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 modern Russian abacus has a black plastic frame and 13 parallel metal wires that hold beads. There are ten beads on each rod, with two blue ones in the middle and four white ones on either side. On the third and sixth row, the leftmost bead is also blue.
Description
This modern Russian abacus has a black plastic frame and 13 parallel metal wires that hold beads. There are ten beads on each rod, with two blue ones in the middle and four white ones on either side. On the third and sixth row, the leftmost bead is also blue. The fourth row from the bottom has only four beads - two blue ones in the center and a white bead on either side.
The cardboard envelope is yellow, red, and tan, with a drawing of the abacus. The envelope is marked in pencil: MOSCOW (/) Sept. 1958 (/) G.U.M. Other marks on it are in Russian.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1958
ID Number
MA.335269
catalog number
335269
accession number
314637
This instrument sits in a rosewood box with rosewood cross piece. Fifteen parallel bamboo rods pass through the cross piece. Each rod has two wooden beads above and five below the cross piece. The beads are rounded, like those on other Chinese abaci.
Description
This instrument sits in a rosewood box with rosewood cross piece. Fifteen parallel bamboo rods pass through the cross piece. Each rod has two wooden beads above and five below the cross piece. The beads are rounded, like those on other Chinese abaci. Brass corner pieces hold the box together.
Frank A.Taylor, a staff member in the Department of Arts and Industries at the United States National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, first lent the abacus to the National Collections in 1928 for use in a display of calculating instruments. He lent the object as an example of a modern Chinese abacus. He donated it in 1960.There is no mark by a maker.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1925
ID Number
MA.309527
catalog number
309527
accession number
104133
This abacus has an open wooden frame painted black and a wooden cross piece with an inset white strip on top. Twenty-three parallel wooden rods hold the beads. On each rod, there is one bead above the cross piece and four below.
Description
This abacus has an open wooden frame painted black and a wooden cross piece with an inset white strip on top. Twenty-three parallel wooden rods hold the beads. On each rod, there is one bead above the cross piece and four below. The beads are similar in shape to those on other Japanese abaci. Every third column of beads is marked with a black dot on the cross piece. The central column has two black dots and a red dot as well. Every fifth column is marked with a white dot. The abacus is stored in a cardboard box covered with decorated paper. There is no mark of a maker.
The instrument was given to the Smithsonian by G. Norman Albree, along with several circular slide rules of his design. According to the donor, his first introduction to the soroban was in 1958. He found addition and subtraction straightforward and bought this larger instrument to try multiplication and division. However, the beads were too small for his seventy-year-old fingers and thumb. Albree put the instrument aside, and returned to using logarithmic tables for multiplication and division.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1959
ID Number
MA.335485
catalog number
335485
accession number
321674
This instrument sits in a wooden box painted black around the edge. It has a wooden cross piece painted white. Twenty-one parallel bamboo rods rods pass through the cross piece.
Description
This instrument sits in a wooden box painted black around the edge. It has a wooden cross piece painted white. Twenty-one parallel bamboo rods rods pass through the cross piece. Each has one bead above the cross piece and five below.
The beads are similar in shape to those on other Japanese abaci. Every column but the middle one is labeled on the cross piece with a Japanese character. The ten beads to the left of the center may represent units of volume, those to the right are units of currency.
A stamp attached to the box below the beads that shows a Japanese diety known as Daikoku sama operating an abacus. Characters printed on the stamp refer to a trademark and to Osaka. A sticker attached to the back has characters on it that may represent a price in a vendor's code. The object is marked on the back in pen “4504.” It is recorded as found in museum storage in 1959.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1959
ID Number
MA.316866
catalog number
316866
accession number
228691
This Russian abacus, or tchoty has a well-finished wooden frame, eight metal rods for carrying the beads, and plastic beads that move along the rods. Seven rods have four red beads, two purple beads, and then another four red beads.
Description
This Russian abacus, or tchoty has a well-finished wooden frame, eight metal rods for carrying the beads, and plastic beads that move along the rods. Seven rods have four red beads, two purple beads, and then another four red beads. The other rod (the fourth from the bottom) has one red bead, two purple beads, and then another red bead. Loose inside the paper box are a small gray slip of paper and a larger beige paper, which appears to be a sales receipt.
