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: California

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

Head Piece from Maiman Laser

This object may be the first laser. It was made by Theodore Maiman and his assistant Irnee D'Haenens at Hughes Aircraft Company in May 1960.In 1959 Maiman attended a technical conference on the subject of lasers.
Description
This object may be the first laser. It was made by Theodore Maiman and his assistant Irnee D'Haenens at Hughes Aircraft Company in May 1960.
In 1959 Maiman attended a technical conference on the subject of lasers. Maiman heard several speakers state that ruby was unsuitable for a laser but grew troubled by some of the numbers they cited. When he returned to his lab at Hughes he began experimenting. By May 1960 he and D'Haenens constructed several small metal cylinders. Each contained a photographer's spiral-shaped, xenon flashlamp that surrounded a small cylindrical crystal of synthetic ruby. When they fired the flashlamp, the burst of light stimulated the ruby crystal to emit a tightly focused pulse of light--the first operating laser.
Hughes Aircraft donated this and several other pieces of Maiman's apparatus to the Smithsonian in 1970. The crystal mounted inside this unit is from a 1961 experiment. While the donation records indicate that this is the first laser, Maiman wrote that he received the first laser as a gift when he left the company in April 1961. Several experimental models were made during the research, a common practice. So we may never know which unit actually generated the first laser light.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1960
associated date
1960
maker
Maiman, Theodore H.
Hughes Aircraft Company
ID Number
EM.330050
accession number
288813
catalog number
330050

Marchant Calculating Machine Stand

Those who bought calculating machines often purchased stands on which to use them. This one was designed to support the Marchant ACT10M machine. It is made of iron and steel tubing, with four rubber wheels and a wooden shelf.
Description
Those who bought calculating machines often purchased stands on which to use them. This one was designed to support the Marchant ACT10M machine. It is made of iron and steel tubing, with four rubber wheels and a wooden shelf. The dimensions given assume the shelf is down.
A label on the front of the stand reads: Property of (/) UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT (/) Environmental Science (/) Services Administration
For related object, see 1988.0315.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1942
maker
Marchant Calculating Machine Company, Inc.
ID Number
1988.0315.02
catalog number
1988.0315.02
accession number
1988.0315

Wave guide with ruby crystal

This is an experimental device made by Theodore Maiman at Hughes Aircraft in late 1959 or early 1960 as part of the series of experiments leading up to the demonstration of the first laser in May 1960.
Description
This is an experimental device made by Theodore Maiman at Hughes Aircraft in late 1959 or early 1960 as part of the series of experiments leading up to the demonstration of the first laser in May 1960. This object features a cube-shaped ruby crystal mounted at one end of a microwave wave-guide. Maiman sought to test the response of the synthetic ruby crystal to microwave stimulation. Other researchers claimed that ruby would be a poor material to use in a laser. Maiman thought otherwise.
After Charles Townes invented the microwave-emitting maser in 1954, researchers began trying to move to the higher energy levels of infrared and visible light. They referred to such devices as "optical masers," and only later did people adopt Gordon Gould's term, "laser." This experimental piece clearly shows the influence of microwave technology. The metal tube is not a stand but rather a hollow guide that channels microwaves to the ruby crystal. The results of this and other experiments led Maiman to ultimately choose a cylinder of ruby rather than a cube for his laser.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1959
associated date
1960
associated user
unknown
associated institution
Hughes Research Laboratories
maker
Maiman, Theodore H.
Hughes Aircraft Company
ID Number
EM.330052
accession number
288813
catalog number
330052

Marchant Model A Pony Calculating Machine

In 1917 the Marchant Calculating Machine Company introduced this compact, lightweight version of its lever-set, non-printing manually operated calculating machine. This is an early example of that “Pony” model.The machine has a black steel housing and a wooden base.
Description
In 1917 the Marchant Calculating Machine Company introduced this compact, lightweight version of its lever-set, non-printing manually operated calculating machine. This is an early example of that “Pony” model.
The machine has a black steel housing and a wooden base. The case is missing. Nine levers rotate forward to set pinwheels. Color-coded numbers between the levers indicate digits set. There is no entry register. Rotating a bar in front of the levers upward zeros an entry. A steel operating crank with a wooden handle extends from the right side of the machine. It rotates backward (clockwise) for addition and multiplication and forward (counterclockwise) for subtraction and division.
A movable carriage at the front of the machine has the 13 windows of the result register on the right and the eight windows of revolution register on the left. The revolution register has no carry mechanism. Sliding decimal markers are above both the entry levers and the registers on the carriage. To move the carriage, one depresses two bars in a metal box at the front of the machine. Wing nuts at the ends of the carriage rotate to zero the registers on it. A bell on the left side of the carriage rings when the result passes through zero. A layer of felt separates the machine and its wooden base.
A metal tag attached to the front of the machine reads: The (/) Marchant (/) MANUFACTURED BY (/) MARCHANT CALCULATING (/) MACHINE CO., Inc. (/) OAKLAND, CAL. (/) PATENTED JUNE 6. 1911 (/) FEB. 22. 1916. The serial number, stamped on the left of the back of the machine, is: No30004. Another maker’s mark, on the back of the carriage at the left, is: 659. The mark of the Museum of the Peaceful Arts is: 27-87
Compare to MA.323602 (different shift control, standard model), MA. 314637 (standard model) .
This machine is from the collection of L. Leland Locke, and was at one time on deposit at the Museums of the Peaceful Arts in New York City.
References:
Accession File.
J. H. McCarthy, The American Digest of Business Machines, Chicago: American Exchange Service, 1924, p. 549.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1918
maker
Marchant Calculating Machine Company, Inc.
ID Number
MA.311952
catalog number
311952
accession number
155183
maker number
30004/659

