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: United States

Engraved woodblock of a "Bird's-eye view of the Grand Canyon"

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

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

Geometric Model by A. Harry Wheeler, Polar Spherical Triangles

This cut and folded paper model is one of several in which A. Harry Wheeler illustrated properties of polar spherical triangles. A sticker on it reads: PT*. One polar triangle is inside the other. The vertices are unlabeled.
Description
This cut and folded paper model is one of several in which A. Harry Wheeler illustrated properties of polar spherical triangles. A sticker on it reads: PT*. One polar triangle is inside the other. The vertices are unlabeled. The model is undated and has no Wheeler number.
For a discussion of polar triangles, see MA.304723.159. Compare MA.304723.491, MA.304723.516, and MA.304723.521.
For pattern see 1979.3002.087.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Wheeler, Albert Harry
ID Number
MA.304723.664
accession number
304723
catalog number
304723.664

Geometric Model by A. Harry Wheeler, Three Irregular Dodecahedra in a Ring

This cut, folded and glued tan paper model consists of three irregular faceted dodecahedra grlued together to form a fing. A mark on the object reads: Aug. 27, 1936 (/) Aug 28 1936..Currently not on view
Description
This cut, folded and glued tan paper model consists of three irregular faceted dodecahedra grlued together to form a fing. A mark on the object reads: Aug. 27, 1936 (/) Aug 28 1936..
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1936 08 27
maker
Wheeler, Albert Harry
ID Number
MA.304723.533
accession number
304723
catalog number
304723.533

Engraved woodblock of "Bringing down the batten"

This engraved woodblock of “Bringing down the batten” was prepared, after a photograph, by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Plate XXXVIII (p.390) in an article by Dr.
Description
This engraved woodblock of “Bringing down the batten” was prepared, after a photograph, by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Plate XXXVIII (p.390) in an article by Dr. Washington Matthews (1843-1905) entitled “Navajo Weavers” in the Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1881-82.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1884
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
author
Matthews, Washington
Powell, John Wesley
block maker
A. P. J. & Co.
ID Number
1980.0219.1365
catalog number
1980.0219.1365
accession number
1980.0219

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

Engraved woodblock of "Weaving diamond-shaped diagonals"

This engraved woodblock of “Weaving diamond-shaped diagonals” was prepared, after a photograph, by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Plate XXXV (p.380) in an article by Dr.
Description
This engraved woodblock of “Weaving diamond-shaped diagonals” was prepared, after a photograph, by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Plate XXXV (p.380) in an article by Dr. Washington Matthews (1843-1905) entitled “Navajo Weavers” in the Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1881-82.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1884
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
author
Matthews, Washington
block maker
W. T. & B.
ID Number
1980.0219.1359
catalog number
1980.0219.1359
accession number
1980.0219

Dalton Super Model Adding Machine

This ten-key printing manual adding machine has a steel frame painted black and ten white plastic number keys in two rows. Complementary red digits on the number keys are for subtraction. Right of the number keys are non-add and multiply keys.
Description
This ten-key printing manual adding machine has a steel frame painted black and ten white plastic number keys in two rows. Complementary red digits on the number keys are for subtraction. Right of the number keys are non-add and multiply keys. To the left are a tabulating key (used for automatic carriage shifting in double column work), a subtract key,and a back space key. Above the keyboard is a place indicator for up to 13 places. Left of this is a correction bar to clear entries. Total, subtotal, and release keys are mounted above and to the right. One lever that may be set on “HAND” or “MOTOR”, another for split or normal addition.
A silver-colored metal window is above the keyboard, with printing mechanism and non-print key behind. The red and black ribbon moves in front of the 9” carriage. This carriage has a bell on the left side. The paper tape holder and paper tape are behind the carriage. The metal handle is on the right. It has a wooden knob once covered with plastic. Metal clips placed in the back of the carriage set the tab stops. One clip has detached from the carriage. Printing is either single or double-spaced.
The machine is marked on the front: DALTON (/) CINCINNATI, OHIO. (/) U.S.A. It is marked on the carriage: Dalton (/) ADDING, (/) LISTING AND (/) CALCULATING MACHINE. The serial number, on a tag on the right side under the handle, is: 2-102212.
Reference:
J. H. McCarthy, The American Digest of Business Machines, Chicago: American Exchange Service, 1924, pp. 40, 536.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1921
maker
Dalton Adding Machine Company
ID Number
1986.0977.01
maker number
2-102212
accession number
1986.0977
catalog number
1986.0977.01

