Science & Mathematics

Chemical Balance

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.

Place: Chicago

Wooden Box Model Comptometer

This key-driven non-printing adding machine has a wooden case and eight columns of color-coded plastic keys. It is a relatively late example of a Comptometer with a wooden (rather than a metal) case.The key tops are flat and made of plastic.
Description
This key-driven non-printing adding machine has a wooden case and eight columns of color-coded plastic keys. It is a relatively late example of a Comptometer with a wooden (rather than a metal) case.
The key tops are flat and made of plastic. They are colored black and white, with complementary digits indicated in red. There is a spring around each key stem, and the stems become progressively longer as the digits increase. Eight subtraction levers are in front of the keys and eight decimal markers are attached to a metal plate painted black, which is in front of these. A row of nine windows in the plate reveals number wheels which represent totals and differences. The zeroing mechanism is a knob with a release lever on the right side.
The serial number, stamped on the front of the machine under the decimal markers, is 5021. A metal tag screwed to the top of the machine behind the keyboard is marked: TRADE COMPTOMETER MARK (/) PAT’D (/) JUL.19.87 JUN. 11. 89.(/) OCT.11.87 NOV.25.90 (/) JAN.8.89 DEC.15.91. (/) SEP.22.96 (/) Felt & Tarrant Mfg. Co. (/) CHICAGO
According to other records, this machine was sold in 1906 to H. Messersmith Company of Buffalo, New York, and traded in in 1910 for a Model C. The machine became part of the collections of Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company and was exhibited at the Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago in 1933.
Compare to 1987.0107.04.
Reference:
Felt & Tarrant, Accession Journal 1991.3107.06.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1906
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
MA.323650
maker number
5021
catalog number
323650
accession number
250163

Set of Charts, Evans' Arithmetical Study

Around 1900 many American educators advocated the use of objects in teaching mathematics and the sciences. R. O. Evans Company of Chicago published this set of twenty chromolithographed charts.
Description
Around 1900 many American educators advocated the use of objects in teaching mathematics and the sciences. R. O. Evans Company of Chicago published this set of twenty chromolithographed charts. They were designed to apply the object method “to the entire subject of practical arithmetic.” The title chart shows a man in classical garb holding a diagram of the Pythagorean theorem and a pair of dividers, expounding to a child. Other instruments displayed include a pencil, a drawing pen, a magnetic compass, several geometric models, a globe, a telescope, two set squares, an hourglass, and one of Evans’s charts.
Charts include extensive commentary for teachers. There are sheets entitled Counting and Writing Numbers, Reviews and Colors, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division,. Other charts discuss Fractions, Weights and Measures, the Metric System, and Mensuration (one chart considers the measurement of flat surfaces, another one 3-dimensional solids). There also are charts on Business Methods (3 charts), Lumber and Timber Measure,Surveying, Percentage, Commercial and Legal Forms, and Book Keeping. A variety of objects are shown.
The paper, cloth-backed charts are held together at the top by a piece of fabric that is tacked to a wooden backing. This backing slides into an oak case decorated with machine-made molding and panels. A mark on the case reads: This is the (/) Property of (/) F. C. Adams (/) Hillsboro N. H. (/) May 28 - 1902 (/) Loaned to (/) Miss L. Hany (?) (/) Teacher School Dist. No. 17. F.C. Adams is probably Freeman C. Adams (1845-1913) of Hillsborough and Manchester, N.H. This suggests that this particular example of Evans’ Arithmetical Study was used by a woman who taught at a school in New Hampshire.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1897
maker
R. O. Evans Company
ID Number
2009.0086.01
accession number
2009.0086
catalog number
2009.0086.01

Bruning 2090P Open Divided Scale

This white and orange plastic rule has scales for 1/2" and 1" to the foot along its top edge on the front side. Between these scales is a scale divided to 1/2", numbered from left to right by twos from 0 to 8, and numbered from right to left by ones from 0 to 4.
Description
This white and orange plastic rule has scales for 1/2" and 1" to the foot along its top edge on the front side. Between these scales is a scale divided to 1/2", numbered from left to right by twos from 0 to 8, and numbered from right to left by ones from 0 to 4. The bottom edge has scales for 1/8" and 1/4" to the foot. Between these scales is a scale divided to 1/8", numbered from left to right by fours from 0 to 44, and numbered from right to left by twos from 0 to 22. The top edge is marked: BRUNING 2090P. It is also marked: MADE IN U.S.A.
On the back, the top edge has scales for 3/8" and 3/4" to the foot. Between these scales is a scale divided to 3/8", numbered from left to right by twos from 0 to [1]2, and numbered from right to left by ones from 0 to 6. The bottom edge has scales for 1-1/2" and 3" to the foot. A brown leather sheath is marked: BRUNING.
Charles Bruning (1866–1931) was born in Denmark and immigrated to the United States. In Chicago during the 1890s, he became interested in the blue print business. In 1897, he set up his own blue printing company in Manhattan, which was incorporated as the New York Blue Print Paper Company in 1901. Around 1920 he purchased American Blue Print Company of Chicago, and the combined firms became known as the Charles Bruning Company, Inc.
By 1936, the firm was offering model 2090 in boxwood and with plastic edges over boxwood. It began to make the rule from molded plastic in 1948, but it did not give the rule model number 2090P until 1952, when the rule sold for $1.80. According to the donor, the instrument was used by her husband, the electrical engineer Robert H. Wieler (1923–1993). For other open divided or chain scales, see 1998.0032.08, 1981.0933.14, 1981.0933.15, and 1992.0433.04.
References: "Charles Bruning," New York Times (January 31, 1931), 14; Charles Bruning Company, Inc., General Catalog, 12th ed. (New York, 1936), 120; Charles Bruning Company, Inc., General Catalog, 14th ed. (New York, [1948]), 88; Charles Bruning Company, Inc., General Catalog, 15th ed. (Teterboro, N.J., and Chicago, 1952), 115; accession file.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1952
maker
Charles Bruning Company
ID Number
1998.0032.09
catalog number
1998.0032.09
accession number
1998.0332

