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 spectroscope was designed to be used with a telescope to study the light of the sun. It was made in Dublin in 1877 by the famous instrument maker Howard Grubb (1844–1931).
Description
This spectroscope was designed to be used with a telescope to study the light of the sun. It was made in Dublin in 1877 by the famous instrument maker Howard Grubb (1844–1931). It was used with the 9 ½ inch Alvan Clark & Sons refractor at Princeton University.
When the College of New Jersey at Princeton hired the astronomer Charles A. Young in 1877, they also gave him funds to equip the new John C. Green student observatory. One of his first purchases was this instrument. It was custom-made, and Young helped refine the design. (Grubb's company later advertised that this was the first such spectroscope that they had sold.) The most unusual feature of this instrument is the use of a complicated system of multiple prisms to disperse the light and produce a highly detailed view of the solar spectrum.
In use, the spectroscope was mounted at the eyepiece end of the telescope and light from the sun would be directed through it. As the light passed from one prism into the next, it would be increasing dispersed, or spread out. To make the instrument more compact, the beam of light was directed first through the upper portion of the prisms and then back through the bottom part. Depending on how it was configured, the light could thus be passed through either 2, 4, 6 or 8 prisms. A particular area of the solar spectrum could be viewed by turning a small chain that moved each prism by the same amount. Because of the large number of optical surfaces involved, the light loss in this instrument was almost certainly in the 90 percent range. This was an advantage when viewing the Sun, but it reduced the usefulness of this instrument for other purposes, such as measuring the spectra of stars. The success of this instrument in making precise measurements of the solar spectrum (and thus revealing information about the composition of the sun and its atmosphere) led to its wider adoption as an important astronomical tool.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1877
user
Young, Charles A.
maker
Grubb, Howard
ID Number
PH.328885
accession number
277637
catalog number
328885
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
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
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 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 2 inches square; the grating surface is 31/32 inches wide; the grooves are 13/16 inches long.
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 2 inches square; the grating surface is 31/32 inches wide; the grooves are 13/16 inches long. The plate is marked "6480 per inch 90 L. M. Rutherfurd."
Ref: Henry Draper, "On Diffraction Spectrum Photography," American Journal of Science 6 (1873): 401-409.
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.334274
accession number
304826
catalog number
334274
People from ancient times knew that rubbing certain materials and then touching something caused a spark. Studying what is called electrostatics laid the groundwork for understanding electricity and magnetism.
Description (Brief)
People from ancient times knew that rubbing certain materials and then touching something caused a spark. Studying what is called electrostatics laid the groundwork for understanding electricity and magnetism. Natural philosophers, scientists, and instrument makers created many ingenious devices to generate electrostatic charges starting in the 1600s. These machines varied in size and technique but all involved rotary motion to generate a charge, and a means of transferring the charge to a storage device for use.
Many early electrostatic machines generated a charge by friction. In the later 19th century several designs were introduced based on induction. Electrostatic induction occurs when one charged body (such as a glass disc) causes another body (another disc) that is close but not touching to become charged. The first glass disc is said to influence the second disc so these generators came to be called influence machines.
This machine—with two plates, one fixed and one that rotates--was made by Heinrich Ruhmkorff (1803-1877) of Germany in his Paris workshop. He is best known for the development of an induction coil still known as a Ruhmkorff coil. Designed by Wilhelm Holtz (1836–1913) four glass rods mounted on a mahogany base support two glass discs about 22" (56 cm) in diameter. The operator cranks driving pulleys to spin one plate. An extra set of combs are set at right angles to the ones typically seen in the basic Holtz design. One plate has two holes and paper tabs.
Research indicates this 2-plate machine may have been purchased by Joseph Henry for research use at the Smithsonian. Another Ruhmkorff machine with four plates designed in the 1870s is catalog #328747.