Microscope

This is a low-power brass microscope with lens holder, stage, sub-stage mirror, and cylindrical stand. It fits into and stands on a small leather-covered box. Robert Bancks (or Banks), a mathematical and optical instrument maker in London, designed the form around 1830.
Description
This is a low-power brass microscope with lens holder, stage, sub-stage mirror, and cylindrical stand. It fits into and stands on a small leather-covered box. Robert Bancks (or Banks), a mathematical and optical instrument maker in London, designed the form around 1830. This example was collected by Richard Halsted Ward (1837-1917), a noted medical microscopist, or his son, Henry B. Ward, a early parasitologist. The “Bate / LONDON” inscription on the stage refers to Robert Brettell Bate.
Ref: Brian J. Ford, “Charles Darwin and Robert Brown—their microscopes and the microscopic image,” infocus (Sept. 15, 2009): 19-28.
Anita McConnell, R. B. Bate of the Poultry, 1782-1847: The Life and Times of a Scientific Instrument Maker (London, 1993).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1830-1847
maker
Bate, Robert Brettell
ID Number
MG.M-09731
accession number
174919
catalog number
M-9731

Grant Calculating Machine, Centennial Model

In 1876 the Massachusetts inventor and entrepreneur George B.
Description
In 1876 the Massachusetts inventor and entrepreneur George B. Grant displayed a calculating machine similar to this one, as well as a difference engine of his design, at the Centennial Exhibition, a world’s fair held in Philadelphia.
The barrel-type, non-printing machine has a rectangular wooden base, cut out to allow for the motion of a set of wheels that rotates on a shaft near the bottom. This shaft is linked to a larger upper cylinder by gears so that the wheels and the cylinder turn simultaneously when a handle at the right end of the upper cylinder is rotated. The frame for the instrument consists of hollow discs at opposite ends of the base, which are connected to the two shafts already mentioned, and a third shaft which carries a set of eighteen spring claws that link to the gears of the wheels.
Part of the upper cylinder has a metal collar that can be set at any of eight positions on the cylinder with a locking pin. This collar supports eight movable rings. Each ring has an adding pin and a stud on it which may be set at any of ten positions, labeled by the digits from 0 to 9. The lower cylinder has one group of ten recording wheels on it, each provided with thirty teeth. The digits from 0 to 9 are stamped three times around each recording wheel. The spring claws fit the gears of the first set of recording wheels. If a claw is pushed down, it engages the gear of a recording wheel, causing it to rotate. Studs on the wheel lead to carrying by engaging the next claw over. A second group of eight recording wheels, each wheel having thirty teeth, counts turns of the handle, recording the multiplier. These wheels are not shown on cuts of the machine shown at the Centennial.
A flat disk at the end of a lever on the left side serves as a brake on the operating wheels, indicating when the operating crank has been turned through one revolution.
A mark inscribed on the disc on the left side reads: PATENTED (/) JULY 16 1872 APRIL 29 1873 (/) GEO.B.GRANT. A mark inscribed on the top of that ring reads: 12 (/) 77
Compare MA.310645. It has longer cylinders and no mechanism for recording the multiplier. For a related, later U S. patent model, see MA.311940.
References:
George B. Grant, “Improvement in Calculating Machines,” U.S. Patent 138245 (April 29, 1873).
George B. Grant, "Improvement in Calculating-Machine," U.S. Patent 129,335 (July 18, 1872).
George B. Grant, “On a New Difference Engine,” American Journal of Science, ser. 3, vol. 1 (August 1871), pp. 113–118.
George B. Grant, “A New Calculating Machine,” American Journal of Science, ser. 3, vol. 8 (1874), pp. 277–284.
L. Leland Locke, “George Barnard Grant,” Dictionary of American Biography, vol. 7, New York: Scribners, 1931, pp. 487–488.
Robert K. Otnes, “Calculators by George B. Grant,” Historische Buerowelt, no. 19, October 1987, pp. 15–17.
Accession files 118852 and 155183.
George B. Grant, “The Calculating Machine,” Boston: Albert J. Wright, Printer, 1878.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1877
maker
Grant, George B.
ID Number
2016.0165.01
accession number
2016.0165
catalog number
2016.0165.01