Slide Chart, Metrics Made Easy

In the 1970s, after metric units of measure had been adopted in Canada and Great Britain, some people in the United States advocated adoption of the metric system. A variety of special tables were made to help Americans convert between systems of measurement.
Description
In the 1970s, after metric units of measure had been adopted in Canada and Great Britain, some people in the United States advocated adoption of the metric system. A variety of special tables were made to help Americans convert between systems of measurement. This slide chart is one of them.
The paper cardboard sleeve is joined with adhesive and printed in red, yellow, pink, black and white. The front contains a table for converting inches to millimeters, another for converting pints to liters, a third for converting feet to meters and a fourth for converting gallons to liters. The reverse has tables for miles/kilometers, ounces/grams, pounds/kilograms and oF/OC.
A mark on the front reads: Metrics (/) made easy. Another reads: INCH/METRIC DIGITAL DIAL (/) A product of (/) Danatron (/) Corporation (3198 ‘C’, Airport Loop Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92828. A mark on the edge of the slide reads (as best as can be deciphered): Copyright 1977 Nelson Taxel Woodmere N.Y. 11598 Printed in U.S.A.
The object was found in the collections of the Division of Work and Industry of the National Museum of American History.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1977
maker
Danatron Corporation
ID Number
1988.3078.03
catalog number
1988.3078.03
nonaccession number
1988.3078

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

Electron Microscope Grids and Case

This case held electron microscope (EM) grids used in the lab of Stanley Cohen at Stanford University. Made from tiny circles of copper mesh, EM grids are analogous to the glass slides used to mount samples for viewing under a light microscope.
Description (Brief)
This case held electron microscope (EM) grids used in the lab of Stanley Cohen at Stanford University. Made from tiny circles of copper mesh, EM grids are analogous to the glass slides used to mount samples for viewing under a light microscope. These grids were used to support recombinant bacteria and recombinant plasmids for study and analysis under the electron microscope. One of the grids contains a sample of Cohen and Boyer’s first recombinant plasmid. Photographic images of the first recombinant plasmids used in publications on Cohen and Boyer’s research were made from these grids.
For more information on the Cohen/Boyer experiments with recombinant DNA, see object 1987.0757.01
Sources:
Accession File
“EM Grid Preparation.” Purdue University. Accessed December 2012. http://bilbo.bio.purdue.edu/~baker/documentation/sample_and_prep/b2.htm
Location
Currently not on view
user
Cohen, Stanley N.
ID Number
1987.0757.07.02
catalog number
1987.0757.07.02
accession number
1987.0757

Marchant Model G-8EFA Calculating Machine (Figuremaster)

This full-keyboard, proportional gear non-printing electric calculating machine has a metal case painted blue-green with a metal keyboard painted gray, and eight columns of green and white plastic keys.
Description
This full-keyboard, proportional gear non-printing electric calculating machine has a metal case painted blue-green with a metal keyboard painted gray, and eight columns of green and white plastic keys. At the bottom of each column is a tabulator set key These tab keys are numbered from 1 on the right to 8 on the left.
Right of the number keys are a small on-off switch; division, line up, and stop keys; subtraction and addition bars; a non-shift key; a repeat key; a negative multiplication bar; and two carriage shift keys. In front of these are clearance keys for the tab set, the keyboard, and the dials. Right of these is a column of ten keys for automatic multiplication. Above the number keys is a row of eight windows to show a number set up.
Behind the entry register is a movable carriage with an 16-window result register and an eight-window revolution register. The motor is at the back of the machine, inside the case. The machine presently has no cord.
A mark on the bottom of the machine and scratched on the front reads: G8EFA 394253. A paper tag attached to the bottom reads in part: MARCHANT. It also reads in part: Figuremaster
The Marchant Model 8EFA sold from at least 1951 until at least 1958.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1952
maker
Marchant Calculating Machine Company
ID Number
MA.335380
accession number
318944
maker number
394253
catalog number
335380