This machine was repaired in late 1958 and the parts replaced included the stationary plate, stationary plate holding-support screw, stationary plate positioning knob and ferrule, and the drive belts for the rotating plate The original glass plates are in storage.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875
ca 1870
associated person
Holtz
maker
Ruhmkorff, Heinrich Daniel
ID Number
EM.311761
catalog number
311761
accession number
152769
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
This engraved woodblock of “Bird’s-eye view of the Grand Canyon" was prepared by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as as Figure 72 (p.187) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of
Description
This engraved woodblock of “Bird’s-eye view of the Grand Canyon" was prepared by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as as Figure 72 (p.187) 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).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
author
Powell, John Wesley
graphic artist
Nichols, H. H.
ID Number
1980.0219.0467
accession number
1980.0219
catalog number
1980.0219.0467
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
Benjamin Peirce, Harvard professor of mathematics and third superintendent of the U.S.
Description
Benjamin Peirce, Harvard professor of mathematics and third superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey, was on good terms with Louis Agassiz, the charismatic Swiss naturalist who taught at Harvard’s Lawrence Scientific School and served as the founding director of Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology. Writing to Agassiz in February 1871, Peirce announced that the Coast Survey was about “to send a new iron steamer round to California” and asked if Agassiz would “go in her, and do deep-sea dredging all the way around?” Since Agassiz had conducted several research projects under the aegis of the Coast Survey, Peirce expected that he would accept this new proposition. The new ship, the first iron-hulled vessel owned by the Survey, was designed to dredge at depths never before reached. Named the Hassler after the first superintendent of the Coast Survey, the ship's maiden voyage would be known as the Hassler Expedition.
The Coast Survey had the largest budget of any 19th-century American scientific organization, and employed more scientists, both directly and indirectly. But aware of Congressional concerns about how federal funds should be spent, the Survey tended to hide its science behind its more practical activities. Thus while the Hassler sailed from the East Coast where it was built to the Pacific Coast where it would see service, the ship` could transport Agassiz, his wife, and several colleagues and assistants. But Agassiz had to raise the $20,000 needed to preserve the many specimens they hoped to collect and send back to the States for further study. Most of these specimens went to the Museum of Comparative Zoology and the Smithsonian Institution.
The Hassler left the Boston Navy Yard on Dec. 4, 1871 and made land in San Francisco some nine months later. Despite equipment failure and various delays, much was accomplished on the Expedition. The Coast Survey aimed to discover the origin of the Gulf Stream, determine the greatest depth of the Atlantic, exploring the coasts of Patagonia, chart the dangerous currents in and around the Straits of Magellan, and trace Darwin’s steps in the Galapagos Islands. Agassiz was especially interested in evidence of glacial action in the Southern Hemisphere (which he found), and evidence that might disprove Darwin’s theory of evolution (which he did not).
The Hassler left the Boston Navy Yard on Dec. 4, 1871 and made land in San Francisco some nine months later. Despite equipment failure and various delays, much was accomplished on the expedition. The Coast Survey aimed to discover the origin of the Gulf Stream, determine the greatest depth of the Atlantic, explore the coasts of Patagonia, chart the dangerous currents in and around the Straits of Magellan, and trace Darwin’s steps in the Galapagos Islands. Agassiz was especially interested in evidence of glacial action in the Southern Hemisphere (which he found), and evidence that might disprove Darwin’s theory of evolution (which he did not).
This large, carefully posed and somewhat manipulated photograph was made while plans for the expedition were underway. Agassiz is seated at the left of a round table, Peirce stands behind the table, and Carlile Patterson, the Hydrographic Inspector of the Coast Survey (and the man who had planned the internal arrangements of the new ship) sits at right. These men seem to be discussing a chart attached to which an obviously enlarged piece of paper carries the hand-written inscription “Instructions for Expd.” and “To. Prof. L. Agassiz / from Captain C. Patterson / Yours respectfully / Benjamin Peirce / Superintendent.”