Dalton E-6B Dead Reckoning Computer by Jeppesen

In this instrument a white rectangular plastic sheet slides between two white discs that are held together with black plastic bars and metal grommets.
Description
In this instrument a white rectangular plastic sheet slides between two white discs that are held together with black plastic bars and metal grommets. The sheet is marked in green on both sides, with a polar grid and rectangular grid on one side and a polar grid on the other side. The front disc has scales for altitude computations at the top and for air speed computations at the bottom. The back disc has a scale to correct direction readings for wind and a scale for converting temperature readings from degrees Centigrade to Fahrenheit. The center of the back disc is clear for viewing the grid. A salmon plastic sheath stores the instrument.
The device is marked on the front: DALTON DEAD RECKONING COMPUTER (/) TYPE E-6B. It also is marked: WEEMS SYSTEM OF NAVIGATION (/) (A DIVISION OF JEPPESEN & CO.) (/) DENVER, COLORADO; PAT. NO. 2,097,118. The grid is marked in pencil: FL[IGH]T OFF COURSE (/) 2 MILES/SQUARE. The back of the disc is also marked in pencil. The three lines in the clear part of the disc are illegible, but below the temperature conversion scale, the marks read: 3.5° F/1000'. A ring at the top of one black plastic bar is marked: U.S. PAT. 3,112,875.
Naval Reserve pilot Philip Dalton, in consultation with navigation instructor Philip Van Horn Weems, developed the Dalton dead reckoning computer for the U.S. Army Air Corps and received a patent in 1937. The device was widely used during World War II.
After the war, many manufacturers in the United States and Europe made the E-6B. Elrey Borge Jeppesen, a pilot for what became United Airlines, founded his company in 1934 and moved it to Denver in 1941. Jeppesen & Co. made aeronautical charts and navigational tools and guides. It became a subsidiary of Boeing in 2000. The patent number on the back of this object refers to the design of the computer with the gridded rectangular sheet and two discs. The patentees were employed by Felsenthal Instruments Co., which frequently supplied companies with the plastic for manufacturing Dalton computers in the 1950s and 1960s.
The donor purchased this object around 1965 and used it for about two years in airplane navigation.
References:
Paul McConnell, "Some Early Computers for Aviators," Annals of the History of Computing 13, no. 2 (1991): 155–177, on 156. Philip Dalton, "Plotting and Computing Device" (U.S. Patent 2,097,116 issued October 26, 1937).
Ben Van Caro and Burton L. Fredriksen, "Computer Slide Construction" (U.S. Patent 3,112,875 issued December 3, 1963). "E6B," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E6B.
"Jeppesen," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeppesen.
"On the Beam," advertisement for Dalton Dead Reckoning Computer, Felsenthal Plastics, Flying 35, no. 2 (August 1944): 10.
Paul Sanik, "U.S. Army Air Corps Aerial Dead Reckoning type E-6B," Journal of the Oughtred Society 6, no. 2 (1997): 32–34 .
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1960s
maker
Jeppesen & Co.
ID Number
1995.0087.03
accession number
1995.0087
catalog number
1995.0087.03

