Science & Mathematics

The Museum's collections hold thousands of objects related to chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy, and other sciences. Instruments range from early American telescopes to lasers. Rare glassware and other artifacts from the laboratory of Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen, are among the scientific treasures here. A Gilbert chemistry set of about 1937 and other objects testify to the pleasures of amateur science. Artifacts also help illuminate the social and political history of biology and the roles of women and minorities in science.

The mathematics collection holds artifacts from slide rules and flash cards to code-breaking equipment. More than 1,000 models demonstrate some of the problems and principles of mathematics, and 80 abstract paintings by illustrator and cartoonist Crockett Johnson show his visual interpretations of mathematical theorems.

This engraved woodblock of "Marble Canyon” was prepared by engraver Edward Bookhout (1844-1886) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as Figure 26 (p.77) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tribu
Description
This engraved woodblock of "Marble Canyon” was prepared by engraver Edward Bookhout (1844-1886) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as Figure 26 (p.77) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902). Thomas Moran (1837-1926) accompanied Powell on his expedition and drew the original image.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875
1875
original artist
Moran, Thomas
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
author
Powell, John Wesley
graphic artist
Bookhout, Edward
block maker
V. W. & Co.
ID Number
1980.0219.0259
catalog number
1980.0219.0259
accession number
1980.0219
In March 1856, the University of Michigan named a committee “to contract for the construction of a suitable microscope for the University.” Within a year or so, this committee had spent $469 for a microscope made by Charles Achilles Spencer, America’s first successful microscope
Description
In March 1856, the University of Michigan named a committee “to contract for the construction of a suitable microscope for the University.” Within a year or so, this committee had spent $469 for a microscope made by Charles Achilles Spencer, America’s first successful microscope maker. This enormous sum was charged to the account of "Natural History" and the microscope was placed in the hands of Alexander Winchell, a professor of geology who would soon be named Geologist of the State. Twenty years later, after Winchell had left the University, the costly microscope was transferred to the Physiological Laboratory in the Medical School. The transfer was arranged by Charles Stowell, a young doctor who would spend his career teaching physiology and microscopy, and who was clearly aware of the historic importance of the instrument. In an obituary notice penned shortly after Spencer’s death in 1881, Stowell explained that the objective was a 1/16 of “as near 180°as can be obtained.” That is, it had a very short focal length and a very wide angular aperture. When Stowell got his hands on this objective, he saw a crack “running across about 1/3 of the field,” and so returned it to the firm. Spencer replied that he could make a new objective nearly as cheap as he could remedy this, “for it is one of my first glasses.” Accepting the inevitable, Stowell ordered a new 1/18. We have not yet measure the objective, but note that it does not appear to have a crack.
Spencer referred to the stand of this microscope as a Pritchard, recognizing that the form had been popularized by Andrew Pritchard, an important London naturalist and optician. The “C. A. & H. Spencer / Canastota, N.Y.” inscription on the tube refers to the partnership between Charles A. Spencer and his cousin Hamilton, a partnership that began around 1848 and ended around 1854.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1849-1859
associated dates
1990-04-10
maker
C. A. & H. Spencer
ID Number
1990.0183.01
catalog number
1990.0183.01
accession number
1990.0183
This engraved woodblock of “Climbing the Grand Canyon” was prepared by F. S.
Description
This engraved woodblock of “Climbing the Grand Canyon” was prepared by F. S. King and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 on page 98 of John Wesley Powell's Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Thomas Moran (1837-1926) was the original artist.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875
1875
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
author
Powell, John Wesley
original artist
Moran, Thomas
graphic artist
King, Francis Scott
maker
V. W. & Co.
ID Number
1980.0219.0474
accession number
1980.0219
catalog number
1980.0219.0474
Professor Jonathan Wittenberg used this model of sperm whale myoglobin structure as a teaching tool at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in the Bronx.
Description (Brief)
Professor Jonathan Wittenberg used this model of sperm whale myoglobin structure as a teaching tool at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in the Bronx. It was used beginning in the mid-1960s as part of his class on cell function, which would later come to be known as molecular biology. Wittenberg purchased the model from A. A. Barker, an employee of Cambridge University Engineering Laboratories, who fabricated the models for sale to interested scientists starting in May 1966 under the supervision of John Kendrew.