This abacus was purchased in August 1965 by George W. Sims of California. Sims, who was born in about 1898, was a tax collector, certified public accountant, world traveller, and collector. Handwritten notations on the cardboard box in which the instrument was received indicate when it was purchased and state that it came from Smolensk in the Russian SSR, and cost the equivalent of 61 American cents. Documentation received in the same accession as the abacus (1988.0489.02) relates to the Chinese abacus, not this one.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965
ID Number
1988.0489.01
catalog number
1988.0489.01
accession number
1988.0489
This wooden instrument has an open frame and is stored in an open wooden box. The frame (which lifts out of the box) has a cross bar and holds 21 parallel bamboo rods. Each rod holds one bead above the cross bar and five below.
Description
This wooden instrument has an open frame and is stored in an open wooden box. The frame (which lifts out of the box) has a cross bar and holds 21 parallel bamboo rods. Each rod holds one bead above the cross bar and five below. The beads have a similar shape to those of other Japanese abaci. All the columns of the abacus except the center one are labeled with Japanese characters on the cross bar.
According to the donor,writing found on the back of the cross bar indicates that the abacus was made by Oh Tani (or Oh Ya) in Hiroshima and owned by Yoshizaemon Muraoka of Sakata-ken (a city in northern Japan, which was known by that name from 1871 until 1933, when it became Sakata-shi).
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1900
maker
Oh Tani or Oh Ya
ID Number
1989.0515.01
catalog number
1989.0515.01
accession number
1989.0515
This Japanese abacus or soroban has an open wooden frame painted black, with a black wooden cross bar. There are five metal rods parallel to the cross bar, one above it and four below. Each rod holds 23 white plastic beads.
Description
This Japanese abacus or soroban has an open wooden frame painted black, with a black wooden cross bar. There are five metal rods parallel to the cross bar, one above it and four below. Each rod holds 23 white plastic beads. The beads, held in 23 separate columns by wooden pieces between them, are in roughly the shape a human torso, spherical on top and polygonal below. They do not slide along rods, as in a usual abacus, but flip toward or away from the cross bar.
According to the donor, the abacus was built for the blind. It is stored in a white box with a turquoise cover. A picture of the abacus is attached to the cover. On the inside of the lid is a yellow paper label written in Japanese characters. It also reads in part: PAT. NO. 9452 (/) TAKEDA'S ABACUS (/) 9, IWAMOTO, KANDA, CHIYODA-KU, TOKYO (/) SALES OFFICES:HORIE CO:LTD. TEL (866)4918.
In the early 1950s, Russell Kletzing, the donor of this instrument, was denied a place on the register of the U.S. Civil Service because he passed the exams with the help of sighted readers. The National Federation of the Blind challenged this decision in the case of Kletzing vs. Young. Although Kletzing lost the case, the Civil Service eventually reversed its position.
In the course of his career, Russell Kletzing was chief counsel of the California State Water Resources Department and president of the Sacramento chapter of the National Federation of the Blind. For a brief time in the 1960s, he was president of the National Federation of the Blind.
Location
Currently not on view
user
Kletzing, Russell
ID Number
1983.0831.03
catalog number
1983.0831.03
accession number
1983.0831
This abacus fits in a black wooden box with a wooden cross piece. Eleven parallel bamboo rods carry seven beads each. Two beads are above the cross piece, five below. The beads are rounded, like those on Chinese abaci. One rod is broken and another cracked.
Description
This abacus fits in a black wooden box with a wooden cross piece. Eleven parallel bamboo rods carry seven beads each. Two beads are above the cross piece, five below. The beads are rounded, like those on Chinese abaci. One rod is broken and another cracked. The abacus was received as a gift from the Department of Mathematics of Brown University in 1973. There are no marks by a maker.
ID Number
MA.304722.01
catalog number
304722.01
accession number
304722
This abacus fits in a wooden box with a wooden cross piece. There are nine parallel rods, with beads on each rod. Seven rods are made of bamboo, two of metal. Two beads on each rod are above the cross piece, five below. The beads are rounded, like those on Chinese abacuses.
Description
This abacus fits in a wooden box with a wooden cross piece. There are nine parallel rods, with beads on each rod. Seven rods are made of bamboo, two of metal. Two beads on each rod are above the cross piece, five below. The beads are rounded, like those on Chinese abacuses. The base of the box slides out to the right.
According to donor Burgess, this abacus was the property of his grandfather, Kim Dong Kuen, and his wife, early Korean settlers in Hawaii. The Kims were caretakers at a privately owned beachfront home in the country. Burgess and his family would visit the beach in their model A Ford on Sunday afternoons to go swimming. Before Kim Dong Kuen died, he gave Burgess's grandfather this instrument, his prize abacus.