Keuffel & Esser 4012 Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rule

The brass core of this cylindrical slide rule is covered with paper marked with forty A scales. The core fits in an open rotating frame that holds twenty metal slats; each slat is lined with cloth, covered with paper, and marked with two B and two C scales.
Description
The brass core of this cylindrical slide rule is covered with paper marked with forty A scales. The core fits in an open rotating frame that holds twenty metal slats; each slat is lined with cloth, covered with paper, and marked with two B and two C scales. Wooden knobs on each end of the core rotate the instrument. The frame is attached to a mahogany base.
The first A scale runs from 100 to 112; the fortieth runs from 946 to 100 to 105. The first B scale runs from 100 to 112, the last from 946 to 100 to 105. The first C scale runs from 100 to 334, the last from 308 to 305. The paper covering the core is also printed in italics on the right side: Made by Keuffel & Esser Co., New York; Patented by Edwin Thatcher [sic], C.E. Nov. 1st., 1881.
A paper of instructions and rules for operating THACHER'S CALCULATING INSTRUMENT is glued to the top front of the base. The top back of the base is stamped: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. (encircling N.Y.); 4012 (/) 4917; TRADEMARK (below the K&E logo of a lion).
The instrument is stored in a mahogany rectangular case. A square off-white label inside the lid is printed: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. (/) NEW YORK HOBOKEN, N.J. (/) CHICAGO ST. LOUIS SAN FRANCISCO MONTREAL (/) DRAWING MATERIALS, SURVEYING INSTRUMENTS (/) MEASURING TAPES (/) No. 4012 (/) SERIAL 4917.
Keuffel & Esser sold versions of the Thacher cylindrical slide rule from about 1883 until about 1950. There were two models, one with a magnifying glass (K&E model 1741 before 1900, K&E model 4013 after) and one without (K&E model 1740 before 1900, K&E model 4012 after). This is a model 4012; the serial number suggests it was manufactured around 1920. Model 4012 sold for $35.00 in 1916, $60.00 in 1922, and $70.00 in 1927.
The National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology) declared this object excess property and transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1965. In 1968, the Department of Commerce borrowed the slide rule to exhibit in the U.S. Pavilion at HemisFair, an international exposition held in San Antonio, Tex. According to the accession file, a staffer replaced four missing screws on the base before returning the rule.
See also MA.312866; MA.323504; and MA.322730.
References: Wayne E. Feely, "Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rules," The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association 50 (1997): 125–127; Keuffel & Esser Co., Slide Rules and Calculating Instruments (New York, 1916), 22; Keuffel & Esser Co., Slide Rules and Calculating Instruments (New York, 1922), 21; Keuffel & Esser Co., Slide Rules and Calculating Instruments (New York, 1927), 20.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
maker
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
MA.326628
accession number
261654
maker number
4917
catalog number
326628

Box with Sheet, for Log Log Magnifier Slide Rule

By the 1960s, when this cardboard box was made, slide rules were an established symbol of the technical education of young Americans. They came with considerable packaging – not only a leather or plastic case but a set of instructions and a guarantee.
Description
By the 1960s, when this cardboard box was made, slide rules were an established symbol of the technical education of young Americans. They came with considerable packaging – not only a leather or plastic case but a set of instructions and a guarantee. This box, made by the American firm of Pickett, was designed for the company’s model N4M-ES slide rule. The N indicates that the cursor was nylon, the M that it magnified the portion of the scales below it, and the ES that it was in “eye saver” yellow rather than the more usual white. The box also holds a guarantee – but no slide rule or case.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1965
maker
Pickett Industries
ID Number
1995.3023.07
nonaccession number
1995.3023
catalog number
1995.3023.07