Between the years 1957 and 1959, John Kendrew, a British biochemist, figured out the complete structure of a protein. For his breakthrough he won the 1962 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, an award he shared with his co-contributor Max Perutz.
Proteins are large molecules used for a vast variety of tasks in the body. Knowing their structure is a key part of understanding how they function, as structure determines the way in which proteins interact with other molecules and can give clues to their purpose in the body.
Kendrew uncovered the structure of myoglobin using a method known as X-ray crystallography, a technique where crystals of a substance—in this case myoglobin—are grown and then bombarded with X-rays. The rays bounce off the atoms in the crystal at an angle and hit a photographic plate. By studying these angles, scientists can pinpoint the average location of single atoms within the protein molecule and piece this data together to figure out the complete structure of the protein.
Interestingly, Kendrew had a hard time getting enough crystals of myoglobin to work with until someone was kind enough to give him a slab of sperm whale meat. Myoglobin’s purpose in the body is to store oxygen in the muscles until needed. Sperm whales, as aquatic mammals, have to be very efficient at storing oxygen for their muscles during deep sea dives, which means they require a lot of myoglobin. Until the gift of the sperm whale meat, Kendrew couldn’t isolate enough myoglobin to grow crystals of sufficient size for his research.
Sources:
Accession file
“History of Visualization of Biological Macromolecules: A. A. Barker’s Models of Myoglobin.” Eric Francouer, University of Massachusetts-Amherst. http://www.umass.edu/molvis/francoeur/barker/barker.html
The Eighth Day of Creation: The Makers of the Revolution in Biology. Horace Freeland Judson. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press: 1996.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965
ID Number
2009.0111.01
accession number
2009.0111
catalog number
2009.0111.01
Charles A. Young, the professor of astronomy at the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University), acquired this diffraction grating in 1878. The speculum metal plate measures 3 inches square overall, with the grating measuring 1.75 inch square.
Description
Charles A. Young, the professor of astronomy at the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University), acquired this diffraction grating in 1878. The speculum metal plate measures 3 inches square overall, with the grating measuring 1.75 inch square. It is marked: "May 28, 1878" and "16,560 spaces" and "8648 per inch" and "Manf. by D. C. Chapman with Mr. Rutherfurd's Engine." Daniel C. Chapman was the mechanic who operated the ruling engine designed by Lewis M. Rutherfurd.
Ref. D. J. Warner, "Lewis M. Rutherfurd: Pioneer Astronomical Photographer and Spectroscopist," Technology and Culture 12 (1971): 190-216.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1878
maker
Rutherfurd, Lewis Morris
ID Number
PH.330707
accession number
299612
catalog number
330707
This engraved woodblock of an “Australian grave and carved trees” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Figure 37 (p.76) in an article by Garrick Mallery (1831-1894) entitled “Pictographs of the North American Indians: a pr
Description
This engraved woodblock of an “Australian grave and carved trees” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Figure 37 (p.76) in an article by Garrick Mallery (1831-1894) entitled “Pictographs of the North American Indians: a preliminary paper” in the Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1882-83.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1886
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
author
Mallery, Garrick
block maker
J. J. & Co.
ID Number
1980.0219.1206
catalog number
1980.0219.1206
accession number
1980.0219
This engraved woodblock of a “Haida totem post” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Figure 24 (p.68) in an article by Garrick Mallery (1831-1894) entitled “Pictographs of the North American Indians: a preliminary paper” i
Description
This engraved woodblock of a “Haida totem post” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Figure 24 (p.68) in an article by Garrick Mallery (1831-1894) entitled “Pictographs of the North American Indians: a preliminary paper” in the Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1882-83.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1886
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
author
Mallery, Garrick
block maker
J. J. & Co.
ID Number
1980.0219.1509
accession number
1980.0219
catalog number
1980.0219.1509
This transit instrument came from Gettysburg College, and was probably purchased for the astronomical observatory opneed in 1874. The inscription reads “STACKPOLE & BROTHER / NEW YORK / 1588.”Currently not on view
Description
This transit instrument came from Gettysburg College, and was probably purchased for the astronomical observatory opneed in 1874. The inscription reads “STACKPOLE & BROTHER / NEW YORK / 1588.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1870s
maker
Stackpole & Brother
ID Number
PH.318446
catalog number
318446
accession number
235480
This engraved woodblock of the “Bird’s-eye view of cliffs of erosion” was prepared and printed by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published in 1875 as Figure 74 (p.162) in The Exploration of the Colorado River of the West by John Wesley Powell (1
Description
This engraved woodblock of the “Bird’s-eye view of cliffs of erosion” was prepared and printed by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published in 1875 as Figure 74 (p.162) in The Exploration of the Colorado River of the West by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902). Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) engraved the illustration which “depicts the Shin-ar’-ump Cliffs, Vermillion Cliffs, and Gray Cliffs, in order from right to left.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875
1875
printer
Government Printing Office
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
author
Powell, John Wesley
graphic artist
Nichols, H. H.
