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.

Thomas Sinclair (ca 1805-1881) of Philadelphia produced this chromolithographic print of "Phalacrocorax brasilianus [GM]" or Neotropic cormorant, from an original illustration by William Dreser (ca 1820, fl. 1849-1860).
Description (Brief)
Thomas Sinclair (ca 1805-1881) of Philadelphia produced this chromolithographic print of "Phalacrocorax brasilianus [GM]" or Neotropic cormorant, from an original illustration by William Dreser (ca 1820, fl. 1849-1860). The image was published as Plate XXVIII in Volume 2, following page 204 of Appendix F (Zoology-Birds) by John Cassin (1813-1869) in the report describing "The U.S. Naval Astronomical Expedition to the Southern Hemisphere during the Years 1849, 1850, 1851, and 1852" by James M. Gillis (1811-1865). The volume was printed in 1855 by A. O. P. Nicholson (1808-1876) of Washington, D.C.
Location
Currently not on view
date of book publication
1855
graphic artist
Sinclair, Thomas
original artist
Dreser, William
publisher
United States Navy
printer
Nicholson, A. O. P.
author
Cassin, John
Gilliss, James Melville
ID Number
2008.0175.02
accession number
2008.0175
catalog number
2008.0175.02
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image of "Pleiodus strigirostris" (now Didunculus strigirostris - Tooth-billed Pigeon or Samoan Pigeon) for the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 8, Mammalo
Description (Brief)
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image of "Pleiodus strigirostris" (now Didunculus strigirostris - Tooth-billed Pigeon or Samoan Pigeon) for the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 8, Mammalogy and Ornithology, plate 34, in the edition Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1858. The engraving was produced by W. H. Dougal after T. R. Peale.
Description
William H. Dougal (1822–1895) of New York and Washington, D.C., (after 1844) engraved this copper printing plate after a drawing by Expedition Naturalist Titian Ramsey Peale. The image depicts the Pleiodus strigirostris (now Didunculus strigirostris, Tooth billed pigeon or Samoan Pigeon). The engraved illustration was published as Plate 34 in Volume VIII, Mammalogy and Ornithology, by John Cassin, 1858.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1858
publisher
Wilkes, Charles
original artist
Peale, Titian Ramsay
graphic artist
Dougal, William H.
printer
Sherman, Conger
author
Cassin, John
ID Number
1999.0145.414
catalog number
1999.0145.414
accession number
1999.0145
During World War I, the U.S. Army needed to sort out the thousands of recruits arriving at training camps. Psychologists claimed that their young science offered an objective, efficient way to classify men, weeding out the mentally unfit.
Description
During World War I, the U.S. Army needed to sort out the thousands of recruits arriving at training camps. Psychologists claimed that their young science offered an objective, efficient way to classify men, weeding out the mentally unfit. Intelligence tests available at the time had been designed for children, given individually, and in many cases were unstandardized. No one knew precisely what they measured or how these measurements related to military performance. Nonetheless, over 1,700,000 American soldiers took intelligence tests during the war.
Group Examination Alpha was for men who could read English. It tested the ability to follow oral directions, arithmetic, vocabulary, pattern recognition, general information, and “common sense.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1918
maker
United States Army. Medical Department. Division of Psychology
ID Number
1990.0334.01
catalog number
1990.0334.01
accession number
1990.0334
In the late 1790s at the behest of the American Philosophical Society, the American artist, Gilbert Stuart (1756-1828), began working on a half-length oil portrait of Joseph Priestley, the famous English chemist and political dissident who had recently settled in the United State
Description
In the late 1790s at the behest of the American Philosophical Society, the American artist, Gilbert Stuart (1756-1828), began working on a half-length oil portrait of Joseph Priestley, the famous English chemist and political dissident who had recently settled in the United States. This portrait showed Priestley wearing a white stock and dark vest and jacket, his head turned slightly to his right, his hair parted in the middle and hanging low on his neck.
Although he had received American funds for this project, Stuart sold the portrait to T. B. Barclay, an Englishman who visited his Boston studio. After taking the painting to his home near Liverpool, Barclay hired an English artist named William Artaud to complete the parts that Stuart had left unfinished. He also let Artaud make three oil copies of the portrait. One copy came into the possession of Priestley’s descendants in Pennsylvania, and it was from this that American artist, Albert Rosenthal (1863-1939), made this copy. The American Chemical Society presented to the Smithsonian in 1921.
Ref: Henry C. Bolton, ed., The Scientific Correspondence of Joseph Priestley (New York, 1892), pp. 177-179.
Robert E. Schofield, The Enlightened Joseph Priestley (University Park, Pa., 2004).
Edgar Fahs Smith to Albert Rosenthal, Oct. 28, 1921, in Albert Rosenthal papers, Archives of American Art.