Dietzgen 1298-B Blackboard Rule

This three-foot wooden rule was sold as part of a set of instruments for blackboard use. It is divided to 1/8" along one edge and numbered in red for feet and in black for inches.
Description
This three-foot wooden rule was sold as part of a set of instruments for blackboard use. It is divided to 1/8" along one edge and numbered in red for feet and in black for inches. A horizontal handle in the center of the rule assists with positioning it against the blackboard, and a round hole at the right end is for hanging the instrument. The lower right corner is marked: DIETZGEN (/) MADE IN U.S.A. (/) 1298-B.
The Eugene Dietzgen Company of Chicago began numbering its blackboard drawing instruments individually by 1910, when it priced the four pieces at $1.25 each or $5.00 for the set. However, through at least 1938, the handle on the ruler was shaped like a knob, not as a horizontal bar. For related object, see 1999.0117.02.
The instrument was used by Margaret G. Aldrich teaching mathematics at Montgomery College, established as Montgomery Junior College in Takoma Park, Maryland.
References: Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 7th ed. (Chicago, 1904), 151; Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 9th ed. (Chicago, 1910–1911), 194; Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 15th ed. (Chicago, 1938), 210.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1950
maker
Eugene Dietzgen Company
ID Number
1999.0160.01
catalog number
1999.0160.01
accession number
1999.0160

Comptometer Model W.M.

This full-keyboard non-printing adding machine is a relatively late example of the products of Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company of Chicago.
Description
This full-keyboard non-printing adding machine is a relatively late example of the products of Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company of Chicago. It has a gray-green metal case, a metal mechanism, and plastic keys.
The ten columns of color-coded green and white octagonal plastic keys have nine keys in each column. Complementary digits are indicated and the keys are alternately concave (odd digits) and flat (even digits). The key stems are flat and have no springs around them. The case slopes up toward the back, so that the amount of key stem that protrudes is the same for all digits. A row of subtraction buttons is below the number keys and a row of decimal markers is in front of it. Digits in the running total appear in a set of 11 windows in front of the keys. Digits in the total under columns of white keys are black, while result digits under columns of green keys are red. A red correction key to the right of the keyboard that releases the keyboard after a partial keystroke error has been corrected. A a metal zeroing lever also is right of the keyboard.
The serial number, stamped on the keyboard on the right at the front, is: W.M. (/) 446522. The front and back sides are marked: COMPTOMETER. Several dates are marked on the bottom of the machine with various initials. They include 8/17/45 and12-12-50. A metal plate attached to the bottom of the machine lists 33 patent numbers. Behind the keyboard is the mark: FELT & TARRANT MANUFACTURING CO. CHICAGO, USA.
The model M Comptometer was introduced in October of 1939, starting with serial number 400,001. By March 1947 some 64,500 of these machines had sold. The WM was a “War Model,” adjusted to conserve materials.
This example is from the collection of calculating machines assembled by Myron R. Smith.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1945
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1989.0325.04
maker number
W.M. 446522
catalog number
1989.0325.04
accession number
1989.0325