Geometric Model by A. Harry Wheeler, Base of a Regular Tetrahedron

With MA304723.642, this paper model forms a regular tetrahedron.Currently not on view
Description
With MA304723.642, this paper model forms a regular tetrahedron.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Wheeler, Albert Harry
ID Number
MA.304723.679
accession number
304723
catalog number
304723.679

Bouchet Adding Machine

This is the second form of the key-driven adding machine patented by Michael Bouchet (1827-1903), a French-born Catholic priest who came to the United states in 1853 and worked in Louisville, Kentucky, from 1860.
Description
This is the second form of the key-driven adding machine patented by Michael Bouchet (1827-1903), a French-born Catholic priest who came to the United states in 1853 and worked in Louisville, Kentucky, from 1860. Bouchet was of an inventive turn of mind, devising automatic snakes to frighten his acolytes, and a folding bed and fire escape for his own use. He had considerable responsibility for the financial affairs of his diocese and, according to his biographer, as early as the 1860s invented an adding machine to assist in keeping these accounts. Of these devices, Bouchet patented only later versions of the adding machine, taking out patents in 1882 and in 1885.
The machine added single columns of digits. Depressing a key depressed a lever and raised a curved bar with teeth on the inside of it. The teeth on the bar engaged a toothed pinion at the back of the machine, rotating it forward in proportion to the digit entered. A wheel at the left end of the roller turned forward, recording the entry. A pawl and spring then disengaged the curved bar, preventing the roller and recording bar from turning back again once the key was released. Two additional wheels to the left of the first one were used in carrying to the tens and hundreds places, so that the machine could record totals up to 99. Left of the wheels was a lever-driven tack and pinion zeroing mechanism.
This example of the machine has a tin cover and a brass base and nine key stems arranged in two rows (the keys are missing). It was the gift of Mrs. Joseph S. McCoy, widow of Joseph S. McCoy, Actuary of the U.S. Treasury from 1889 until his death in 1931. McCoy and his predecessor, Ezekial Brown Elliott, were most open to inventions in adding machines. According to one of McCoy’s colleagues, the Bouchet machine was left in the office by the inventor in the year 1890 or thereabouts to be tried out. Bouchet did not return.
This machine has serial number 960. Compare to 323620.
References:
Michael Bouchet, “Adding Machine,” U.S. Patent 251823, January 3, 1882.
Michael Bouchet, “ “Adding Machine,” U.S. Patent 314561, March 31, 1885.
Dan Walsh, Jr., The Stranger in the City, Louisville, Ky.: Hammer Printing Co., 1913, esp. pp. 49-70.
Accession File.
“Joseph Sylvester McCoy,” National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 24: p. 382.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1885
maker
Bouchet, Michael
ID Number
MA.310230
maker number
960
accession number
113246
catalog number
316230

Keuffel & Esser 1740 Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rule

This paper, brass, and wood cylindrical slide rule has 20 sets of A, B, and C scales, with each set 47 cm in length.
Description
This paper, brass, and wood cylindrical slide rule has 20 sets of A, B, and C scales, with each set 47 cm in length. The scales are printed on paper that is glued around a sliding brass drum (with wooden handles) and on brass slats that are attached to a round brass frame on either end. The frame is screwed to a wooden base. A sheet of instructions for THACHER'S CALCULATING INSTRUMENT is glued along the top front of the base.
The right side of the paper on the drum is marked in italics: Patented by Edwin Thatcher [sic], C.E. Nov. 1st 1881. Divided by W. F. Stanley, London, 1882. Made by Keuffel & Esser Co. N.Y. A small silver metal tag affixed to the front right of the base is engraved: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. (/) NEW-YORK (/) 663. Wayne Feely has suggested that K&E began manufacturing (as opposed to simply distributing) Thacher cylindrical slide rules in 1887, indicating 1887 is the earliest date for this example of the instrument. The latest date for the instrument is 1900, because K&E changed the design of the brass frame at that time.
The object is contained in a wooden case that bears no identifying marks. According to the accession file, the rule was found in a Smithsonian collections storage locker in the Arts & Industries Building about 1964.
See also MA.312866.
Reference: Wayne E. Feely, "Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rules," The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association 50 (1997): 125–127
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1887-1900
maker
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
1987.0107.08
catalog number
1987.0107.08
accession number
1987.0107