Charles M. Mount, “Gilbert Stuart in Washington: With a Catalogue of his Portraits Painted between December 1803 and July 1805,” Records of the Columbia Historical Society 71-72 (1972): 81-127, on pp. 103, 119.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PH.318492
catalog number
318492
accession number
67389
In the spring of 1803, Meriwether Lewis began to purchase scientific and mathematical instruments for a pending expedition into the northwestern region of North America.
Description
In the spring of 1803, Meriwether Lewis began to purchase scientific and mathematical instruments for a pending expedition into the northwestern region of North America. Among the items he purchased from Philadelphia instrument maker Thomas Whitney were three pocket compasses for $2.50 each, and this silver-plated pocket compass for $5. It has a mahogany box, a silver-plated brass rim that is graduated to degrees and numbered in quadrants from north and south, a paper dial, two small brass sight vanes, and a leather carrying case. Whether Lewis purchased the silver compass for himself or intended it as a special gesture for William Clark is not known.
Following the instructions of President Thomas Jefferson, the Corps of Discovery, under the leadership of Lewis and Clark, ascended the Missouri River in May 1804 to obtain detailed information on the natural resources of the region, to search for a northwest passage, and to make official diplomatic contact with Indian leaders.
By the time they returned to St. Louis in September 1806, few of the instruments that were purchased for the trip had survived the journey. The pocket compass, however, was kept by Clark as a memento. He later gave the compass to his friend, Capt. Robert A. McCabe, whose heirs donated it in 1933 to the Smithsonian Institution.
Date made
ca 1804
user
Clark, William
maker
Whitney, Thomas
ID Number
PL.038366
catalog number
38366
accession number
122864
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image of "Scolopax meridionalis, Zapornia umbrina" (now Galinago shicklandii - Cordilleran snipe and Porzana porzana - Spotted Crake) for the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840,
Description (Brief)
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image of "Scolopax meridionalis, Zapornia umbrina" (now Galinago shicklandii - Cordilleran snipe and Porzana porzana - Spotted Crake) for the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 8, Mammalogy and Ornithology, plate 35, in the edition Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1858. The engraving was produced by W. H. Dougal after W. E. Hitchcock.
Description
William H. Dougal (1822–1895) of New York and Washington, D.C. (after 1844) engraved this copper printing plate after drawings by William E. Hitchcock. The image depicts the Scolopax meridionalis (now Galinago shicklandii, or Cordilleran snipe) and Zapornia umbrina (now Porzana porzana, or Spotted Crake). The engraved illustration was published as Plate 35 in Volume VIII, Mammalogy and Ornithology, by John Cassin, 1858.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1858
publisher
Wilkes, Charles
original artist
Hitchcock, W. E.
graphic artist
Dougal, William H.
printer
Sherman, Conger
author
Cassin, John
maker
Peale, Titian Ramsay
ID Number
1999.0145.415
catalog number
1999.0145.415
accession number
1999.0145
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image showing four fish species in the never published Volume 21-22, Ichthyology, part of the series of publications the "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842." The plate images wer
Description (Brief)
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image showing four fish species in the never published Volume 21-22, Ichthyology, part of the series of publications the "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842." The plate images were engraved by W. H. Dougal after Joseph Drayton.
Description
William H. Dougal (1822–1895) of New York and Washington, D.C., (after 1844) engraved this copper printing plate depicting four species of fish documented by the U.S. Exploring Expedition. The illustrations were to be published in Volumes XXII and XXIII, Ichthyology, by Louis Agassiz. Dougal engraved 26 of the 28 plates for this volume which was never printed.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1849
1862
publisher
Wilkes, Charles
original artist
Drayton, Joseph
graphic artist
Dougal, William H.
author
Agassiz, Louis
ID Number
1999.0145.435
accession number
1999.0145
catalog number
1999.0145.435
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image showing three species of shark in the never published Volume 21-22, Ichthyology, part of the series of publications the "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842." The plate image
Description (Brief)
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image showing three species of shark in the never published Volume 21-22, Ichthyology, part of the series of publications the "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842." The plate images were engraved by W. H. Dougal after Joseph Drayton.
Description
William H. Dougal (1822–1895) of New York and Washington, D.C., (after 1844) engraved this copper printing plate depicting three species of shark documented by the U.S. Exploring Expedition. The engraved illustrations were to be published in volumes XXII and XXIII, Ichthyology, by Louis Agassiz. Dougal engraved 26 of the 28 plates for this volume which was never printed.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1849
publisher
Wilkes, Charles
original artist
Drayton, Joseph
graphic artist
Dougal, William H.
author
Agassiz, Louis
ID Number
1999.0145.437
accession number
1999.0145
catalog number
1999.0145.437
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image of "Ptilonopus Perousei" (now Many-colored Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus perousii Peale (S.
Description (Brief)
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image of "Ptilonopus Perousei" (now Many-colored Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus perousii Peale (S. polynesia)) for the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 8, Mammalogy and Ornithology, plate 33, in the edition Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1858. The engraving was produced by Robert Hinshelwood after T. R. Peale.