Dietzgen 1735 Maniphase Multiplex Vector Slide Rule

This two-sided, ten-inch wooden slide rule is coated with yellowed plastic and has metal endpieces. A glass indicator is cracked on both sides and has metal and black plastic edges marked: DIETZGEN.
Description
This two-sided, ten-inch wooden slide rule is coated with yellowed plastic and has metal endpieces. A glass indicator is cracked on both sides and has metal and black plastic edges marked: DIETZGEN. On one side, the base has L, LL1, DF, D, LL3, and LL2 scales, with CF, CIF, LCI, and C scales on the slide. The top of the base is marked in red: DIETZGEN MANIPHASE MULTIPLEX VECTOR TYPE LOG-LOG RULE CAT. NO. 1735.
On the other side, the base has LL0, LL00, A, D, Th, Sh2, and Sh1 scales, with B, T, ST, and S scales on the slide. The top of the base is marked: EUGENE DIETZGEN CO. PATS. 2,170,144 2,285,722 MADE IN U.S.A. 108821. The top edge of the rule is marked in script: Dom Petrone. The bottom edge is marked: DP.
An orange leather case is marked on the flap: K+E. The front of the case is marked: P. Inside the flap is marked: GWU (/) Gerald (/) PETRONE (/) U of Md (/) Easton MD (/) MIT (/) PETRONE, RA. Lines 1–3, 4–5, and 6–7 are each in different inks and handwriting.
The Eugene Dietzgen Company of Chicago offered model 1735 from 1941 to 1952. "Maniphase" refers to an arrangement of scales in which the company added K and CI scales to Mannheim rules; the word is printed on several slide rules sold by the Eugene Dietzgen Company. This rule is similar to 1986.0790.01, but it has hyperbolic tangent and sine scales on the back of the base instead of DI and K scales.
Three U.S. Naval Academy professors applied for the patents mentioned on this slide rule in 1937 and 1938. These patents dealt with arranging and coloring scales so that problems could be solved in the fewest steps; they were also cited on Keuffel & Esser slide rule models 4080 and 4801. (See 1992.0437.01, 2007.0181.01, MA.318482, MA.334387, 1990.0687.01, and 1986.0790.03.)
According to the donor, the rule was purchased by his uncle, Rocco Anthony Petrone (1926–2006), while he was studying for a master's degree in mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1950 and 1951. After graduation he developed rockets for the U.S. Army. From 1966 to 1975, Petrone held various leadership positions at NASA, including director of the Apollo program (1969–1973).
Petrone passed the slide rule on to his brother, Dominic J. Petrone, who earned a BS in electrical engineering from Union College in 1950. Dominic gave the rule to his son, Gerald Petrone, who studied engineering at George Washington University in 1969 and subsequently at the University of Maryland at College Park. Gerald broke the indicator and acquired the replacement now on the instrument. He then passed the instrument to his brother, donor David Petrone, who studied electrical engineering at UMCP from 1971 to 1974. At some point, the original case was also replaced with a case from Keuffel & Esser. Several of the Petrones who used the slide rule marked it or the case with their name or initials.
References: Bruce Babcock, "Dietzgen Catalog Matrix," Journal of the Oughtred Society 5, no. 2 (1996), http://sliderulemuseum.com/Manuals/Dietzgen_CatalogMatrix_BruceBabcock1996_chart.jpg; William K. Robinson, "Slide Rules with Hyperbolic Functions," Journal of the Oughtred Society 14, no. 1 (2005): 55–62; Robert Otnes, "Dietzgen Patents, Runners, and Log Log Scales," Journal of the Oughtred Society 5, no. 2 (1996): 45–48; Lyman M. Kells, Willis F. Kern, and James R. Bland, "Slide Rule" (U.S. Patent 2,170,144 issued August 22, 1939), and "Slide Rule" (U.S. Patent 2,285,722 issued June 9, 1942); accession file; "Candidates for Union College Degrees," Evening Recorder, Amsterdam, N.Y. (June 8, 1950), 5.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1950-1951
maker
Eugene Dietzgen Company
ID Number
2013.0040.01
accession number
2013.0040
catalog number
2013.0040.01

Comptometer Model K

This full keyboard non-printing adding machine has a brown metal frame and mechanism with plastic keys. The eight columns of color-coded green and white octagonal keys include nine keys in each column. Odd-numbered keys are concave, even-numbered ones flat.
Description
This full keyboard non-printing adding machine has a brown metal frame and mechanism with plastic keys. The eight columns of color-coded green and white octagonal keys include nine keys in each column. Odd-numbered keys are concave, even-numbered ones flat. Complementary digits are indicated. A row of subtraction levers is below the number keys. Digits in the running total appear in a set of nine windows in front of the keys. A red button is to the right of the keyboard releases the keyboard afer a partial keystroke error has been corrected. A metal zeroing lever is on the right side. A rubber cord attaches to the back. The on/off switch is on the front at the top right.
The machine is marked on the left corner of the top of the case: K350690. It is marked on the front and back sides: Comptometer.
According to “Date of Manufacturing by Serial Number. . .,” Lewiston, Idaho: Office Machine Americana, 2002 (relying on the NOMDA “Blue Book” for May, 1975), Felt & Tarrant introduced the Model K with serial number 350000 in 1934.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1934
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1989.0325.03
maker number
K350690
catalog number
1989.0325.03
accession number
1989.0325

Comptograph Model 3A

This full keyboard printing manually operated adding machine has a metal case painted black, and nine columns of black and white plastic keys, colored to represent cents, dollars up to 999 dollars, thousands of dollars up to 999,0000 dollars, and millions of dollars.
Description
This full keyboard printing manually operated adding machine has a metal case painted black, and nine columns of black and white plastic keys, colored to represent cents, dollars up to 999 dollars, thousands of dollars up to 999,0000 dollars, and millions of dollars. Complementary digits are indicated on the keys. A red button is at the base of each column of keys. In front of the keyboard is a row of nine number dials, covered with glass. At the front of the machine is a row of eight metal levers that may relate to subtraction. The total/error/normal, subtotal, and carriage lock levers are along the right of the machine, somewhat below the keyboard. A crank on the right operates the machine. The printing mechanism, wide black metal carriage, and serrated edge for tearing a paper tape are at the back. The machine is extremely heavy.
The machine is marked on the front: Comptograph (/) Co. (/) CHICAGO, U.S.A. It is marked on the back: MODEL 3A (/) PATENTED (/) NOV. 25. 1890. It is also marked there: NOV. 2. 1909. These are the first and last patent dates listed. It also is marked there: OTHER PATENTS PENDING. It is also marked there: PATTERN NO 16.
This model is from the collection of Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1910
maker
Comptograph Company
ID Number
MA.323635
catalog number
323635
accession number
250163