Calcumeter

This eight-wheeled stylus operated non-printing adding machine has wheels of brass and copper and a steel frame. Two metal supports on the back can be lowered so that the machine is at an angle rather than lying flat. The machine is marked on the front: THE CALCUMETER.
Description
This eight-wheeled stylus operated non-printing adding machine has wheels of brass and copper and a steel frame. Two metal supports on the back can be lowered so that the machine is at an angle rather than lying flat. The machine is marked on the front: THE CALCUMETER. It is marked on the right side: H.N.MORSE (/) TRENTON,N.J. It is marked on the left: 18143 (/) PAT’D DEC 17 ‘01. This is number 38 in the Felt & Tarrant collection.
The Calcumeter was invented by James J. Walsh of Elizabeth, N.J. who applied for a patent January 16, 1901, and was granted it December 17, 1901 (U.S. Patent 689,225). Walsh went on to patent a resetting device for the machine on September 1, 1908 (U.S. Patent #897,688). This example of the machine does not have that mechanism. The instrument was first manufactured by Morse & Walsh Company in 1903 and 1904, but by 1906 was produced by Herbert North Morse of Trenton. Morse was a native of New Jersey who attended the South Jersey Institute in Bridgeton, N.J. and then spent a year at Harvard College. By 1916, he not only owned the Calcumeter adding machine business, but was assistant commissioner of education for the state of New Jersey.
Compare MA.335352.
Reference:
Harvard College Class of 1896, "Report V," June, 1916, Norwood, Massachusetts: Plimpton Press, p. 192.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1901
maker
Morse, H. N.
ID Number
MA.323622
accession number
250163
catalog number
323622

Burroughs Adding Machine

This full-keyboard printing electric adding machine adds numbers with as many as 13 digits and prints 13-digit results. It is tan and brown and has 13 columns of square plastic digit keys, with nine keys in each column.
Description
This full-keyboard printing electric adding machine adds numbers with as many as 13 digits and prints 13-digit results. It is tan and brown and has 13 columns of square plastic digit keys, with nine keys in each column. There also are five function keys and bars labeled “+” and “-”. The sides, front, and back of the case are missing. A narrow printing mechanism at the top of the machine has a ribbon and paper tape. It has 15 type bars. The first two print special characters and the rest print digits.
The machine is marked: Burroughs P 402 Elec. (/) A9103-20 (/) Date-Count-Normal (/) Rack #E Shelf 2. It is model #282 from the collection of the Patent Division of Burroughs Corporation.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1950
maker
Burroughs Adding Machine Company
ID Number
1982.0794.74
catalog number
1982.0794.74
accession number
1982.0794