Description
Robert Hinshelwood (1812–after 1875) of New York City engraved this copper printing plate after a drawing by Expedition Naturalist Titian Ramsey Peale. The image depicts the Ptilonopus Perousei (now Many-colored Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus perousii Peale [S. polynesia]). The engraved illustration was published as Plate 33 in Volume VIII, Mammalogy and Ornithology, by John Cassin, 1858.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1858
publisher
Wilkes, Charles
original artist
Peale, Titian Ramsay
graphic artist
Hinshelwood, Robert
printer
Sherman, Conger
author
Cassin, John
ID Number
1999.0145.413
catalog number
1999.0145.413
accession number
1999.0145
This tinted lithograph of “Fort Massachusetts at the Foot of the Sierra Blanca Valley of San Luis" was produced by Thomas Sinclair (1805-1881), Philadelphia, after a sketch by John Mix Stanley (1814-1872) and an original sketch by expedition artist R. H. Kern (1821-1853).
Description
This tinted lithograph of “Fort Massachusetts at the Foot of the Sierra Blanca Valley of San Luis" was produced by Thomas Sinclair (1805-1881), Philadelphia, after a sketch by John Mix Stanley (1814-1872) and an original sketch by expedition artist R. H. Kern (1821-1853). It was printed as a plate in Volume II following page 38, in the "Report of Explorations for a Route for the Pacific Railroad, by Captain J. W. Gunnison (1812-1853), Topographical Engineers, Near the 38th and 39th Parallels of North Latitude, from the Mouth of the Kansas River, Missouri to the Sevier Lake in the Great Basin" by Lieutenant E. G. Beckwith (1818-1881), Third Artillery.
The volume was printed as part of the "Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean" in 1855 by A. P. O. Nicholson (1808-1876) of Washington, D.C.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1855
engraver
Stanley, John Mix
artist
Kern, Richard H.
printer
Sinclair, T.
publisher
U.S. War Department
author
Beckwith, Edward Griffin
Gunnison, John Williams
printer
Tucker, Beverley
publisher
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Topographic Command
ID Number
GA.10729.27
accession number
62261
Recombivax HB is a vaccine that provides immunization against Hepatitis B. It is injected intramuscularly. Recombivax HB is the first recombinant vaccine.
Description (Brief)
Recombivax HB is a vaccine that provides immunization against Hepatitis B. It is injected intramuscularly. Recombivax HB is the first recombinant vaccine. Prior hepatitis B vaccines relied on viruses derived from human blood sources.
Recombinant pharmaceuticals are created by inserting genes from one species into a host species, often yeast or bacteria, where they do not naturally occur. The genes code for a desired product, and therefore the genetically modified host organisms can be grown and used as a kind of living factory to produce the product. In this case, genes coding for the hepatitus B virus's surface antigen are inserted into yeast. Yeast produce the hepatitis B surface antigens, which are harvested and used as the active ingredient in Recombivax HB. Surface antigens are the part of the hepatitis B virus that the body recognizes to create an immune response. After being exposed to the antigen, the body learns to identify and respond quickly to the presence of hepatitis B and can successfully ward off future possible infections.
Object consists of a white cardboard box with red stripes and light blue, red and black printing. Box contains product insert and round clear glass bottle with green metal top and white label. Bottle contains clear solution.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1986
product expiration date
1988-06-19
maker
Merck Sharp and Dohme
ID Number
1987.0782.02
accession number
1987.0782
catalog number
1987.0782.02
Recombivax HB is a vaccine that provides immunization against hepatitis B. It is injected intramuscularly. Recombivax HB is the first recombinant vaccine.
Description (Brief)
Recombivax HB is a vaccine that provides immunization against hepatitis B. It is injected intramuscularly. Recombivax HB is the first recombinant vaccine. Prior hepatitis B vaccines relied on viruses derived from human blood sources.
Recombinant pharmaceuticals are created by inserting genes from one species into a host species, often yeast or bacteria, where they do not naturally occur. The genes code for a desired product, and therefore the genetically modified host organisms can be grown and used as a kind of living factory to produce the product. In this case, genes coding for the hepatitis B virus's surface antigen are inserted into yeast. Yeast produce the hepatitis B surface antigens, which are harvested and used as the active ingredient in Recombivax HB. Surface antigens are the part of the hepatitis B virus that the body recognizes to create an immune response. After being exposed to the antigen, the body learns to identify and respond quickly to the presence of hepatitis B and can successfully ward off future possible infections.
Object consists of a white cardboard box with light blue stripes and light blue, red, and black printing. Box contains a product insert and a round clear glass bottle with metal top and white label. Bottle contains clear solution.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1988
product expiration date
1988-05-14
maker
Merck Sharp and Dohme
ID Number
1987.0782.01
accession number
1987.0782
catalog number
1987.0782.01
This full-keyboard printing electric adding machine has a metal case painted black and nine columns of black and white color-coded keys. The steel keyboard is painted green. To the left of the keyboard are a non-print lever and a subtract lever.