The 1930 U.S. Census lists a Kim Dong Kun, a resident of Honolulu born in about 1884 who emigrated from Korea in 1900. His wife also was born in Korea, emigrating in 1906. They had five children, all born in Hawaii. The family name was Kim.
date made
ca 1900
ID Number
2016.0006.01
accession number
2016.0006
catalog number
2016.0006.01
This tabletop teaching abacus has ten horizontal wires held in a wooden frame on a wooden stand. Each wire has ten large wooden beads.
Description
This tabletop teaching abacus has ten horizontal wires held in a wooden frame on a wooden stand. Each wire has ten large wooden beads. Each row of beads is a different color, with the colors from top row to bottom red, pink, blue-gray, orange, turquoise, yellow, white, green, brown, and black.
There is no maker's mark.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2014.0293.02
catalog number
2014.0293.02
accession number
2014.0293
This mounted teaching abacus has ten horizontal wires held in a wooden frame. A metal rod at the base fits into a wooden floor stand. Ten large wooden beads are on each wire. Each row of beads is a differently colored to suggest the different numbers that sum to 10.
Description
This mounted teaching abacus has ten horizontal wires held in a wooden frame. A metal rod at the base fits into a wooden floor stand. Ten large wooden beads are on each wire. Each row of beads is a differently colored to suggest the different numbers that sum to 10. Thus the first row has four green beads, three red beads, two blue beads and one yellow bead. The second row has two green beads, three red beads, three blue beads, and two yellow beads. The third row has one green bead, three red beads, three blue beads, and three yellow beads. The fourth row has two red beads, four blue beads, and four yellow beads. The firth row has five red beads and five blue beads. The sixth row has four blue beads and six yellow beads. The seventh row has three green beads and seven ted beads. The eighth row has two blue beads and eight yellow beads. The ninth row has one green bead and nine read beads. The tenth row has ten blue beads. Attached behind the beads is a sliding blackboard.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2014.0293.03
catalog number
2014.0293.03
accession number
2014.0293
This handheld teaching abacus has twelve horizontal wires held in a wooden frame with handle. Each wire has twelve wooden beads.
Description
This handheld teaching abacus has twelve horizontal wires held in a wooden frame with handle. Each wire has twelve wooden beads. The two topmost rows of beads are uncolored, the next two rows are green, the four rows below this are yellow, and the four rows at the bottom are (faint) red.
The general shape of this numeral frame resembles Holbrook's Numerical Frame as sold by J.A. Bancroft & Company of Philadelphia in about 1870, but the coloring of the beads is different.
No maker's mark.
Reference:
J.A. Bancroft & Co., Illustrated Catalog of School Merchandise, Furniture, Apparatus, Charts, &C., Philadelphia, ca. 1870.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2014.0293.01
catalog number
2014.0293.01
accession number
2014.0293
This teaching abacus consists of a plastic frame with five columns of brightly colored translucent plastic beads, held together by shaped metal pieces. A crosspiece divides each column into two upper beads and nine lower beads.
Description
This teaching abacus consists of a plastic frame with five columns of brightly colored translucent plastic beads, held together by shaped metal pieces. A crosspiece divides each column into two upper beads and nine lower beads. Beads above the crosspiece have five times the value of beads below.
A mark on the front of the object reads: Numberaid
A paper booklet received in by cardboard box with the abacus is marked: Numberaid (/) THE AMERICAN ABACUS (/) Guidebook (/) FOR PARENTS. It is copyrighted in 1955 and 1960. A newspaper photograph showing the donor working with Numberaid has the date June 1, 1961; hence the date assigned.
The instrument and guidebook fit into a cardboard box.
For the related newspaper article, see 2015.0170.02.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1960-1961
maker
Tools for Education Inc.
ID Number
2015.0170.01
accession number
2015.0170
catalog number
2015.0170.01
This numeral frame is in the shape of a cylinder, with wooden discs at each end ten straight metal bars forming the sides. Each bar carries ten beads. The color of the beads is faded.
Description
This numeral frame is in the shape of a cylinder, with wooden discs at each end ten straight metal bars forming the sides. Each bar carries ten beads. The color of the beads is faded. There might once of been green beads along two wires, orange beads along the next two wire, uncolored beads along the next wire, and then once again green beads along two wires, orange beads along the next two wires, and uncolored beads along the final wire. A stand, which would allow the cylinder to turn, is missing.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2014.3117.02
nonaccession number
2014.3117
catalog number
2014.3117.02
This instrument has an open wooden frame held together with brass nails passing through metal bands. A wooden cross bar holds 13 columns of beads. Each column has two beads above the crossbar and five beads below. The beads are rounded, as on other Chinese abaci.