The text at bottom of the photograph reads “Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1871 by A. SONREL, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D.C.” This refers to the federal copyright act of 1870. That image is now in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress. It is identical to our copy, but has an “A. Sonrel” signature in the lower left.
Antoine Sonrel (d. 1879) was an accomplished scientific illustrator who had worked with Agassiz in Neuchâtel, followed him to the United States, and prepared the lithographic plates for several of his publications. He was also an accomplished photographer who did commercial and scientific work. Several Agassiz cartes-de-visite photographs were taken by in Sonrel’s Boston studio. Another Sonrel photograph dated 1871, probably taken on the same day as our image, shows Agassiz and Peirce, the former seated in a chair, and the latter standing with his right hand on a globe pointing to Boston. And, as our image indicates, Sonrel, like many photographers then as now, enjoyed manipulating images. Another Sonrel photograph shows Agassiz talking to Agassiz across a table. Yet another shows an unidentified man playing chess with himself.
According to a note on the back of the frame, this photograph was purchased at an auction of the effects Mrs. John Cummings in 1928. The reference is to Mary Phelps Cowles (1839-1927), a woman of culture and wealth who was married to Adino Brackett Hall, a Boston physician, and then John Cummings, a landowner in Woburn, Ma.
Ref: Christoph Irmscher, Louis Agassiz. Creator of American Science (Boston, 2013).
David Dobbs, Reef Madness: Charles Darwin, Alexander Agassiz, and the Meaning of Coral (New York, 2005).
Edward Hogan, Of the Human Heart. A Biography of Benjamin Peirce (Bethlehem, 2008), pp. 270-280.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1871
depicted (sitter)
Agassiz, Louis
ID Number
1990.0326.01
catalog number
1990.0326.01
accession number
1990.0326
Instruments of this sort, which projected the image of objects placed on them, came into use in the second half of the nineteenth century. The “J. Duboscq / à Paris / No.
Description
Instruments of this sort, which projected the image of objects placed on them, came into use in the second half of the nineteenth century. The “J. Duboscq / à Paris / No. 54” inscription on this example refers to Jules Duboscq, an important scientific instrument maker in Paris.
This form came to be known, in the twentieth century, as a viewgraph or an overhead projector.
Ref: J. Duboscq, “Appareil pour la projection des corps placés horizontalement,” Journal de Physique Theorique et Appliquee 5 (1876): 216-218.
Debbie Griggs, “Projection Apparatus for Science in Late Nineteenth Century America,” Rittenhouse 7 (1992): 9-15.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1876
1834-1844
1870s
maker
Duboscq, Jules
ID Number
PH.315416
catalog number
315416
accession number
217544
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 engraved woodblock of “Light House Rock in the Canyon of Desolation” was prepared by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as Figure 17 (p.49) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado Rive
Description
This engraved woodblock of “Light House Rock in the Canyon of Desolation” was prepared by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as Figure 17 (p.49) 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).
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.
ID Number
1980.0219.0068
accession number
1980.0219
catalog number
1980.0219.0068
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 brass drawing instrument consists of a narrow 10" arm joined to a base (4-1/8" by 1-1/16") with a thumbscrew. The arm may be placed in two positions: horizontally and at 150° (30° if measuring an angle opening to the right).
Description
This brass drawing instrument consists of a narrow 10" arm joined to a base (4-1/8" by 1-1/16") with a thumbscrew. The arm may be placed in two positions: horizontally and at 150° (30° if measuring an angle opening to the right). Since it only measures 30° angles, this device is an isometric protractor. An isometric protractor is used to create three-dimensional drawings by depicting an object from an angle at which the scales on the three axes are equal. The technique was popular in the 19th century for its simplicity and ease of use. In the 20th century, isometric projections were typically created on specialized graph paper marked with triangles. In the 21st century, isometric engineering drawings and the isometric protractors used to prepare them are both created with computers.