Description
This full-keyboard printing electric adding machine has a metal case painted black and nine columns of black and white color-coded keys. The steel keyboard is painted green. To the left of the keyboard are a non-print lever and a subtract lever. To the right are a subtotal key, a total key, an add bar, a repeat key, a correction key, and a non-add key. Above the keyboard is a set of small dials that indicates totals. Next to these on the left is a crank that may be used to shift the dials to the left or to the right in multiplication.
Behind the dials are the ribbon, printing mechanism, and narrow fixed carriage. This example has no paper tape. There are 13 type bars, and 12-digit results may be shown. The spools for the ribbon are under metal covers which are screwed down. At the back of the machine, outside the case, is the motor. The cord is cloth-covered. The legs at the back of the machine are longer than those in front, so that the machine sits at an angle.
The machine is marked on the front: Barrett Desk Electric (/) REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. (/) LANSTON MONOTYPE MACHINE COMPANY (/) PHILADELPHIA, PA. U.S.A.; It is marked on a metal tag attached to the front of the machine: MODEL ROOM. It is also marked there: 133820-123E; It is marked on a white paper tag attached to the machine: to E. Racz 11-22-44K. It is marked on a red paper tag attached to the machine: PATENT DEPT. (/) #149. The machine is from the Patent Division of Burroughs Corporation.
References:
American Office Machines Reference Services, May, 1939, 3.21, p. 1-6 describes this model.
Ernst Martin, The Calculating Machines, pp. 240-243, indicates that a manual Barrett machine was introduced in 1910, with production passing to Lanston Monotype in 1922. No electric Barrett machines are shown in McCarthy, American Digest of Business Machines, 1924 or in the Business Machines and Equipment Digest for 1928.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1940
maker
Lanston Monotype Machine Company
ID Number
1982.0794.26
catalog number
1982.0794.26
accession number
1982.0794
This patent model for an adder with mechanical carry has a wooden handle and circular base on which three concentric brass discs and a brass arm are mounted.
Description
This patent model for an adder with mechanical carry has a wooden handle and circular base on which three concentric brass discs and a brass arm are mounted. The largest disc is glued to the base, and has the numbers from 1 to 99 indicated around the edge (there also is a blank space for zero). The middle and upper discs rotate about a central pivot, which has a smaller pin attached to it that holds the discs together. The middle disc is divided into 100 parts around the edge, with the parts numbered from 100 to 9,900 (again there is a blank division). The top disc has the numbers from 1 to 99 around the edge, as well as a blank. Next to each digit of the disc there is a small sunken tooth in the disc. A hole in the arm allows one to see numbers on the discs.
To use the instrument, one sets up thousands by rotating the middle disc. To add 1- or 2-digit numbers, one moves the arm counterclockwise so that it is over the desired number on the outer rim. Then, rotating clockwise back to zero, a spring-ratchet attached to the arm engages a tooth on the inner disc and rotates it through the number set up. (The spring-ratchet is missing from the model). According to the patent description, when the inner disc goes a full revolution, a carry mechanism advances the middle wheel one unit.
See U.S. Patent No. 11,726, issued September 26, 1854. There is an example of the instrument in the Home and Community Life collections. It's catalog number is 1978.0939.07.
”Aron” L. Hatfield (about 1818-1898) is listed in the 1850 US Census as living in Lewisburg, Union County, Pennsylvania. Born in Pennsylvania, he was 31 years old, had a wife and two children, and worked as a watchmaker. The 1860 Census lists an Aaron L. Hatfield, 40 years old, born in Pennsylvania and living in Green Springs, Sandusky, Ohio. He worked as an ambrotypist. No family is listed. The 1880 Census lists an Aaron L. Hatfield, 61 years old, widowed, and a watchmaker, who was living in Constantine, St. Joseph County, Michigan.
In addition to the patent for which this object is the model, Aaron L. Hatfield took out three other U.S. patents. The first, #103,327, was for an improvement in pruning shears, and was taken out May 24, 1870, when he was living in Clyde, Ohio. The second, #143,759, was for an improvement in pumps, and was taken out October 21, 1873, when he was still in Clyde. The third, #199705, was for an improvement in bag holders, and was taken out when he was living in Constantine.
According to an obituary in The Jeweler’s Circular and Horological Review, Hatfield died December 9, 1898, in Three Rivers, Michigan, where he was working as a jeweler and music dealer. By then he was living a secluded life above his store.
Reference: In addition to U.S. Census and U.S. Patent Office records, see “Death of Aaron L. Hatfield," The Jewelers Circular and Horological Review, vol. 37, December 14, 1898, p. 15.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1854
patentee
Hatfield, Aaron L.
maker
Hatfield, Aaron L.
ID Number
MA.252684
catalog number
252684
accession number
49064
This ivory rectangular protractor is three times larger in area than many surviving ivory rectangular protractors from the nineteenth century, which tend to be short and narrow enough to fit in a pocket.