Remington Rand Adding Machine

This printing adding machine has a metal case painted black. Ten black numeral keys are arranged in a block (i.e. 7 8 9 (/) 4 5 6 (/) 1 2 3 (/) 0). These have metal key stems with plastic key covers.
Description
This printing adding machine has a metal case painted black. Ten black numeral keys are arranged in a block (i.e. 7 8 9 (/) 4 5 6 (/) 1 2 3 (/) 0). These have metal key stems with plastic key covers. A metal operating handle with a wooden knob is on the right, and a paper tape at the back. There are red SUB(/)TOTAL, TOTAL, and MULTIPLY keys. In the front is a COLUMN INDICATOR lever. Numbers up to seven digits long may be entered, with eight-digit totals.
The machine has four rubber feet. It is marked on the top: Remington. It is marked on the left side: Remington Rand (/) BRANCHES EVERYWHERE. A metal tag glued to the bottom has the serial number M25250.
Compare to Brennan adding machine with catalog number 1999.0297.01. The rights to the Brennan adding machine were acquired by Remington Rand by 1932.
References:
Typewriter Topics, vol. 71, January,1929, pp. 40-41, 92.
Typewriter Topics, vol. 72, May, 1929, p. 65.
Typewriter Topics, vol. 74, Mar, 1930, p. 61.
Ernst Martin, Die Rechenmaschinen und ihre Entwicklungsgeschichte, [1925 edition with later supplement], p. 447.
American Office Machines Research Services, III, 3.21, May, 1938.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1932
maker
Remington Rand
ID Number
MA.335204
maker number
M25250
accession number
314592
catalog number
335204

Commonwealth 581 Admiration Professional Simplex Slide Rule

The Commonwealth Plastics Corporation of Leominster, Mass., a manufacturer of plastic toys, dolls, and other goods, made this one-sided, six-inch inexpensive white molded plastic slide rule with a clear plastic frameless indicator.
Description
The Commonwealth Plastics Corporation of Leominster, Mass., a manufacturer of plastic toys, dolls, and other goods, made this one-sided, six-inch inexpensive white molded plastic slide rule with a clear plastic frameless indicator. The base has A and D scales, with B, CI, and C scales on the slide. The slide also has linear scales along its edges, inches divided to sixteenths of an inch and centimeters divided to millimeters. The back of the rule has a table of equivalents and abbreviations. The back is marked in script: Admiration. It is also marked: U.S.A. The rule fits into two slots in a yellow card. The front of the paper holder is marked: Instructions for use (/) on back of card; Admiration (/) PROFESSIONAL SLIDE RULE; EASY TO USE (/) No. 581. The back of the card gives directions and examples for reading the scales, locating the decimal point, multiplication, division, squares, square roots, and cubes. The card and rule are in a plastic bag stamped: 30¢.
Commonwealth Plastics was founded around 1923 and remained in business at 98 Adams Street until at least 1960. It was not a major manufacturer of slide rules.
References: "William Morris Lester (1908–2005)," The Plastics Collection, Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center, http://scrc.syr.edu:8080/content/lester_wm.php; Karen Nugent, "A City in the Making, from Pianos to Plastics: Industrial Past Spotlighted for Tour," Telegram & Gazette, Worcester, Mass., May 27, 2010; ad for Extrusion Supervisor, The Telegraph, Nashua, N.H., February 12, 1960, 10.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1950s
maker
Commonwealth Plastics Corporation
ID Number
1988.0807.03
accession number
1988.0807
catalog number
1988.0807.03

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

Engraved woodblock of "Climbing the Grand Canyon"