block maker
V. W. & Co.
ID Number
1980.0219.1562
accession number
1980.0219
catalog number
1980.0219.1562
Charles A. Young, professor of astronomy at the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University), acquired this diffraction grating in 1877. The speculum metal plate measures 2⅞ inches square, with the grating measuring almost 12 inches square. It is marked "Aug.
Description
Charles A. Young, professor of astronomy at the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University), acquired this diffraction grating in 1877. The speculum metal plate measures 2⅞ inches square, with the grating measuring almost 12 inches square. It is marked "Aug. 24, 1877; 5,760 per inch; 11,280 spaces, D. C. Chapman; 175, 2 Ave. N. Y." Daniel C. Chapman was the mechanic who operated the ruling engine designed and built by Lewis M. Rutherfurd.
Ref: D. J. Warner, "Lewis M. Rutherfurd: Pioneer Astronomical Photographer and Spectroscopist," Technology and Culture 12 (1971): 190-216.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1877
maker
Rutherfurd, Lewis Morris
ID Number
PH.328884
accession number
277637
catalog number
328884
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968
maker
Bausch & Lomb Optical Company
ID Number
MG.M-12196
accession number
272522
catalog number
M-12196
This is a brass instrument covered, in large part, with dark leather. The exposed parts have a black japan finish. The objective lenses are 9 mm diameter. The eye end of the left prism housing is marked “Zeiss Stereo Field Glass / PAT.
Description
This is a brass instrument covered, in large part, with dark leather. The exposed parts have a black japan finish. The objective lenses are 9 mm diameter. The eye end of the left prism housing is marked “Zeiss Stereo Field Glass / PAT. JUNE 22, 97 / Power +8.” That on the right is marked “Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. / ROCHESTER, N.Y.” The top of the center post is marked “7530.” The eyepieces are separately adjustable, as is the inter-ocular distance and the focus overall.
Bausch & Lomb was licensed by Carl Zeiss, Jena, to produce prism binoculars under Ernst Abbe’s several patents, using Schott glass made in Jena. The central focus, as found in this example, is a feature that Zeiss added after 1900.
Location
Currently not on view
patent date
1897-06-22
production dates
ca 1900-1920
date made
1900-1920
licensor
Zeiss, Carl
maker
Bausch & Lomb Optical Company
ID Number
1982.0001.02
accession number
1982.0001
catalog number
1982.0001.02
This shadow box display demonstrates the biolistic gene transfer process, the firing mechanism of the gene gun. The object came from the offices of Biolistics Inc., a company started in 1988 by Dr. Ed Wolf and Dr.
Description (Brief)
This shadow box display demonstrates the biolistic gene transfer process, the firing mechanism of the gene gun. The object came from the offices of Biolistics Inc., a company started in 1988 by Dr. Ed Wolf and Dr. John Sanford in Ithaca, New York, to sell their biolistic gene guns. Biolistic gene guns are used to genetically transform plants by shooting microprojectiles (tiny bullets) covered in DNA into plant cells. It’s likely that this shadow box was used to help explain the firing process to potential investors or purchasers of the technology.
The firing mechanism of the gene gun required several steps, as shown here. A gunpowder charge (see object 1991.0785.03.2) or compressed air was used to accelerate a macroprojectile (see object 1991.0785.03.3), upon whose tip rested DNA-coated microprojectiles. The macroprojectile would be halted upon its impact with a stopping plate (see object 1991.0785.03.4). The stopping plate is the first large plastic disk shown here. A hole in the stopping plate was small enough to allow the microprojectiles to pass through, but large enough to halt the macroprojectile.