Description
This ivory rectangular protractor is three times larger in area than many surviving ivory rectangular protractors from the nineteenth century, which tend to be short and narrow enough to fit in a pocket. (See MA.335349, MA.321754, and MA.321014.) Catalogs of the time period advertise foot-long rectangular protractors comparable to this one, but at approximately $12 each, they were 3 to 8 times as expensive as 6-inch versions. Thus, surveyors probably did not purchase and use the large protractors as often.
This protractor is graduated to half-degrees and marked by tens from 10 to 170 in both the clockwise and counterclockwise directions. The interior of the protractor contains a maker's mark: LONDON MADE. FOR MCALLISTER & CO. PHILADELPHIA. The front of the protractor also contains a diagonal scale; a scale of chords which is divided by half-degrees and marked by tens from 10 to 90; and scales for dividing 1 inch into 10, 20, and 30 parts. These scales were used to create drawings in which 1 inch represented 1, 2, and 3 feet, respectively.
A chain scale is on the bottom edge of the protractor, facing outwards (i.e., appearing upside-down as one looks at the front of the protractor). The scale is graduated to half-units and marked by ones from 1 to 44 and from 44 to 1. The numbers from 44 to 1 are called an "offset." Ten units on the scale total 1/4" in length. A surveyor's chain was 66 feet long and contained 100 links. Thus, this chain scale represented 4 links to each inch. The number 40 (described as a "line of 40" or a "scale of 40" in trade catalogs) is marked at the midpoint of the protractor, in between the chain scale and the scale dividing 1 inch into 30 parts. The markings are worn off the protractor in a few places.
The back of the protractor bears scales for dividing the inch into 80, 60, 55, 50, 45, 40, 35, and 30 parts. There are also scales for 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, 7/8, and 1 inch to the foot. The protractor is stored in a black and red leather and cardboard case that is badly worn.
William Young McAllister (1812–1896) was a third-generation optician and dealer of mathematical instruments in Philadelphia. His firm was known as McAllister & Co. between 1836 and 1853. From 1830 to 1836, he partnered with his father, John McAllister Jr., and between 1853 and 1865 he partnered with his brother, Thomas, who subsequently worked as an optician in New York City. This protractor is slightly different from the 12-inch ivory protractor described in McAllister's 1867 catalog: this object is 1/4" wider; there are eleven scales of equal parts instead of ten; there are eight scales of feet and inches instead of twelve; there is one scale of chords instead of two; and there is a chain scale. John C. Armstrong of Washington, D.C., donated the protractor to the Smithsonian in 1933.
References: William Ford Stanley, Mathematical Drawing and Measuring Instruments 6th ed. (London: E. & F. N. Spon, 1888), 227–230; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 33rd ed. (New York, 1909), 176; "McAllister Family Business Timeline," The John A. McAllister Collection, Library Company of Philadelphia, http://www.librarycompany.org/mcallister/pdf/McAllister%20family%20business%20timeline.pdf; A Priced and Illustrated Catalogue of Mathematical Instruments . . . Sold Wholesale and Retail by William Y. McAllister (Philadelphia, 1867), 25; Peggy A. Kidwell, "James Prentice's Rectangular Protractor," Rittenhouse 1, no. 3 (1987): 61–63.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1836-1853
maker
McAllister, William Young
ID Number
MA.310743
accession number
127352
catalog number
310743
This pocket-sized book, distributed by the firm of Jones and Laughlins of Pittsburgh, Pa., is particularly designed to assist customers of that manufacturer of “steel, iron, and nails, patent cold-rolled shafting, pulleys, hangers and couplings, &c.” The tables were compiled by m
Description
This pocket-sized book, distributed by the firm of Jones and Laughlins of Pittsburgh, Pa., is particularly designed to assist customers of that manufacturer of “steel, iron, and nails, patent cold-rolled shafting, pulleys, hangers and couplings, &c.” The tables were compiled by mechanical engineer C. C. Briggs and, from 1898, revised by F. L. Garlinghouse. Surviving editions date from what may be the third edition of 1878 through the twentieth edition of 1942.
This volume is the eleventh edition, published in 1895. It includes some 487 pages of tables, listing such information for engineers as properties of various forms of iron and steel, material on the flow of water through pipes, formulae for the dimensions of small gears, information needed in the design of railroads, moments of inertia, bending moments and safe loads for beams, dimensions of columns, and strengths of bolts.
More mathematical tables deemed useful concern the circumference and area of circles of differing diameter; square, cubes, square roots, and cube roots of numbers; trigonometric functions; and the logarithms of trigonometric functions. More miscellaneous tables give rates of interest allowed in different states, interest tables, tables for conversions of weights and measures, the time in different places (neglecting the introduction of standard time), the amount of seed required to plant an acre of differing crops, and electoral votes cast in the presidential elections of 1884, 1888, and 1892.