Duplex Pendulum Seismograph

A paper label on this seismograph reads “Made from the Designs of Professor Ewing of Dundee, by the California Electric Works, 35 Market street, San Francisco; and recommended for use in California by Professor LeConte of Berkeley and by Professor Holden, Director of the Lick Obs
Description
A paper label on this seismograph reads “Made from the Designs of Professor Ewing of Dundee, by the California Electric Works, 35 Market street, San Francisco; and recommended for use in California by Professor LeConte of Berkeley and by Professor Holden, Director of the Lick Observatory.”
James Alfred Ewing was a young Scottish physicist/engineer who, while teaching in Tokyo in the years between 1878 and 1883, designed several seismographs. Among these was a duplex pendulum instrument that recorded the two horizontal components of earthquakes. It was, he claimed, “comparatively cheap and simple” and was “employed by many private observers in Japan.”
The Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company in England began manufacturing Ewing’s several seismographs in 1886. The first examples in the United States were installed in the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton and in the University of California at Berkeley. Edward Holden was then director of the former and president of the latter, and Joseph LeConte was professor of geology at Berkeley.
Enthusiastic about the new science of seismology, Holden and LeConte convinced Paul Seiler, head of an electrical apparatus supply firm in San Francisco, to manufacture duplex pendulum seismographs that would sell for $15 apiece (rather than the $75 charged by the English firm). Over a dozen examples are known to have been distributed across the country and around the world, some recording earthquakes as early as 1889. This one came to the Smithsonian in 1964, a gift of Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio.
Ref: Edward S. Holden, Handbook of the Lick Observatory (San Francisco, 1888), pp. 54-56.
Edward S. Holden and Joseph LeConte, “Use of the Ewing Duplex Seismometer” (1887), reprinted in Holden, “Earthquakes on the Pacific Coast,” Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 1087 (1898).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 1880s
maker
California Electrical Works
ID Number
PH.323669
catalog number
323669
accession number
251332

Pickett N901-ES Simplex Slide Rule

This aluminum slide rule is coated in "Eye Saver" yellow, as denoted by the model number. It is held together with aluminum braces; the indicator is nylon (also denoted by the model number) with three metal screws.
Description
This aluminum slide rule is coated in "Eye Saver" yellow, as denoted by the model number. It is held together with aluminum braces; the indicator is nylon (also denoted by the model number) with three metal screws. The front of the rule has A, D, and L scales, with B, CI, and C scales on the slide. The scales are about ten inches long. The slide and the top of the rule are both marked: MODEL N901-ES (/) SIMPLEX (/) MATH RULE. The other end of the slide bears the Pickett logo and the mark: MADE IN U.S.A.
The back of the rule has X and D* scales, with Y and C* scales on the slide. The top of the rule is marked: PICKETT, INC.; MODEL N901-ES; SIMPLEX MATH RULE. The bottom of the rule is marked: COPYRIGHT 1965; PICKETT, INC. SANTA BARBARA. CALIF.; MADE IN U.S.A.
The rule fits in a black leather sheath. The sheath was received in a green, white, and black cardboard box. One end of the box is marked: PickETT (/) 901-ES (/) ELEMENTARY MATH. It also is marked: about this rule: (/) 10 scales are keyed to (/) new math. Aids under- (/) standing of addition, (/) subtraction, multiplica- (/) tion, division and Base 10 (/) relationships. Grade 3 up. The inside of the box top flips up for display. The box slides into a green, white, and black cardboard cover. The top and sides of the box cover are each marked: PickETT; ALL METAL (/) SLIDE (/) RULE.
The box also contains a yellow paper slide rule guarantee and registration card. The object's serial number is A1216143. A 48-page instruction manual by Maurice L. Hartung is stored separately (1995.0126.02.01).
The X and Y scales were used for addition and subtraction and were unique to Pickett. Donor Lawrence J. Kamm conjectured that Hartung, a mathematics professor at the University of Chicago, recommended they be added to this product. According to Kamm, Hartung encouraged company cofounder Ross Pickett to market its slide rules only to schoolchildren. In order to provide scientists and engineers with access to rules such as the Decimal Keeper (1995.0126.01), Kamm opened a mail-order business that distributed Pickett's products.
References: Peter M. Hopp, Slide Rules: Their History, Models, and Makers (Mendham, N.J.: The Astragal Press, 1999), 209–210; Maurice L. Hartung, Complete, Semi-Programmed Teaching Instructions for the Use of Elementary Simplex Math Slide Rule (Santa Barbara, Calif.: Pickett, Inc., 1965); accession file; International Slide Rule Museum, "Pickett," http://sliderulemuseum.com/Pickett.htm.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1965
date received
1995
maker
Pickett & Eckel, Incorporated
ID Number
1995.0126.02
accession number
1995.0126
catalog number
1995.0126.02