Comptometer Model E Section

This is a model of a section of a full-keyboard non-printing adding machine. There are four columns of keys. The rightmost column has nine octagonal white plastic keys. Left of this is a column with white 1, 8, and 9 keys.
Description
This is a model of a section of a full-keyboard non-printing adding machine. There are four columns of keys. The rightmost column has nine octagonal white plastic keys. Left of this is a column with white 1, 8, and 9 keys. Left of this is a column with black plastic 1 and 8 keys. The leftmost column has nine black keys. Keys for odd digits are concave, and those for even digits are flat. The three number wheels are at the front of the model, in front of the three rightmost columns of keys. The machine has a handle on the right.
The machine is stamped on the right side at the back: 54005. A metal tag attached behind the keys reads: TRADE COMPTOMETER MARK. It also reads: OCT.7.13
The sectional Model E Comptometer is made up of regular Model E production parts. It was made to be used to instruct adjusters and assemblers in the factory and servicemen in the Repairmen’s School and Sales Offices throughout the United States.
The machine came to the Smithsonian from the collections of Victor Comptometer Corporation, the successor firm to Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company.
Reference:
Accession Journal 1991.3107.06.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1913
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
MA.323641
accession number
250163
catalog number
323641

Sample of Plutonium-239

The discovery of nuclear fission in uranium, announced in 1939, allowed physicists to advance with confidence in the project of creating "trans-uranic" elements - artificial ones that would lie in the periodic table beyond uranium, the last and heaviest nucleus known in nature.
Description
The discovery of nuclear fission in uranium, announced in 1939, allowed physicists to advance with confidence in the project of creating "trans-uranic" elements - artificial ones that would lie in the periodic table beyond uranium, the last and heaviest nucleus known in nature. The technique was simply to bombard uranium with neutrons. Some of the uranium nuclei would undergo fission, newly understood phenomenon, and split violently into two pieces. In other cases, however, a uranium-238 nucleus (atomic number 92) would quietly absorb a neutron, becoming a nucleus of uranium-239, which in turn would soon give off a beta-particle and become what is now called neptunium-239 (atomic number 93). After another beta decay it would become Element 94 (now plutonium-239)
By the end of 1940, theoretical physicists had predicted that this last substance, like uranium, would undergo fission, and therefore might be used to make a nuclear reactor or bomb. Enrico Fermi asked Emilio Segre to use the powerful new 60-inch cyclotron at the University of California at Berkeley to bombard uranium with slow neutrons and create enough plutonium-239 to test it for fission. Segre teamed up with Glenn T. Seaborg, Joseph W. Kennedy, and Arthur C. Wahl in January 1941 and set to work.
They carried out the initial bombardment on March 3-6, then, using careful chemical techniques, isolated the tiny amount (half a microgram) of plutonium generated. They put it on a platinum disc, called "Sample A," and on March 28 bombarded it with slow neutrons to test for fission. As expected, it proved to be fissionable - even more than U-235. To allow for more accurate measurements, they purified Sample A and deposited it on another platinum disc, forming the "Sample B" here preserved. Measurements taken with it were reported in a paper submitted to the Physical Review on May 29, 1941, but kept secret until 1946. (The card in the lid of the box bears notes from a couple of months later.)
After the summer of 1941, this particular sample was put away and almost forgotten, but the research that began with it took off in a big way. Crash programs for the production and purification of plutonium began at Berkeley and Chicago, reactors to make plutonium were built at Hanford, Washington, and by 1945 the Manhattan Project had designed and built a plutonium atomic bomb. The first one was tested on July 16, 1945 in the world's first nuclear explosion, and the next was used in earnest over Nagasaki. (The Hiroshima bomb used U-235.)
Why is our plutonium sample in a cigar box? G.N. Lewis, a Berkeley chemist, was a great cigar smoker, and Seaborg, his assistant, made it a habit to grab his boxes as they became empty, to use for storing things. In this case, it was no doubt important to keep the plutonium undisturbed and uncontaminated, on the one hand, but also, on the other hand, to make it possible for its weak radiations to pass directly into instruments - not through the wall of some closed container. Such considerations, combined probably with an awareness of the historic importance of the sample, brought about the storage arrangement we see.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1941-05-21
Associated Date
1941-05-29
referenced
Segre, Emilio
Seaborg, Glenn T.
Kennedy, Joseph W.
Wahl, Arthur C.
Lewis, G. N.
University of California, Berkeley
maker
Segre, Emilio
Seaborg, Glenn
ID Number
EM.N-09384
catalog number
N-09384
accession number
272669