Description
This instrument has an open wooden frame held together with brass nails passing through metal bands. A wooden cross bar holds 13 columns of beads. Each column has two beads above the crossbar and five beads below. The beads are rounded, as on other Chinese abaci. There are no marks by a maker.
This form of abacus was sold in combination with a book entitled Abacus Arithmetic by the Australian-born metallurgist, Stanford University graduate, and later Stanford professor of metallurgy Welton J. Crook (1886-1976). Crook became fascinated with the abacus on a visit to Hong Kong, and resolved to publish a clear exposition on the instrument in English. His short book was published in 1958 by Pacific Books in Palo Alto, California, and sold tens of thousands of copies. For a copy of this paperback, see 1989.0709.03. The abacus and the related book were given to the Smithsonian by Washington, D. C., clockmaker Elton L. Howe in 1989.
On Crook, see: Stanford University Faculty Memorials, “Memorial Resolution Welton J. Crook (1886-1976)," digitized by the Stanford Historical Society .
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1958
ID Number
1989.0709.01
catalog number
1989.0709.01
accession number
1989.0709
This modification of the Japanese abacus or sorobon is designed for use by the blind. It sits in a black plastic box, with red felt in the bottom of the box to prevent the beads from sliding inadvertently. A black plastic cross bar is pierced by 13 parallel metal rods.
Description
This modification of the Japanese abacus or sorobon is designed for use by the blind. It sits in a black plastic box, with red felt in the bottom of the box to prevent the beads from sliding inadvertently. A black plastic cross bar is pierced by 13 parallel metal rods. Each rod has one spherical white plastic bead above the crossbar and four below. Raised dots can be felt on the cross bar and the lower rim of the box at each column, and as raised slashes between every 3 dots. At the top of the front are the raised letters: A.P.H.
This type of abacus was designed by Terence V. (Tim) Cranmer (1925-2001) of the Kentucky Division of Rehabilitation Services for the Blind in early 1962, and soon placed on the market by the American Printing House for the Blind. It is still manufactured today. Cranmer was blind from childhood. He made and sold plastic jewelry in his early years, worked briefly at Kentucky Industries for the Blind, and then spent 10 years as a piano technician. In 1952, he began working for the Kentucky Division of Rehabilitation Services for the Blind, rising through the ranks. He was an active member of the National Federation of the Blind, and made several inventions.
The donor, Russell Kletzing of Sacramento, California, was a lawyer blinded as a child. He was active in the National Federation of the Blind, and challenged the view that the U.S. Civil Service register should exclude blind lawyers because they could not read conventionally printed text.
References: Fred L. Gissoni, Using the Cranmer Abacus for the Blind, Louisville, Kentucky: American Printing House for the Blind, 1962.
National Federation of the Blind, "NFB Awards 2000," Braille Monitor, August / September 2000.
Buffe Hanse, "Tim Cranmer Dies," Braille Monitor, January / February 2002.
Deborah Kendrick, “Tim Cranmer: One of Our Great Pioneers,” Access News, vol. 3 #1, January 2002.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1970
ID Number
1983.0831.02
catalog number
1983.0831.02
accession number
1983.0831
To teach children basic arithmetic, nineteenth century teachers used numeral frames like this one. They resemble a Russian abacus, in that beads move crosswise.
Description
To teach children basic arithmetic, nineteenth century teachers used numeral frames like this one. They resemble a Russian abacus, in that beads move crosswise. However, each bead represents a unit digit (unlike the abacus, where beads in different rows or columns have different place values).
Soldiers returning from Russia after the Napoleonic Wars introduced this kind of abacus into France. In England, teacher and educational reformer Samuel Wilderspin promoted its use. Educators from both France and England brought it to the U. S., where it began to sell commercially in the late 1820s.
Some numeral frames were purchased and others homemade. The device was used to teach counting, simple addition, multiplication, and fractions. Most early numeral frames had 12 or 10 beads in a row. This one has 8 parallel copper wires, each with 18 beads. The instrument was used in Mexico. It came to the Smithsonian in 1979. There are no maker’s marks.
Reference: P. A. Kidwell, Amy Ackerberg-Hastings, and D. L. Roberts, Tools of American Mathematics Teaching, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008, pp. 87-104.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1979.0693.01
catalog number
1979.0693.01
accession number
1979.0693
This Japanese abacus is in the lid of a rosewood box. A wooden cross bar colored white is painted with various characters labeling various columns of the abacus. Columns 1 to 6 are labeled in units of volume used to measure rice.