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

Alteneder Opposite Bevel Chain Scale Retailed by B. K. Elliott

This six-inch wooden ruler is beveled and coated with white plastic along both long edges. One side is divided to 1/50" and numbered in both directions from 0 to 6. The number "50" is printed below the three-inch mark, and the center of the rule is marked: ALTENEDER.
Description
This six-inch wooden ruler is beveled and coated with white plastic along both long edges. One side is divided to 1/50" and numbered in both directions from 0 to 6. The number "50" is printed below the three-inch mark, and the center of the rule is marked: ALTENEDER. The other side is divided to 1/32" and numbered in both directions from 0 to 6. The number "32" is printed below the three-inch mark, and the wooden part of the rule is marked: B. K. ELLIOTT Co. PITTSBURGH – CLEVELAND. It is also marked: R. S. C. It is also marked: U.S. ST'D.
Theodore Alteneder began making drawing instruments in Philadelphia in 1850, and the firm remains in existence as a manufacturer of photoengraving equipment. Byron Kenneth Elliott (b. 1870) opened a store in Pittsburgh in 1897 that sold drawing, surveying, and optical equipment. The shop closed in 1980. The donor's father, Robert S. Condon, used this instrument.
The date for this object is uncertain. Theo. Alteneder & Sons made a 6" opposite bevel scale with white edges and these divisions as model 2232 from 1940 (when it cost $1.35) to at least 1958 (when it cost $3.25). However, according to catalog illustrations, the company mark during this period had the firm's full name around a circle, while this object has only "Alteneder" in a straight line. The scale does not appear in the 3rd, 5th, or 1948 7th editions of B. K. Elliott catalogs.
References: "Byron Kenneth Elliott," in History of Pittsburgh and Environs (New York and Chicago: American Historical Society, 1922), 35–36; Alteneder Drawing Instruments (Philadelphia, 1940), 26; Alteneder Drawing Instruments (Philadelphia, 1958), 26; Catalogue and Price List of B. K. Elliott Co., 3rd ed. (Pittsburgh, n.d.), 134, 140; Catalogue and Price List of B. K. Elliott Co., 5th ed. (Pittsburgh, n.d.), 135; Catalogue and Price List of B. K. Elliott Co., 7th ed. (Pittsburgh, 1948).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
20th century
distributor
B. K. Elliott Co.
maker
Theodore Alteneder and Sons
ID Number
1991.0793.01
accession number
1991.0793
catalog number
1991.0793.01

Dalton Adding Machine

This ten-key printing manual adding machine has an black iron and glass frame with a steel keyboard painted green. Two rows of white plastic number keys are marked with digits and their complements (complements are in red).
Description
This ten-key printing manual adding machine has an black iron and glass frame with a steel keyboard painted green. Two rows of white plastic number keys are marked with digits and their complements (complements are in red). One could punch the digits of a number without setting the place of the first digit. Numbers with up to nine digits could be entered. The five red function keys read designate, eliminate, repeat, total, and correction. A place for a crank is on the right side, but no crank. The printing mechanism, with two-colored ribbon, is on the top of the machine. Apparently the machine does not print symbols. Nine-digit totals could be printed. The “nine-inch” movable carriage has a paper tape dispenser behind it, but no paper tape. The serrated edge above the platen for tears the paper tape.
A mark on the front reads: Dalton. A mark on a brass tag attached at the bottom front reads: Dalton (/) ADDING (/) MACHINE (/) CO. (/) POPLAR BLUFF,MO.U.S.A. This tag also reads: PAT. AUG. 1, 1899 NO. 630053 (/) REISSUE DEC. 27. ‘04 No. 12286 (/) PAT. SEPT. 24, 1912 NO. 1039130 (/) PAT. DEC. 31, 1912 NO. 1049057 (/) PAT. DEC. 31, 1912 NO. 1049093 (/) OTHER PATENTS PENDING. A metal tag attached at the bottom on the back reads: NO 17946.
The Dalton adding machine grew out of patents of Indiana-born St. Louis machinist Hubert Hopkins (b. 1859) and Chicago inventor Harry H. Helmick. Attempts to patent and manufacture a machine began in St. Louis in 1902. After complex business dealings, including intervention from other adding machine manufacturers, James L. Dalton (1866-1926) acquired exclusive rights to manufacture machines under the Hopkins patents. In late 1903 Dalton and his associates founded the Adding Typewriter Company of St. Louis (later the Dalton Adding Machine Company). By 1912 the firm was established in Dalton’s home town of Poplar Bluff, Missouri. This machine was made there. In 1914, the company moved to Norwood, Ohio, near Cincinnati.
Reference:
P. A. Kidwell, “The Adding Machine Fraternity at St. Louis: Creating a Center of Invention, 1880-1920.” IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 22 #2 (April-June 2000): pp. 14-15.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1913
maker
Dalton Adding Machine Company
ID Number
MA.323589
accession number
250163
maker number
17946
catalog number
323589

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