The base of this protractor is engraved with a presentation mark: TO (/) Alexander Leslie C. E. (/) FROM (/) Mortimer Evans. Leslie (1844–1893) was a civil engineer who was especially known for constructing waterworks in Scotland. From 1871, he partnered with his father, James Leslie (1801–1889), in Edinburgh. James was the nephew of the mathematician John Leslie. He trained under the architect William H. Playfair and worked with George and John (Jr.) Rennie early in his career. He was a founding member of the British Institution of Civil Engineers. Alexander was elected to the society in 1869. In 1871, he was elected to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, while Mortimer Evans became a member of that institution in 1876. Little is known of Evans or of when and why he presented this isometric protractor to Leslie. Evans lived in Glasgow in the 1870s and then moved to the Piccadilly area of London, where he patented a precursor of a motion picture camera (with William Friese-Greene) in 1889.
The protractor is stored in a leather case lined with blue satin and blue velvet. The lid of the case has a protrusion to accommodate the thumbscrew.
References: William Farish, "On Isometrical Perspective," Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 1 (1822); William Ford Stanley, Mathematical Drawing and Measuring Instruments, 6th ed. (London, 1888), 268; Catalog of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 12th ed. (Chicago, 1926), 41, 44; Institution of Civil Engineers, "Alexander Leslie," Minutes of the Proceedings 116 (1894): 366–368.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
recipient
Leslie, Alexander
producer
Evans, Mortimer
ID Number
1983.0474.01
accession number
1983.0474
catalog number
1983.0474.01
In the 17th century, the British author Henry Coggeshall published a pamphlet describing a linear rule especially for calculations relating to timber.
Description
In the 17th century, the British author Henry Coggeshall published a pamphlet describing a linear rule especially for calculations relating to timber. As one of the major early exports of the British colonies in North America and later the United States was timber, it is not surprising that a form of Coggeshall’s rule, called the carpenter’s rule, came to be one of the first slide rules used and sold in this country. The carpenter’s rule was made from two wooden one-foot rules that were held together at one end by a metal joint. Unfolded, one side became a simple two-foot measuring rule. The upper part of the other side contained a groove that held a brass slide, with logarithmic scales on the upper and lower edges of both the slide and the adjacent parts of the groove. The outer edges and lower part of this side commonly were marked with other scales of use to carpenters and spar-makers.
This boxwood carpenter’s rule has a brass joint, a brass cap at the end of one arm, and a brass slide. The cap and part of the wood have worn away at the end of the upper arm, which has the slider. The slide has two identical logarithmic scales labeled B and C. Above it is an identical logarithmic scale on the arm; this scale is labeled A. All three of these scales have a double cycle of logarithms. Below the C scale on the arm is a scale labeled D and also GIRT LINE, which is divided logarithmically and runs from 4 to 40 (in other words, this is not the D or principal scale of modern Mannheim slide rules). The girt line can be used in conjunction with other scales to estimate the volume of timber available from a log. The rule is marked: T. BRADBURN & SON MAKERS WARRANTED BEST BOX.
The lower arm contains scales for making scale drawings that are 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, and 1 inch to the foot. The other side has a scale of 24 inches along one edge, divided to sixteenths of an inch for 6 inches and to eighths of an inch for the rest of the scale. One arm has a scale numbered by twos from 46 to zero and labeled SQUARE LINE M. The other arm has a scale labeled by twos from 36 to zero and marked E. The M and E scales were used while cutting polygonal sections of wood. The outside edge has two scales, each dividing one foot into 100 parts. All of the scales are crudely divided.
According to Gloria Clifton, George Thomas Bradburn made rules in Birmingham, England, from 1841 to 1852. According to W. L.Goodman, Thomas Bradburn was in business making rules in Birmingham from 1839 to 1870. Thomas Bradburn & Son was in business in Birmingham from 1863 to 1876. Hence, this carpenter’s rule would seem to date from the period 1863–1876. This instrument resembles a carpenter’s rule sold in the United States by S. A. Jones & Co. of Hartford, Conn. (2003.0216.01).