The book of tables was received with a collection of drawing instruments. It is signed in ink inside the front cover: E. O. Hoffmann (/) 1573 - 30th St. N. W. (/) Washington, D. C. (/) 349 Carondelet St. (/) New Orleans, La. (/) U. S. Light House Service.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1895
author
C. C. Briggs, M. E.
ID Number
MA.335333
catalog number
335333
accession number
305958
The base of this U.S. Patent Office model for a circular stylus-operated adding machine is a wooden paddle. The outer edge of the paddle is divided clockwise into 100 parts, which are marked in ink.
Description
The base of this U.S. Patent Office model for a circular stylus-operated adding machine is a wooden paddle. The outer edge of the paddle is divided clockwise into 100 parts, which are marked in ink. Five concentric metal discs are atop the paddle, each one slightly smaller than the one below. The discs are held together at the middle by a screw. The first disc above the paddle has 100 holes around the edge and rotates. The second disc is fixed, with the numbers from 1 to 97 marked in pen counterclockwise around the edge (a few higher digits are hidden). The third disc is toothed, and has the numbers from 1 to 100 around its edge, inside the teeth. The fourth disc covers the third one, with one notch that reveals a number on the toothed disc. The fourth disc also has 100 holes around its edge. Just inside these holes is the fifth, top disc. It also is divided into 100 parts around the edge. These are marked in pen from 1 to 50 going counterclockwise on the right side, and from 1 to 47 going clockwise around the left side (a few divisions are unmarked). The first disc is intended to represent sums of numbers up to 100 (cents), and to carry a term to advance the third disc, which represents hundreds (dollars). The smallest disc can be used as a guide in adding or subtracting hundreds.
The machine is stamped on the front: T.T.STRODE. It has a tag nailed to the back that reads: T.T. Strode (/) Calculating Machine (/) Recd May 4 1867. Thomas T. Strode of Chester County in eastern Pennsylvania took out several patents in the second half of the nineteenth century for inventions ranging from a machine to boring holes in posts to a grain winnower and weigher to calendar-clocks. He apparently worked as a farmer and a merchant.
References:
Thomas T. Strode, “Calculating and Registering-Machine,” U.S. Patent 74,170.
U.S. Census records for 1850, 1860, and 1870.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1868
patentee
Strode, Thomas T.
maker
Strode, Thomas T.
ID Number
MA.252693
accession number
49064
catalog number
252693
This is the U.S. Patent Office model for a nine-key non-printing adding machine. The small machine has a wooden case with nine metal keys with wooden key covers, arranged in two rows. There are three wooden numeral wheels visible through a window at the back top.
Description
This is the U.S. Patent Office model for a nine-key non-printing adding machine. The small machine has a wooden case with nine metal keys with wooden key covers, arranged in two rows. There are three wooden numeral wheels visible through a window at the back top. The machine apparently is designed to add single digits up to 999. No numbers are visible on the key tops. The keys in each row presently appear to operate [no effect] 4 6 8 (/) [no effect] 2 3 5 7. The patent drawing indicates that the keys are arranged 2 4 6 8 (/) 4 5 5 7 9. The effect of the keys is determined by adjusting screws on the underside of the machine. The four registering wheels to the left have on their left side a ring of ten equidistant pins that are used in carrying. There is a lever at the top of the machine that can be adjusted to release the number wheels so that they can be turned back to zero using a button on the left. The device was patented by David Carroll of Spring Creek, Pennsylvania. Carroll took out other U.S. patents for ship’s logs (197995, granted in 1877; also 303115, granted in 1884), and a stump extractor (64628, granted in 1867, reissued in 1879).
References:
David Carroll, “Improvement in Adding Machines,” U.S. Patent #176,833, May 2, 1876.
E. Martin, The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen), trans. P. A. Kidwell and M. R. Williams, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, p. 75.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1876
patentee
Carroll, David
maker
Carroll, David
ID Number
MA.308949
accession number
89797
catalog number
308949
This long, relatively thin transparent plastic curve has a single relatively narrow opening in the bottom half. Similar but not identical curves were sold by Dietzgen and by Keuffel & Esser Company.
Description
This long, relatively thin transparent plastic curve has a single relatively narrow opening in the bottom half. Similar but not identical curves were sold by Dietzgen and by Keuffel & Esser Company. Dietzgen assigned the curve number 18 (part of catalog entry 2152 in the 1926 catalog), while Keuffel & Esser gave it the number 20 (part of catalog entry 1860 in the 1921 catalog). A mark on the object reads: 22. In its 1883 catalog, James Queen and Company listed a similar curve made out of hard rubber as catalog number 653, #22. However, it does not list plastic curves in this catalog. In a 1922 catalogue, Queen lists a curve very similar to this one as number 22. It cost eighty cents in pearwood, one dollar in rubber, and $1.20 in celluloid.
References:
Eugene Dietzgen Company, Catalog, 1926, p. 221.
James W. Queen and Company, Catalogue, 1883, p. 57. This catalog has no celluloid curves.