The second plastic disk shown here is an example of a fused stopping plate and macroprojectile (see object 1991.0785.03.5). The microparticles then continued to move forward, eventually penetrating the cells to be transformed. The triangular black shape represents the microparticles continuing forward after they have gone through the stopping plate. Cells to be transformed are represented by the round plastic beads.
To learn more about biolistic gene guns, please see gene gun prototype II (object number 1991.0785.02) or gene gun prototype III (object number 1991.0785.01.1).
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1992.0023.01
catalog number
1992.0023.01
accession number
1992.0023
This 5" x 7" black and white photograph shows James Egan sitting at a desk with computers and software on it. He has a foot on the desk, a coffee filter on his head, and is pouring a drink into a cup. Next to his chair is a sign that reads: SEND HELP.
Description
This 5" x 7" black and white photograph shows James Egan sitting at a desk with computers and software on it. He has a foot on the desk, a coffee filter on his head, and is pouring a drink into a cup. Next to his chair is a sign that reads: SEND HELP. On the back, written in pencil, are the dates 1981-1982.
James Egan, Joseph Alfieri, Robert Kurland, and Thomas Vandermeulen of Facks Computer, Inc. were the owners of the first ComputerLand store in Manhattan.
ComputerLand was a nationwide chain of retail computer stores. They opened their first store in 1976 in Hayward, California. By 1990 most stores had closed and in early 1999 the company officially disbanded.
The objects in accession 2017.0321 and non-accession 2017.3153 are related.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1981-1982
ID Number
2017.3153.06
nonaccession number
2017.3153
catalog number
2017.3153.06
Lewis M. Rutherfurd (1816-1892) was an astronomer in New York City who began making diffraction gratings around 1871 and distributing them freely to astronomers and physicists in the United States and abroad. By 1875 he was producing gratings with 17,280 lines per inch.
Description
Lewis M. Rutherfurd (1816-1892) was an astronomer in New York City who began making diffraction gratings around 1871 and distributing them freely to astronomers and physicists in the United States and abroad. By 1875 he was producing gratings with 17,280 lines per inch. This example is a steel plate measuring 1.75 inches square overall, with the ruled area occupying the central 1 inch square. The plate is marked "Dec. 22, 1877" and a card in the box is marked "17,280 No. 1".
This diffraction grating may once have belonged to George Frederick Barker (1835-1910), a physical scientist who taught at University of Pennsylvania, and who was an active member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and other scientific organizations. Barker may have inherited it from John Christopher Draper (1835-1885), a New York scientist who used a grating of this description to observe, or so he thought, the dark lines of oxygen in the solar spectrum.
Ref. D. J. Warner, "Lewis M. Rutherfurd: Pioneer Astronomical Photographer and Spectroscopist," Technology and Culture 12 (1971): 190-216.
Elihu Thomson, “George Frederick Barker, M.D., Sc.D., LL.D.,” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 50 (1911): xiii-xxix.
John Christopher Draper, “On the Presence of Dark Lines in the Solar Spectrum, which correspond closely to the lines of the Spectrum of Oxygen,” American Journal of Science 16 (1878): 256-265.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1877
maker
Rutherfurd, Lewis Morris
ID Number
PH.314901
accession number
212171
catalog number
314901
This engraved woodblock of “Tholomomys Chusius” or (Thomomys Clusius) Wyoming Pocket Gopher was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published in 1875 as Figure 80 (p.265) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and
Description
This engraved woodblock of “Tholomomys Chusius” or (Thomomys Clusius) Wyoming Pocket Gopher was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published in 1875 as Figure 80 (p.265) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902). The image appears in Part Third, entitled “Zoology” by Elliott Coues (1842-1899). The illustration was engraved by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875
1875
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
graphic artist
Nichols, H. H.
original artist
Keene, S. W.
author
Coues, Elliott
block maker
V. W. & Co.
author
Powell, John Wesley
ID Number
1980.0219.1088
catalog number
1980.0219.1088
accession number
1980.0219
These illustrated instructions describe the use of the Wizard adder in addition, in subtraction, in multiplication and as an aid in division. An example of the adder has number 1980.0787.01.Currently not on view
Description
These illustrated instructions describe the use of the Wizard adder in addition, in subtraction, in multiplication and as an aid in division. An example of the adder has number 1980.0787.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1960
maker
Thoresen, Inc.