Mathematical Tables for Use with a Comptometer

The manufacture of computing devices has been associated with mathematical tables at least since the 17th century, when tables of logarithms were used in the manufacture of slide rules.
Description
The manufacture of computing devices has been associated with mathematical tables at least since the 17th century, when tables of logarithms were used in the manufacture of slide rules. In the mid-19th century, the need for new astronomical tables reportedly inspired the Englishman Charles Babbage to propose a difference engine, which was to print the tables it calculated. The Swedes Georg and Edvard Scheutz actually completed such a machine, and it was used to compute and print tables at the Dudley Observatory in Albany, New York.
The commercially successful adding and calculating machines introduced in the 19th and 20th centuries were used to produce a wide range of tables. At the same time, machine manufacturers supplied their customers with printed tables to assist in routine calculations. These often involved reducing non-metric measurements to decimal portions of a given unit, as these tables suggest.
These six tables, printed on cardboard, were produced for Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company of Chicago, manufacturers of an adding machine called the Comptometer. The copyright dates range from 1913 to 1925. All the tables have a photograph of a Comptometer in the upper left corner. Two show the hand and wrist of an operator wearing a suit (presumably a man), and two show the hand and wrist of an operator with a woman’s ring on her finger.
The first table, Felt & Tarrant’s Form No. 8, illustrates the enduring importance of nonmetric measures in American life. It assists in multiplying the number of lengths by a unit length in engineering calculations. The table gives 10, 100, and 1,000 times inches and fractions of an inch to eighths of an inch. Results are given in feet, inches, and fractions of an inch. The table has no copyright date.
The second table, Felt & Tarrant’s Form No. 36, was prepared by one U. S. Edgerton, the only author mentioned on the tables. It was copyrighted in 1913 and is for computing interest, insurance cancellation and discounts, with months and days expressed in decimal equivalents of a year. One side shows a year of twelve 30-day months (360 days total). The other side has a table for days only, that runs from 1 to 364.
The third table, copyrighted in 1914 and 1915, is Felt & Tarrant’s Form 38. It was designed for the textile industry. Entries allow one to reduce drams (of which there 16 to an ounce) and ounces (of which there are 16 to a pound) to decimal portions of a pound. The table has rows for 0 to 15 drams and columns for 0 to 15 ounces.
The fourth table, Felt & Tarrant’s Form 26, was copyrighted in 1917. It indicates the decimal part of a year represented by each date of the month.
The fifth table, Felt & Tarrant’s Form No. 368, shows the decimal equivalents of fractions from thirds to 26ths inclusive. It has no copyright date.
The final table, Felt & Tarrant’s Form No. 386, has measurements in inches, to eighths of an inch, given as decimal portions of a foot. Copyrighted in 1925, it assisted in calculations relating to lumber, steel beams, and angles.
For another table used with the Comptometer, see 2011.3049.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1913-1925
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1979.3074.09
nonaccession number
1979.3074
catalog number
1979.3074.09

Instruction Manual for Pickett & Eckel Log Log Trig Slide Rule

The citation information for this small 32-page booklet is: Maurice L. Hartung, How to Use the 300 Log Log Trig Pocket Slide Rule (Chicago: Pickett & Eckel, Inc., 1949).
Description
The citation information for this small 32-page booklet is: Maurice L. Hartung, How to Use the 300 Log Log Trig Pocket Slide Rule (Chicago: Pickett & Eckel, Inc., 1949). It provides general information on how to use slide rules, including the arithmetical operations, locating the decimal point, combining multiplication and division, using the folded scales, calculating roots, trigonometry, and vectors.
Model 300 was a six-inch, pocket-sized duplex slide rule and is not presently represented in the Smithsonian collections, although 1999.0096.01 is a ten-inch log log trig rule. Hartung was a University of Chicago professor who helped Pickett & Eckel market their products to schools and who wrote several instruction manuals for the company's slide rules. See 1979.0601.02.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1949
maker
Hartung, Maurice L.
ID Number
1979.0601.03
accession number
1979.0601
catalog number
1979.0601.03

Comptograph

This full-keyboard printing manual adding machine has a cherrywood case and eight columns of metal keys, with white discs set in the metal key tops. Digits and complements of digits are shown on the discs. Each column has nine keys, with a spring around each key stem.
Description
This full-keyboard printing manual adding machine has a cherrywood case and eight columns of metal keys, with white discs set in the metal key tops. Digits and complements of digits are shown on the discs. Each column has nine keys, with a spring around each key stem. The cover under the keys consists of wooden slats with holes drilled in them. Each column of keys has one slat. These are alternately of cherry and a lighter-colored wood. A shaped tin plate at the front has nine windows cut in it to show nine metal wheels that record totals. Eight levers above the dials serve as decimal markers. On the right side toward the front are a knob and a small lever. Depressing the lever allows one to turn the knob and zero the total.
To the right of the keyboard is a large button that advances the paper tape and may print the total. This tape and the mechanisms for printing the numbers entered and the totals are behind the keyboard. Apparently printed totals can have up to eight digits. The paper tape is set inside a cherrywood lid that folds down when the machine is not in use. A knob on the right side at the back advances the carriage when loading paper. Different widths of paper tape can be used and the tape position adjusted.
This machine is shown in Turck, p. 118. According to that reference, it was purchased and used for ten years by the Merchants and Manufacturers Bank of Pittsburgh, Pa., and presented by Felt to the National Museum. In fact, this machine did not come to the Museum until long after Felt’s death. The same picture is in the Accession Journal of the Felt & Tarrant Collection, with object #19. There is no indication there where this object was used.
Compare to MA.322454.
References:
J. A. V. Turck, Origin of Modern Calculating Machines, Chicago: Western Society of Engineers, 1921, pp. 116-120.
Felt & Tarrant, Accession Journal, 1991.3107.06.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1889
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
MA.323633
catalog number
323633
maker number
31
accession number
250163

Leaflet, Announcing the New Supertotalizer

This illustrated leaflet describes Felt and Tarrant's Supertotalizer. For an example of the machines, see 1982.0794.82.Marks on the cover indicate that the advertisement was distributed by A. E. Munroe of Bridgeport, Ct.., and New Haven, Ct.Currently not on view
Description
This illustrated leaflet describes Felt and Tarrant's Supertotalizer. For an example of the machines, see 1982.0794.82.
Marks on the cover indicate that the advertisement was distributed by A. E. Munroe of Bridgeport, Ct.., and New Haven, Ct.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1933
ID Number
1979.3074.11
nonaccession number
1979.3074
catalog number
1979.3074.11