Description
This Japanese abacus is in the lid of a rosewood box. A wooden cross bar colored white is painted with various characters labeling various columns of the abacus. Columns 1 to 6 are labeled in units of volume used to measure rice. Columns 8 through 13 are labeled in units of Japanese currency. Column 7 is not labeled.
The beads of the abacus move on 13 parallel bamboo rods, with one bead above the cross bar and five below. The shape of the beads is like that of other Japanese abaci. The base of the box contains a large container with hardened black ink, a smaller container with red ink, additional bars of red and black ink, and a brush for drawing characters.
A paper sheet received with the abacus indicates that it was used by Dr. S. Tetsu Tamura as a schoolboy from 1885 to 1897 and presented to Cleveland Abbe in 1906.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1885
ID Number
1979.0876.04
catalog number
1979.0876.04
accession number
1979.0876
This tiny abacus has an open black plastic frame with a black plastic cross piece. It contains seven metal rods. Each carries one white plastic bead above the cross piece and four below. There are no maker's marks on the instrument.Currently not on view
Description
This tiny abacus has an open black plastic frame with a black plastic cross piece. It contains seven metal rods. Each carries one white plastic bead above the cross piece and four below. There are no maker's marks on the instrument.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1981.0922.18
catalog number
1981.0922.18
accession number
1981.0922
This double abacus has a wooden frame with 25 columns of wooden beads which slide on bamboo rods. It apparently was designed for use by two people at once. Each rod has 14 beads. A relatively thick wooden cross piece down the center divides the beads into groups of seven.
Description
This double abacus has a wooden frame with 25 columns of wooden beads which slide on bamboo rods. It apparently was designed for use by two people at once. Each rod has 14 beads. A relatively thick wooden cross piece down the center divides the beads into groups of seven. Two thinner cross pieces divide the groups of seven into groups of two and five.
Metal brackets hold the instrument together at the corner, with two wooden supports at the back. Holes drilled at one end hold loops of green plastic twine that are held together with a small metal ring and allow the instrument to be mounted on a wall.
The three characters carved on the center of the cross piece represent general words such as “happiness” or “wisdom.” The loops and the orientation of the characters suggest that the instrument was sold as much as a wall ornament as a practical device.
The donor received the abacus as a gift from Simon Newman, Deputy Director of Research and Development of the U.S. Patent Office. Mr. Newman died in 1985. He had traveled in Hong Kong.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1997.0106.01
catalog number
1997.0106.01
accession number
1997.0106
This is a device for introducing elementary school students to the concept of place values. Six parallel wires, each in the shape of an inverted U, fit into holes in a wooden block that serves as a base. Each wire carries nine beads.
Description
This is a device for introducing elementary school students to the concept of place values. Six parallel wires, each in the shape of an inverted U, fit into holes in a wooden block that serves as a base. Each wire carries nine beads. The beads on the front of the wire represent digits. A tape that runs across the block contains labels for the wires - from one on the rightmost wire to hundreds of thousands on the leftmost. Robert Naidorf (born 1961), the son of the donors, made the object in about 1968. It was used by Marjorie Naidorf, Robert's mother, as a third grade teacher at Parklawn Elementary School from 1971 until 1991. Place value boards are also sold commercially.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968
maker
Naidorf, Robert
ID Number
2005.0055.01
catalog number
2005.0055.01
accession number
2005.0055
In the 1950s, tools long used to communicate elementary ideas about counting and arithmetic moved from the classroom into the home.
Description
In the 1950s, tools long used to communicate elementary ideas about counting and arithmetic moved from the classroom into the home. The numeral frame, which resembles a Russian abacus, was brought to the United States from Europe in the 1820s, and used in many classrooms to communicate basic arithmetic concepts to groups of students.
By the mid-20th century, numeral frames were sold for use by young children in the home. This brightly painted example has a wooden frame, five metal horizontal cross rods, and a metal support at the back. Each cross rod carries 10 sliding wooden beads. The toy was designed to teach elementary counting, addition, subtraction, and simple fractions. The object is marked: Royal (/) Tot (/) EDUCATIONAL (/) TOY. It also is marked: Box No. 1450. There is a cardboard box. This numeral frame was sold by a pharmacy in Sherman, N.Y., and cost $1.00.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1950s
ID Number
2002.3058.01
catalog number
2002.3058.01
nonaccession number
2002.3058

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