ID Number
1980.0787.02
accession number
1980.0787
catalog number
1980.0787.02
This engraved woodblock of a “View of Marble Canyon (from the Vermillion Cliffs)” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Figure 63 (p.180) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries.
Description
This engraved woodblock of a “View of Marble Canyon (from the Vermillion Cliffs)” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Figure 63 (p.180) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902). The image depicts the “Colorado River [and] the Eastern Kaibab Displacements, appearing as folds [and] faults.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875
1875
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
author
Powell, John Wesley
graphic artist
Nichols, H. H.
block maker
V. W. & Co.
ID Number
1980.0219.1355
catalog number
1980.0219.1355
accession number
1980.0219
This model demonstrates the invention of a mechanical crawling doll. It accompanied the patent submission of George Pemberton Clarke, who received U.S. patent No.
Description
This model demonstrates the invention of a mechanical crawling doll. It accompanied the patent submission of George Pemberton Clarke, who received U.S. patent No. 118,435 on 29 August 1871 for his “Natural Creeping Baby Doll.” The original patent office tag is still attached with red tape. Clarke’s patent was an improvement on the crawling baby doll patent of his associate Robert J. Clay (No. 112,550 granted 14 March 1871).
The doll’s head, two arms and two legs are made of painted plaster. The arms and legs are hinged to a brass clockwork body that actuates the arms and legs in imitation of crawling, but the doll moves forward by rolling along on two toothed wheels. A flat piece of wood is attached to top of the movement.
A commercial version of the doll is also in the collection. See also Catalog number 2011.0204.01a.
This mechanical toy is part of a fascinating continuum of figures built to imitate human life. This long Western tradition stretches from ancient Greece through the mechanical automatons of the Enlightenment, through wind-up toys to contemporary robots and other machines with artificial intelligence.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1871
patent date
1871-08-29
inventor
Clarke, George P.
ID Number
1984.0923.01
accession number
1984.0923
catalog number
1984.0923.01
patent number
118,435
This is one of the earliest gratings made by Lewis M. Rutherfurd, and one of three that the pioneer astrophysicist, Henry Draper, acquired in the fall of 1872.
Description
This is one of the earliest gratings made by Lewis M. Rutherfurd, and one of three that the pioneer astrophysicist, Henry Draper, acquired in the fall of 1872. The glass plate measures 1.5 inches square overall, with the grating measuring 1⅛ inches square, and is marked "12960 to the inch Oct. 16, 1872 L. M. Rutherfurd."
Ref. D. J. Warner, "Lewis M. Rutherfurd: Pioneer Astronomical Photographer and Spectroscopist," Technology and Culture 12 (1971): 190-216.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1872
maker
Rutherfurd, Lewis Morris
ID Number
PH.334272
accession number
304826
catalog number
334272
This tinted lithograph of “Cascades of the Columbia" was produced by Sarony, Major & Knapp (fl. 1857-1867) after an original sketch by John Mix Stanley (1814-1872). It was printed as Plate XLV in Volume XII, Book I, following page 155, in the "General Report" by Isaac I.
Description (Brief)
This tinted lithograph of “Cascades of the Columbia" was produced by Sarony, Major & Knapp (fl. 1857-1867) after an original sketch by John Mix Stanley (1814-1872). It was printed as Plate XLV in Volume XII, Book I, following page 155, in the "General Report" by Isaac I. Stevens (1818-1862) in the "Report of Explorations for a Route for the Pacific Railroad near the 47th and 49th Parallels of North Latitude, from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Puget Sound," 1855.
The volume was published as part of the "Explorations and Surveys to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a Railroad from the Mississippi river to the Pacific Ocean," published as a twelve volume set in the mid-1850s to 1860. Volume 12 was printed in 1860 by Thomas H. Ford (1814-1868).
Location
Currently not on view
date of book publication
1860
graphic artist
Sarony, Major, & Knapp
original artist
Stanley, John Mix
graphic artist
Sarony, Major, & Knapp
original artist
Stanley, John Mix
author
Stevens, Isaac Ingalls
printer
Ford, Thomas H.
graphic artist
Sarony, Major, & Knapp
publisher
U.S. War Department
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Topographic Command
ID Number
GA.24834
catalog number
24834
accession number
1978.0612
During the 1950s, the Belgian teacher Emile-Georges Cuisenaire designed a set of rods to teach about numbers and basic arithmetic. Caleb Gattegno popularized his methods in Great Britain and the United States.