Addometer

This eight-wheeled stylus-operated adding machine has metal wheels and frame. The wheels each have ten holes around the edge. The two rightmost are white, the next three are red, and the next three are white.
Description
This eight-wheeled stylus-operated adding machine has metal wheels and frame. The wheels each have ten holes around the edge. The two rightmost are white, the next three are red, and the next three are white. All the wheels are labeled around the outside with digits for use in subtraction and around the inside with digits for use in addition. A steel stylus and a clearing bar fit into the right side. The top edge of the instrument has an 11-inch scale of equal parts, divided to sixteenths of an inch. The machine was made by the Reliable Typewriter & Adding Machine Company of Chicago, Illinois.
The instrument was purchased by Smithsonian curator Audrey B. Davis from Greybird Enterprises in Taneytown, Md., in 1990 for $45.00.
For a related accession, see 2010.0214. For another Addometer, see 1996.0220.01
References:
Typewriter Topics, vol. 66, August, 1927, pp. 36-37 (announced as coming in September - $10.00).
Typewriter Topics, vol. 72, June, 1929, p. 29 (cost $15.00).
Office Appliances, vol. 87, January, 1948, p. 138, 182 (price $12.95).
Office Appliances, vol. 98, Oct., 1953, p. 233 (price $14.95). Accession file.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1950
maker
Reliable Typewriter & Adding Machine Corporation
ID Number
2010.0215.01
catalog number
2010.0215.01
accession number
2010.0215

Adding Machine Section, Comptometer Model E

This model of a section of a full-keyboard non-printing adding machine has two complete columns of keys and two partial columns. The partial columns are in the middle, and the total number of keys is 23.
Description
This model of a section of a full-keyboard non-printing adding machine has two complete columns of keys and two partial columns. The partial columns are in the middle, and the total number of keys is 23. The key tops in the two right columns are white, and those on the left are black. Complementary digits are indicated. The keys are alternately concave (odd digits) and flat (even digits). The model also includes a mechanism, numeral wheels, three result windows, and three decimal markers. It has a glass case with a wooden base. Subtraction levers are between the rows of keys and a zeroing lever is on the right. Just in back of the digit keys, on the right, is a white key with a shorter key stem.
The model has a metal tag in the back of the keyboard with a list of patent dates. The last date is OCT.7.13. Some images of the model whow it with the incorrect catalog number 273177 painted on the front.
This machine was given to the Smithsonian in 1914 by Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing company.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1913
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
MA.286083
catalog number
286083
accession number
57775

Baby Calculator Adder

The orange, black, and tan paper box contains a black and gold-colored metal instrument, instructions on pink paper, and a metal stylus.
Description
The orange, black, and tan paper box contains a black and gold-colored metal instrument, instructions on pink paper, and a metal stylus. The device has seven columns for addition.
The Baby Calculator was a handheld adder manufactured by the Calculator Machine Company of Chicago from at least 1925 into the 1940s. The Tavella Sales Company of New York City distributed this example. According to the box, it sold for $2.50 in the United States and $3.00 in Canada and other foreign countries. It has hooks at the top of each column for carrying in addition, but none at the bottom to assist in borrowing in subtraction.
References:
Typewriter Topics (March 1925), 59:76.
Popular Mechanics (January, 1935), p. 128A; vol. 73 (March, 1940), p. 143A; vol. 83 (February, 1945), p. 192. A new design was introduced in 1945. See Popular Mechanics, April, 1945, p. 202.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1925
distributor
Tavella Sales Company
maker
Calculator Machine Company
ID Number
MA.155183.27
catalog number
155183.27
accession number
155183

Cenco Gas Volume Reduction Circular Slide Rule

This yellow paper circular rule consists of two discs, one with a protruding tab for rotating the disc, held together with a metal grommet. The device reduces the observed volume of a gas to the corresponding volume under standard conditions (0°C, 760 mm pressure).
Description
This yellow paper circular rule consists of two discs, one with a protruding tab for rotating the disc, held together with a metal grommet. The device reduces the observed volume of a gas to the corresponding volume under standard conditions (0°C, 760 mm pressure). Scales for temperatures from 10 degrees to 35 degrees centigrade and for pressures from 700 to 790 mm run along the lower edge of the rule. Setting the device for an observed temperature and pressure reveals a volume factor and the logarithm of the volume factor in the lower interior of the instrument. The factor is multiplied by the observed volume on the scale along the upper edge of the instrument to arrive at the reduced volume.
The instrument is marked: CentralScientificCo. (/) CENCO (/) CHICAGO U.S.A. (/) GAS VOLUME REDUCTION CHART. It is also marked: Copyrighted 1921, by Central Scientific Co. An advertisement for the "new rotary CENCO hyvac pump," available from Central Scientific's Bulletin No. 92, appears on the back of the device. For another instrument made by Central Scientific Co., see 1982.0147.02.
The front of the instrument indicates that Prof. E. M. Jones of Adrian College in Adrian, Mich., proposed its design. Jones also wrote "Laboratory Versus Recitation," School Science and Mathematics 8 (1923): 749–759. In 1920, he was appointed to the city of Adrian's first water board.
Reference: "Adrian H2O: Over One Hundred Years," http://www.ci.adrian.mi.us/Services/Utilities/History.aspx.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1921
maker
Central Scientific Company
ID Number
1979.3074.02
nonaccession number
1979.3074
catalog number
1979.3074.02