References: Gloria Clifton, Directory of British Scientific Instrument Makers, 1550–1851 (London: National Maritime Museum, 1995), 36; W. L. Goodman, British Planemakers from 1700 (Mendham, N.J.: Astragal Press, 1993), 185–186; Bruce Babcock, "A Guided Tour of an 18th-Century Carpenter's Rule," Journal of the Oughtred Society 3, no. 1 (1994): 26–34.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1863-1876
maker
T. Bradburn & Son
ID Number
1987.0777.01
accession number
1987.0777
catalog number
1987.0777.01
Bausch & Lomb introduced their Physician’s microscope in 1877, boasting that it was “firm and well balanced” and well adapted “to the use of physicians and students.” The stand and wooden case cost $40; with two objectives and camera lucida it cost $65.
Description
Bausch & Lomb introduced their Physician’s microscope in 1877, boasting that it was “firm and well balanced” and well adapted “to the use of physicians and students.” The stand and wooden case cost $40; with two objectives and camera lucida it cost $65. Ernst Gundlach, the Prussian immigrant who had become superintendent of the firm’s new microscope department in 1876, was largely responsible for the form.
This example is a compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, rectangular stage, inclination joint, sub-stage aperture ring with three holes, two-sided sub-stage mirror, curvaceous base, and wooden box with three objectives in brass cases. The body and tube are nickel-plated brass; the base is black iron; the stage is heavy glass. The inscription on the tube reads “BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO. ROCHESTER, N.Y.” That on the connection between tube and pillar reads “Pat. Oct. 3. 1876.” That on the metal slide holder reads “PAT. DEC. 25 ’77.” The 1014 serial number on the card in the box suggests a date around 1879.
Ref: Bausch & Lomb, Price List of Microscopes (Rochester, 1877), p. 6.
“New Physician’s Microscope,” American Naturalist 11 (1877): 572.
Ernst Gundlach, “Microscopes,” U.S. Patent 182,919 (Oct. 3, 1876).
Ernst Gundlach, “Moveable Slide Holder,” U.S. Patent 198,607 (Dec. 25, 1877).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1879
ID Number
1983.0826.01
catalog number
1983.0826.01
accession number
1983.0826
This heavy brass ruler is divided to millimeters along one edge. The other edge is divided into ten units of 1-3/16" (3 cm). Each unit is thus roughly equivalent to the sun, a traditional Japanese unit of length that is 1/10 of a shaku.
Description
This heavy brass ruler is divided to millimeters along one edge. The other edge is divided into ten units of 1-3/16" (3 cm). Each unit is thus roughly equivalent to the sun, a traditional Japanese unit of length that is 1/10 of a shaku. Two of the units are subdivided into 50 parts; the other eight are subdivided into 20 parts. Neither of the scales are sequentially numbered. Instead, the units of each scale are marked with a small "0," with an additional three zeroes above the "0" at the center of the scale of equal parts.
The Japanese Empire Department of Education displayed this rule at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. It then was held by the Museum of the U.S. Bureau of Education before transfer to the Smithsonian in 1910. For more information, see MA.261298 and MA.261313.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1876
ID Number
MA.261293
accession number
51116
catalog number
261293
This is the U.S. patent model for a cylindrical slide rule invented by George Fuller (1829–1907), a British civil engineer and professor of engineering at Queen's College, Belfast. Fuller received patents in Great Britain (no. 1044) in 1878 and in the United States in 1879. W.
Description
This is the U.S. patent model for a cylindrical slide rule invented by George Fuller (1829–1907), a British civil engineer and professor of engineering at Queen's College, Belfast. Fuller received patents in Great Britain (no. 1044) in 1878 and in the United States in 1879. W. F. Stanley of London manufactured the rule from 1879 until 1975, and it was marketed in the United States by Keuffel & Esser, Dietzgen, and other dealers.