Description
During the 1950s, the Belgian teacher Emile-Georges Cuisenaire designed a set of rods to teach about numbers and basic arithmetic. Caleb Gattegno popularized his methods in Great Britain and the United States. This small paperback, Book C of Gattegno’s explanation, was copyrighted in 1958 and 1961.
For a set of Cuisenaire rods, see 1987.0542.01. For related documentation see 1987.0542.02 through 1987.0542.07.
For further information about the donor of the materials, see 1987.0542.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1961
maker
Gattegno, Caleb
ID Number
1987.0542.04
accession number
1987.0542
catalog number
1987.0542.04
This German silver instrument is a curved bar with a short arm, on which a short cylindrical weight is placed, and a longer arm, to which a tracer point is screwed. The middle of the bar has a thin cross-rod, on which a measuring wheel rotates against a wedge-shaped vernier.
Description
This German silver instrument is a curved bar with a short arm, on which a short cylindrical weight is placed, and a longer arm, to which a tracer point is screwed. The middle of the bar has a thin cross-rod, on which a measuring wheel rotates against a wedge-shaped vernier. The wheel is numbered from 0 to 14, with each unit divided into five parts. The vernier is corroded and may be a different type of metal from the rest of the instrument. The bar is marked: THE ASHCROFT MFG. CO. (/) — SOLE MANUFACTURERS. — (/) COFFIN'S PAT. JUNE 6. 1882. The underside of the bar is marked: No. 1423. The serial number suggests this object is not as old as MA.323705.
A wooden case is covered with dark brown leather and lined with purple silk and velvet. The top of the case is marked: MADE BY (/) THE ASHCROFT MANF'G CO. (/) NEW YORK & BRIDGEPORT.
John Coffin of Syracuse, N.Y., applied for a patent on this variation on a planimeter in July 1881. He designed his "averageometer" to calculate areas in diagrams of work performed by steam engines. The Ashcroft Manufacturing Company of New York City and Bridgeport, Conn., was the first of several American firms to make the device. Ashcroft, best known for making pressure gauges for steam engines, often sold the arm for Coffin's planimeter separately from its base, as in this example. In 1910, Frederick C. Blanchard, Ernest B. Crocker, and Philip G. Darling, who all probably worked for Ashcroft, patented an improvement to Coffin's planimeter so that it could be clamped in place. The planimeters made by Ashcroft after 1910 utilized this improvement, so this example was made between 1882 and 1910.
In 1912, company founder Edward H. Ashcroft sold his interest to Charles A. Moore, who renamed the firm Manning, Maxwell, and Moore (MM&M). Dresser Industries, Inc., purchased MM&M in 1964. Ashcroft survived as a brand name.
The instrument was found in the collections in about 1981.
References: John Coffin, "Averageometer, or Instrument for Measuring the Average Breadth of Irregular Planes" (U.S. Patent 258,993 issued June 6, 1882); N. Hawkins, Hawkins' Indicator Catechism (New York: Theo. Audel & Co., 1903), 140–142; James Ambrose Moyer, Power Plant Testing (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1911), 73–78; David R. Green, "Coffin Planimeters," June 16, 2008, http://www.planimetervault.com/coffin.html; Richard Oliver, "Ashcroft Manufacturing Co. History," http://www.clockguy.com/SiteRelated/SiteReferencePages/AshcroftManufacturingCoHistory.html.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1882-1910
maker
Ashcroft Mfg. Co.
ID Number
1987.0107.03
catalog number
1987.0107.03
accession number
1987.0107
This object was collected by Brooklyn high school teacher and historian of mathematics L. Leland Locke and held by the Museums of the Peaceful Arts in New York City before coming to the Smithsonian. The frame supports a shaft, which in turn holds twelve number wheels.
Description
This object was collected by Brooklyn high school teacher and historian of mathematics L. Leland Locke and held by the Museums of the Peaceful Arts in New York City before coming to the Smithsonian. The frame supports a shaft, which in turn holds twelve number wheels. Each wheel has the numbers from 0 to 9 indicated on it in white. Each is linked to a spring and to a gear.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Lehigh Corporation
ID Number
1983.3003.002
nonaccession number
1983.3003
catalog number
1983.3003.002

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