Comptograph

After Dorr E Felt invented and began to sell successfully a key-driven adding machine known as the Comptometer, he designed a printing adding machine dubbed the Comptograph.
Description
After Dorr E Felt invented and began to sell successfully a key-driven adding machine known as the Comptometer, he designed a printing adding machine dubbed the Comptograph. This example has a cherrywood case and eight columns of metal key stems, with turquoise and white color-coded discs set in the metal key tops. Digits and complements of digits are shown on the discs. Each column has nine keys. The cover under the keys consists of metal slats with holes drilled in them, with one slat for each column of keys. A glass window at the front shows nine metal wheels that record totals.
On the right side toward the front are a knob and a lever. Depressing the lever allows one to turn the knob and zero the total. Immediately to the right of the keyboard is a small lever, which is pushed up to release the keys. Further to the right are two large buttons attached to levers. When the button at the right back is depressed, the carriage moves to a new column. The other button on the right may advance the paper. To the left at the front is another large button on a straight shaft (depressing this button probably is intended to print totals or subtotals). At the back of the machine is a wide carriage, the printing mechanism for the adding machine, and a ribbon. This mechanism prints eight-digit entries and totals. A bell on top of each of the spools for the ribbon rings to warn that the ribbon is almost unwound.
The machine is stamped on the front below the glass window: 1902. It is marked on a metal plate screwed to the right side: MODEL A No 1902 (/) PATENTED. It is also marked there: MAR. 11. 1902. It is also marked there: OTHER PATENTS PENDING. (/) COMPTOGRAPH CO. (/) CHICAGO, U.S.A.
The coloring of the keys resembles that on the Comptometer with catalog number MA.248688, which dates from 1898, and the Comptograph with typewriter MA.323636. The Accession Journal dates this machine to 1900, but the tag screwed to the machine indicates a slightly later date.
References:
Felt & Tarrant, Accession Journal, 1991.3107.06.
Pamphlet 1994.3060.05.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1900
maker
Comptograph Company
ID Number
MA.323632
catalog number
323632
maker number
1902
accession number
250163

Fowler Adder Patent Model

Some 19th-century Americans earned their keep as inventors and patent agents. One of them was George B. Fowler, inventor of this adder.This U.S. patent model has a wooden frame with slots for eight sliding bars.
Description
Some 19th-century Americans earned their keep as inventors and patent agents. One of them was George B. Fowler, inventor of this adder.
This U.S. patent model has a wooden frame with slots for eight sliding bars. The frame is covered on the left and the right with black zinc plates. These hold the bars in place and also fold over the left and right edges of the device to form the sides. Each bar has a series of regularly spaced holes. The wooden pieces that form the slots are stamped from right to left 1 to 9. Numbers are entered by moving the bars from left to right. Totals are visible on the back of the device. There is no carry mechanism.
According to U.S. Census records, Fowler was born in Long Island in about 1834 or 1835. In 1863, when he patented this device, he listed himself as a resident of Chicago, Illinois. By 1864 he had settled in New York City, and at the end of the decade he was a patent agent in Brooklyn.
This small adder, patented July 14, 1863, was the subject of Fowler’s first patent (#39222). He went on to patent a variety of other devices, including a clothes and hat hook (#40923, December 15, 1863), wood-splitters (#53289, March 20, 1866), a game-box for ten-pins (#107030, September 6, 1870), a wagon-jack (#113285, April 4, 1871), an eggbeater and mixer (#256310, April 11, 1882), a picture cord and hook hanger (#357312, February 8, 1887), and an improved version of his adder (#432266, July 15, 1890).
Production models of Fowler’s instrument survive. Fowler charged $5.00 for the adder. He garnered testimonials from lumber dealers, bookkeepers, and insurance companies, and publicized the instrument in at least one circular and in Scientific American. Correspondence from 1863 suggests that Fowler hoped to find agents who would pay substantial sums to market his machine, but there is no indication that this occurred.
References: U.S. Patent 39,222, July 14, 1863.
Robert B. Otnes, “Sliding Bar Calculators,” ETCetera, #11, June, 1990, p. 7.
P. Kidwell, “Adders Made and Used in the United States,” Rittenhouse, May, 1994, p. 80.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1863
patentee
Fowler, George B.
maker
Fowler, George B.
ID Number
MA.252688
catalog number
252688
accession number
49064

Pamphlet, Directions for Operating the Comptograph

This pamphlet gives instructions for operating the wooden box version of a printing adding machine known as the Comptograph. The document was received with a later model of a related machine known as the Comptometer (see MA.335357).Reference:P. A.
Description
This pamphlet gives instructions for operating the wooden box version of a printing adding machine known as the Comptograph. The document was received with a later model of a related machine known as the Comptometer (see MA.335357).
Reference:
P. A. Kidwell, “American Scientists and Calculating Machines: From Novelty to Commonplace,” Annals of the History of Computing, 12, 1990, pp. 31-40.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
maker
Felt & Tarrant Mfg. Co.
ID Number
MA.304826.136
accession number
304826
catalog number
304826.136