Queen & Co., Inc., Catalogue of Engineering Instruments and Materials, rev., Part I, Philadelphia, by 1922, p. 160. These curves have catalog number 918 (in celluloid). The catalog is in the James W. Queen & Company Collection in the NMAH Archives Center.
Keuffel & Esser Company, Catalogue, 1921, p. 148.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
maker
Queen and Company
ID Number
MA.304722.10
accession number
1973304722
catalog number
304722.10
This is the United States Patent Office model for a machine for adding a column of digits patented by Frank S. Baldwin, who is listed on the patent as a resident of Philadelphia.
Description
This is the United States Patent Office model for a machine for adding a column of digits patented by Frank S. Baldwin, who is listed on the patent as a resident of Philadelphia. It is the second of several patents Baldwin filed relating to adding and calculating machines.
The machine's back is roughly a half-disc, with the digits from 0 to 9 engraved across the top. A steel arrow rotates to point to any one of these digits. Rotating a brass knob returns the arrow to place. The knob is linked by gears to a small movable carriage at the base of the device. Returning the knob to its original position rotates two small register wheels. One of the wheels records the sum of the number entered and the number already set in the wheels. The other records the complement of this number. There are four sets of register wheels, linked to one another so that the machine carries, hence the machine may add numbers up to 9999.
A committee of J. W Nystrom, John Groesbeck, and Pliney E. Chase commented favorably on this machine before the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. It received the Scott Medal of the Franklin Institute in 1874, and was produced in small numbers.
References:
U.S. Patent 153,522, July 28, 1874.
Thomas A. Russo Sr., and Conrad Schure, “The Calculating Engines of Frank S. Baldwin,” Rittenhouse, 11 #3 (May 1997), pp. 93-96.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1874
patentee
Baldwin, Frank S.
maker
Baldwin, Frank S.
ID Number
MA.308935
accession number
89797
catalog number
308935
The expansion of American engineering in the nineteenth century created a new market for aids to computation.
Description
The expansion of American engineering in the nineteenth century created a new market for aids to computation. The Swedish-born Philadelphia engineer, John William Nystrom (1824–1885), contributed to this movement by inventing a circular slide rule in 1848 and writing a pocket book of mathematical tables that was reprinted at least 21 times between 1854 and 1895.
This is the patent model for Nystrom's calculator. The surface is a brass disc that rests on three wooden feet. It has two graduated brass arms, pivoted about a central spindle, which may be clamped to any desired angular separation and rotated together. Glass magnifiers are attached to both arms. A small dial on the top of the central knob can be moved to record rotations of more than one full circle.
There are four unlabeled circles on the calculating rule, here called a, b, c, and d. They go from the outer rim inward. Circle b is divided into 20 equal parts. Subdivisions of these parts are represented by a series of parallel curves extending between the outer rim and circle b. These, in combination with scales marked on the rim of the arms, allow one to measure subdivisions of the distance between equal parts. The outermost circle (a) is a logarithmic scale ranging from 1 to 10 twice. A series of lines between the two outer circles give intermediate values, which are read from the rotating arms. The circle c, just inside b, is divided from 0 to 90 degrees so that the sine of an angle indicated is given on the outer circle a. The parts of the scale are unequal, with the tens value of degrees from 10 to 49 indicated by large digits. The innermost circle d is divided for finding cosines.
Nystrom promoted the device and solicited a manufacturer in the May 17, 1851, issue of Scientific American. By 1852, he offered the device at three price points, $10.00, $15.00, and $20.00. He was likely making the instrument himself. From 1864 to 1887, the Philadelphia firm established by William J. Young sold Nystrom calculators that were probably handcrafted by George Thorsted. It is unlikely that more than one hundred of these devices ever existed.
References: J. W. Nystrom, "Calculating-Machine" (U.S. Patent 7,961 issued March 4, 1851); Description and Key to Nystrom's Calculator (Philadelphia, 1854), http://history-computer.com/Library/Nystrom's%20Calculator.pdf; "Nystrom's New Calculating Machine," Scientific American 6, no. 35 (May 17, 1851): 273; "Nystrom's Calculating Machine," Scientific American 7, no. 36 (May 22, 1852): 284; John W. Nystrom, Pocket-Book of Mechanics and Engineering, 10th ed. (Philadelphia, 1867); Robert C. Miller, "Nystrom's Calculator," Journal of the Oughtred Society 4, no. 2 (1995): 7–13; Peggy A. Kidwell, "Nystrom's Calculating Rule," Rittenhouse 1 (1987): 102–105.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1851
patentee
Nystrom, John William
maker
Nystrom, John William
ID Number
MA.252682
catalog number
252682
accession number
49064
This stylus-operated non-printing flat adding machine has five cogged, linked wheels. Five windows at the bottom show sums of numbers entered. Five windows at the top show complementary digits and are used in subtraction.