The model has a wooden handle and shaft, with a wooden cylinder that slides up and down the shaft. A paper covered with scales fits around the cylinder. The lower edge of the cylinder has a scale of equal parts. The remainder bears a spiral scale divided logarithmically. A rectangular clear plastic pointer has broken from its attachment on the handle and is tucked into a red ribbon tied around the cylinder. A paper patent tag is marked: No. 291.246; 1879 (/) G. Fuller. (/) Calculators. (/) Patented Sept 2. (/) 1879. A printed description from the patent application of April 16, 1878, is glued to the back of the tag. The tag is attached to the handle with a red ribbon.
L. Leland Locke, a New York mathematics teacher and historian of mathematics, collected this patent model and intended it for the Museums of the Peaceful Arts in New York City. When that institution encountered financial difficulties in 1940, Locke gave a collection of objects, including this model, to the Smithsonian Institution.
For production models of this instrument, see 313751, 316575, and 1998.0046.01.
References: George Fuller, "Improvement in Calculators" (U.S. Patent 219,246 issued September 2, 1879); The Report of the President of Queen's College, Belfast, for the Year Ending October, 1876 (Dublin, 1877), 9, 29–30, 107–110; James J. Fenton, "Fuller's Calculating Slide-Rule," Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 22 (1886): 57–61; Dieter von Jezierski, Slide Rules: A Journey Through Three Centuries, trans. Rodger Shepherd (Mendham, N.J.: Astragal Press, 2000), 42–43.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1878
patentee
Fuller, George
maker
Fuller, George
ID Number
MA.311958
accession number
155183
catalog number
311958
A rectangular paulownia wood case has a red and white sticker on the right end marked: No. 45 (/) M. Inside the case are four bamboo rulers, three that are just over 12" (about 31 cm) long and one that is 2-1/4" (15.5 cm).
Description
A rectangular paulownia wood case has a red and white sticker on the right end marked: No. 45 (/) M. Inside the case are four bamboo rulers, three that are just over 12" (about 31 cm) long and one that is 2-1/4" (15.5 cm). A fifth rule is made of a darker wood, perhaps cherry.
The first rule is marked in Japanese: Made by Fujishima. It is also marked: 3000. The scales along both edges are identical, 30 cm long, divided to twentieths of a unit, and numbered by hundreds from 0 to 2,400. The back of the rule is stamped in red: METRE. It is also marked: 1 (/) 3000.
The second rule is made from a dark wood and is marked in Japanese: Made by Fujishima. The scales are identical and labeled: 1/16. They are divided to half-units and numbered by fives from 5 to 190. Each increment of five units is 5/16" (8 mm) long.
The third rule is marked in Japanese: Made by Fujishima. It is also marked: 1800. The scales along both edges are identical, 30 cm long, divided to single units, and numbered by tens from 0 to 540. The back of the rule is stamped in red: METRE. It is also marked: 1 (/) 1800. It is also marked: 5.
The fourth rule is marked in Japanese: Made by Fujishima. It is also marked: 1600. The scales along both edges are identical, 30 cm long, divided to single units, and numbered by tens from 0 to 480. The back of the rule is stamped in red: METRE. It is also marked: 1 (/) 1600. It is also marked: 6.
The scales on the fifth and shortest rule are 2" (5 cm) long, divided to single units, and numbered by tens from 0 to 40. The rule is marked on the back: 1/800. It is also stamped in red: 3.
These rules were likely used in engineering and architectural drawing. Compare to MA.261283, MA.261284, MA.261286, and MA.261287. The rules were exhibited by the Japanese Empire Department of Education at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. They then were displayed by the Museum of the U.S. Bureau of Education until 1906 and transferred to the Smithsonian National Museum in 1910. For more information, see MA.261298 and MA.261313.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1876
maker
Fujishima
ID Number
MA.261285
catalog number
261285
accession number
51116

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