the resultant light pulses. It consists of a scintillator which generates photons of light in response to incident radiation, a sensitive photomultiplier tube which converts the light to an electrical signal and electronics to process this signal. Scintillation counters are widely used in radiation protection, assay of radioactive materials and physics research because they can be made inexpensively yet with good quantum efficiency, and can measure both the intensity and the energy of incident radiation.
For technical details on scintillation counting, see the following reference:
http://www.hamamatsu.com/resources/pdf/etd/PMT_handbook_v3aE-Chapter7.pdf
Detailed description of Object. ID 1994.0125.37
(Some of the accompanying] photographs provided by donor, Prof. Herbert Clark, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.)
The object is a scintillation counter by Chatham Electronics, Model SC-102. According to the accompanying Manual of Operation, the SC-102 incorporates a thallium-activated sodium iodide crystal for converting radiation into scintillations of visible light. This crystal is optically coupled to a photomultiplier tube. Specially designed circuits discriminate against spurious noise signals and count the scintillations due to radioactivity so that minute variations in radiation level can be detected by reading the output pointer needle on the instrument. The design of the SC-102 increases its versatility so that it can be used for uranium prospecting, assaying of ore samples in the field, well logging, and oil prospecting.
A gray leatherette-covered case (ca 10 in high x 14 in long x 7 in wide) includes the scintillation counter and probe, a calibration source, an extension cord for the probe, and waist and shoulder carrying straps. The counter is in a kidney-shaped, red plastic housing covered by horizontal cast aluminum face-plate, into which is stuck, vertically, a pistol-handled probe containing a sodium iodide crystal and photomultiplier tube.
Also included is "Manual of Operation" and an Oct. 1951 edition of USAEC & USGS publication "Prospecting for Uranium".
For additional details on the Chatham Electronics Model SC-102 scintillation counter, see Rick Maurer's comprehensive web-based National Radiation Instrument Catalog at:
http://national-radiation-instrument-catalog.com/new_page_94.htm
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1950s
maker
Chatham Electronics
ID Number
1994.0125.37
accession number
1994.0125
catalog number
1994.0125.37
This ten-inch, one-sided plastic rule has a yellow base, a white slide, and a transparent indicator. Identical logarithmic scales are on the top and the bottom of the base. Both sides of the slide are marked with pairs of metric and conventional units.
Description
This ten-inch, one-sided plastic rule has a yellow base, a white slide, and a transparent indicator. Identical logarithmic scales are on the top and the bottom of the base. Both sides of the slide are marked with pairs of metric and conventional units. On one side, the user can read off conversions between: inches and centimeters; meters and feet; meters and yards; miles and kilometers; square inches and square centimeters; square meters and square feet (times ten); square meters and square yards; and square miles and square kilometers. The other side of the slide permits readings of cubic inches and cubic centimeters (times ten); cubic meters and cubic feet (times ten); cubic meters and cubic yards; liters and quarts; ounces and grams (times ten); kilograms and pounds; metric tons and short tons; and gallons and liters.
The top left of the base is marked with the letters SP in a circle and the word STERLING. The top middle of the base is marked: METRIC CONVERTER. The bottom left of the base is marked: MADE IN U.S.A. The rule was received with its original packaging, a clear plastic cover on a blue paper backing. The packaging is marked at the top: SP STERLING #651 (/) metric (/) converter. At the bottom, it is marked: BORDEN ® (/) © 1972 STERLING PLASTICS (/) DIVISION OF BORDEN CHEMICAL, BORDEN INC. (/) MOUNTAINSIDE, N.J. 07092 (/) MADE IN U.S.A.
Sterling Plastics, a 20th-century manufacturer of drawing instruments for schools, was purchased by Borden Chemical in 1970. Since Sterling stopped making slide rules in 1972, this example of model number 651 was probably one of the last rules produced by the company. The five braces holding together the base of the instrument are also consistent with this date; early Sterling slide rules had only two braces. For instructions, see 1990.0689.03. For a Sterling slide rule with standard scales, see 1988.0807.01.
Reference: Mike Konshak, "Sterling Plastics," http://sliderulemuseum.com/Sterling.htm.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1972
maker
Sterling Plastics
ID Number
1990.0689.01
accession number
1990.0689
catalog number
1990.0689.01

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