Description
This stylus-operated non-printing flat adding machine has five cogged, linked wheels. Five windows at the bottom show sums of numbers entered. Five windows at the top show complementary digits and are used in subtraction. The outer casing of the instrument is nickel-plated brass, the mechanism is brass. The device lacks a stylus. It is marked: GROESBECK’S CALCULATING MACHINE (/) PATENTED MAR. 18 1870. It is also marked: ZIEGLER & McCURDY (/) PHILAPA.CINN.O.CHICAGO,ILL. (/) ST.LOUIS,MO.SPRINGFIELD,MASS.
This machine is the invention of John Groesbeck (1834-1884), a consulting accountant, operator of the Crittenden Commercial College in Philadelphia, and author of several textbooks on commercial arithmetic. It apparently was his only invention. According to a review in the Philadelphia School Journal, it sold for $6.00 in 1871. The firm of Ziegler & McCurdy dissolved in 1872, suggesting that this object was made quite near the time of the patent. It was given to the Smithsonian in 1944 as a gift of Lt. John P. Roberts of the U.S. Naval Reserve.
References:
John Groesbeck, “Improvement in Adding-Machines," U.S. Patent 100,288, March 1, 1870.
“Groesbeck’s Calculating Machine,” Pennsylvania School Journal, vol. 19 #7, January, 1871., p. 216.
E. Martin, The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen), trans. P. A. Kidwell and M. R. Williams, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, p. 383.
George P. Donehoo, editor. Pennsylvania A History - Biographical, Chicago/New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., Inc., 1928, 290 to291.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1870
patentee
Groesbeck, John
maker
Ziegler & McCurdy
ID Number
MA.312824
accession number
167256
catalog number
312824
This full keyboard printing manually operated adding machine has a metal frame painted black with a glass panel in front of the number dials. Nine columns of black and white color-coded plastic keys arise from a the metal keyboard that is painted green.
Description
This full keyboard printing manually operated adding machine has a metal frame painted black with a glass panel in front of the number dials. Nine columns of black and white color-coded plastic keys arise from a the metal keyboard that is painted green. Total and subtotal keys are to the left of the keyboard. Red plastic repeat and correction keys are above the number keys, and a key stem and non-add key are behind the numeral dials. These nine dials are behind the keyboard, with divisions for U.S. currency indicated. The metal crank for operating the machine is on the right. At the back of the machine is the printing mechanism and a 13-inch (33 cm.) movable carriage. A bell is at the far left of the carriage. There is a two-color ribbon. The machine is extremely heavy.
The machine is marked on the front, and on the front of the carriage: WALES. It is marked above the keyboard: MANUFACTURED BY (/) THE ADDER MACHINE COMPANY (/) WILKES-BARRE, PA.,U.S.A. It is marked on the back with a list of 19 patent dates. The first of these is: PATENTED DEC. 1. 1903. The last is: JULY 5. 1913. It is marked on the carriage: 2065. The serial number, shown on the front of the machine at the bottom, is: 20-40243.
There is a metal stand painted black, with a wooden table on the right side. The stand is stored separately. Its dimensions are: 56 cm. w. x 57 cm. d. x 79 cm. h., with writing table down.
Compare to MA.323593.
Reference:
J. H. McCarthy, The American Digest of Business Machines, Chicago: American Exchange Service, 1924, pp. 60-61, 544-545.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1916
maker
Adder Machine Company
ID Number
MA.335934
catalog number
335934
accession number
1977.0380
Adders like this one were designed to help consumers with addition, but did not actually add automatically. The surface of the metal instrument has seven slots that reveal part of seven flat notched metal bands below.
Description
Adders like this one were designed to help consumers with addition, but did not actually add automatically. The surface of the metal instrument has seven slots that reveal part of seven flat notched metal bands below. To enter a digit, one pulls down a band with the metal stylus. The hooked shape of the slots exposed a notch in an adjacent band, making it possible to carry or to borrow digits. This adder also has a zeroing bar at the base. It fits into a dark brown paper case.
Instruments of this type appeared as early as the 1600s, and sold commercially from the 1890s into the 1970s. They sold in Germany from the invention of the “Trick” in 1911. Otto Meuter patented a variation on this device that sold as the Arithma from 1920. Meuter received a fixed fee for each Arithma produced. With inflation, this sum soon was minute.
Meuter decided to form another company with J. Bergmann and to market adders known as the Pro Calculo! and the Correntator. These sold widely in the 1920s. For example, the trade magazine Typewriter Topics reported that 15,000 ProCalculo! adders sold in 1926. In 1928, the product was renamed the Produx.
References: Typewriter Topics, 59, February, 1925, p. 84. One model, offered by Pittsburgh Typewriter & Supply, sold for $3.00.
Typewriter Topics, 67 (November, 1927), p. 50-51. New style adders introduced.
Martin Reese, Historische Buerowelt, 43 (September 1995).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1925
maker
Pittsburgh Typewriter and Supply Company
ID Number
MA.155183.26
catalog number
155183.26
accession number
155183

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