Comptograph

This printing key-driven adding machine machine has a cherry case, a steel mechanism, steel keys with German silver and plastic key tops, and steel dials at the front that record the result. The eight columns of keys have nine keys in each column.
Description
This printing key-driven adding machine machine has a cherry case, a steel mechanism, steel keys with German silver and plastic key tops, and steel dials at the front that record the result. The eight columns of keys have nine keys in each column. The celluloid discs in the key tops are color-coded for cents (the two rightmost columns that are white), dollars to hundreds of dollars (the three middle columns that are turquoise), and thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars (the two leftmost columns that are white). Complementary digits are indicated on the discs. Nine numeral dials show the result through a single glass window in a metal piece at the front of the machine. A zeroing knob with lever is on the right side at the front. The printing mechanism is at the back, with a roll of paper tape above it. The paper tape is held down by a heavy curved wire. The wooden container for the paper tape folds down, covering the printing mechanism for transfer.
The machine has serial number 189, indicated at the center of the machine in front of the numeral wheels. It is marked on a metal tag on the right side of the machine: COMPTOGRAPH (/) PATENTED (/) JULY. 19. 87. 366945 [. . .] NOV. 25 90. 441,233 (/) FELT & TARRANT MFG. CO. (/) 52-53 ILLINOIS ST. (/) CHICAGO. The patent numbers and patent dates given are the first and last of those listed.
This device is from the collection of Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company, as passed down to Victor Comptometer Corporation. It is described as #18 in that collection, an “improved narrow printing comptograph.”
References:
U.S. Patents 568020 and 568021.
Accession Journal 1991.3107.06.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
MA.323634
catalog number
323634
maker number
189
accession number
250163

Chicago Stamping Co. Combination Rule and Paper Cutter, Advertising The Hartford Insurance Co.

This convex orange-coated tin combination rule and paper cutter has a 9" scale divided to sixteenths of an inch along one long edge. The other long edge is shaped into a tube, which may serve as a handle while cutting or tearing paper.
Description
This convex orange-coated tin combination rule and paper cutter has a 9" scale divided to sixteenths of an inch along one long edge. The other long edge is shaped into a tube, which may serve as a handle while cutting or tearing paper. A small hole at the right end may be for hanging the rule. The rule is marked: Compliments (/) of (/) THE HARTFORD FIRE INS. Co. (/) HARTFORD, CONN. The company's logo of a stag appears between the words "HARTFORD" and "FIRE." The tube notes that the company had paid $33,000,00 for claims in New York City in 1835, Nantucket, Mass., in 1846, St. Louis, Mo., in 1849, Portland, Me., in 1866, Chicago in 1871, Boston in 1872, and St. John, New Brunswick, "and other places" in 1877. These were all historic destructive fires. The back of the rule is marked: AGENCIES IN ALL CITIES AND TOWNS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY (/) Commenced Buisness 1794 • Charter Perpetual (/) The Chicago Stamping Co. Combination Rule and Paper Cutter. Patent Sept. 8th 1885. Hartford Fire Ins. Co. Sole Owner and Manufacturer. All Infringements prosecuted.
Richard S. Thain (1845–1912) received the patent mentioned on the instrument. He fought for the Union in the Civil War, was advertising manager of a Chicago publication, Western Rural, and organized an advertising firm with George W. Sharp in 1868. He spent some time in New York City after the Chicago fire of 1871. From 1882 to 1889, he worked for a Chicago advertising agency, Lord & Thomas. Another ruler made from Thain's design is 293320.2815.
The Chicago Stamping Company was in business from at least as early as 1868 to at least as late as 1911. The firm made enameled cylindrical tin containers, such as milk and trash cans; published sheet music and stationery items; and manufactured the United States Wheel brand of bicycles. Although text on the rule says The Hartford started selling fire insurance in 1794, the history on the company's website indicates it was not incorporated until May 10, 1810. The firm adopted its stag logo in 1875. As of 2013, it was one of the biggest insurance companies worldwide.
References: Richard S. Thain, "Combination Ruler and Paper Cutter" (U.S. Patent 325,992 issued September 8, 1885); "Men of the Ninety-sixth Regiment with Millburn Connections," excerpted from Charles A. Partridge, ed., History of the Ninety-Sixth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry (Chicago, 1887), Historic Millburn Community Association, http://www.hmca-il.org/k6men.htm; "The Hartford's Historical Timeline," http://www.thehartford.com/about/.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
distributor
Hartford Fire Insurance Company
maker
Chicago Stamping Company
ID Number
MA.293320.2814
accession number
293320
catalog number
293320.2814

Comptometer Model C

This key-driven non-printing adding machine has ten columns of black and white color-coded keys. Complementary digits are indicated and the keys are alternately concave (odd digits) and flat (even digits). The key stems become progressively longer as the digits are larger.
Description
This key-driven non-printing adding machine has ten columns of black and white color-coded keys. Complementary digits are indicated and the keys are alternately concave (odd digits) and flat (even digits). The key stems become progressively longer as the digits are larger. There are subtraction levers and decimal markers (unnumbered) in front of the keys. In front of these is a row of 11 windows in the brown steel case that reveals the result on numeral wheels below.
The machine has serial number 36372, which is indicated on the front to the left of the keys. It is marked on a metal tag screwed to the top of the machine: TRADE COMPTOMETER MARK (/) PAT’D [. . .] JUL.14.03 (/) Felt & Tarrant Mfg. Co. (/) Chicago. The date listed is the last of several patent dates on this tag.
The model C Comptometer went on the market in 1909. This example was first used at a commercial bank in Westfield, Massachusetts. In about 1950, it was given to Harry Rapp, on of the bank directors, as a relic. He in turn gave it to Judith Lowell in about 1965. She put it to use in the office of her husband, the physician Milton Lowell of Potsdam, New York, even though the Lowells already had a more recent printing machine. Not long after Dr. Lowell retired in 1984, the couple gave the Comptometer to the Smithsonian.
References:
U.S. Patent #960528
J. H. McCarthy, The American Digest of Business Machines, Chicago: American Exchange Service, 1924, p. 548.
Accession File.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1910
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1985.0120.01
catalog number
1985.0120.01
maker number
36372
accession number
1985.0120

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