Micropipette Accessory

This micropipette accessory was used to draw very small amounts of liquid into thin glass micropipettes.
Description (Brief)
This micropipette accessory was used to draw very small amounts of liquid into thin glass micropipettes. A micropipette would be inserted into the bottom of the object and liquid could be pulled in with very good control by turning the screw at the top.
It was used in the laboratories at Genentech, a biotechnology company.
Source:
Interview with Dan Yansura, Genentech scientist, 12/20/2012
Location
Currently not on view
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.41
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.41

Pickett Model N 3-ES Duplex Slide Rule

This duplex linear slide rule, made of aluminum with an “eye saver yellow” coating, has numerous scales that are 10 inches long. The front has on the top of the base two square root scales, a K scale, and an A scale.
Description
This duplex linear slide rule, made of aluminum with an “eye saver yellow” coating, has numerous scales that are 10 inches long. The front has on the top of the base two square root scales, a K scale, and an A scale. At the bottom of the front of the base are a D scale, a D1 scale, and three scales for cube roots. The front of the slide has B, ST, S, two T, C1 and C scales. The back of the base has at the top two LL0 and two LL1 scales, as well as a DF scale. At the bottom of the back of the base are a D scale, two LL2 scales and two LL3 scales. On the back of the slide are CF, C1F, Ln, L, C1 and C scales. The indicator is made from plastic and held together with metal screws. The leather case has a hook on the back which connects to a belt strap. A copper-colored plate on the front of the case reads: BILL NYE. A pen mark inside the flap reads: Bill Nye.
Donor Bill Nye acquired the slide rule as a gift from his parents over winter break in 1971. He used it from 1971 until 1975, in high school and in engineering school at Cornell University. Nye went on host "Bill Nye the Science Guy," a Public Broadcasting System television show for children.
This slide rule was copyrighted in 1960. The logo on it is that used by Pickett from 1964 until 1975.
Compare 2016.0283.01 and 2009.0019.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1971
maker
Pickett Industries
ID Number
2016.0283.01
accession number
2016.0283
catalog number
2016.0283.01

Sau 3AI

This silver metal canister once contained Sau 3AI, an enzyme commonly used in molecular biology.
Description (Brief)
This silver metal canister once contained Sau 3AI, an enzyme commonly used in molecular biology. Sau 3AI belongs to a class of enzymes known as restriction enzymes, which are useful for their ability to cleave DNA only at locations containing specific sequences of nucleotides, the small chemical units which make up the longer DNA molecule. Sau 3AI recognizes the sequence GATC and will cut before the G.
This particular canister of Sau 3AI was used to create recombinant DNA molecules at Genentech, a biotechnology company, in the early 1980s.
Source:
GeneON, “Sau3AI.” http://www.taq-dna.com/sau3ai-_91.html
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1985-09
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.28
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.28

T4-DNA Ligase

This silver metal canister once contained T4-DNA ligase, an enzyme commonly used in molecular biology.
Description (Brief)
This silver metal canister once contained T4-DNA ligase, an enzyme commonly used in molecular biology. T4-DNA ligase helps create bonds between the ends of fragments of DNA.
This capability makes it useful in the laboratory when scientists want to combine DNA from two different sources in order to create recombinant DNA. This particular canister of T4-DNA ligase was used to create recombinant DNA molecules at Genentech, a biotechnology company, in the early 1980s.
Source:
Aehle, W. (2007). Enzymes in industry: Production and applications. Wiley-VCH.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1984-08
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.26
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.26

Pickett 61 Student Simplex Slide Rule

This one-sided five-inch white plastic rule has a plastic indicator attached as a bracket (i.e., there is no back). The base has K, A, D, and L scales, with B, CI, and C scales on the slide.
Description
This one-sided five-inch white plastic rule has a plastic indicator attached as a bracket (i.e., there is no back). The base has K, A, D, and L scales, with B, CI, and C scales on the slide. The left end of the slide is marked: MODEL 61, and the right side has the Pickett triangular logo in white, which was chiefly used between 1950 and 1958. The number 38 is printed above the logo.
The rule slides into a black synthetic leather stitched case, which fits in an orange and black paper box. A Pickett triangular logo with block print and inside a circle appears on the box. This form of logo was used between 1962 and 1964. The logo and the plastic material used in the rule suggest the instrument was made in the 1960s.
The ends of the box are marked: PLASTIC TRAINER SLIDE RULE; NO. 61 (/) $1.95; FINEST QUALITY ENGRAVED (/) 5" SLIDE RULE. The top and bottom of the box describe the instrument as a STUDENT SLIDE RULE. It came with a pamphlet, "How to Use Basic Slide Rules in 3 Easy Steps" (1991.0445.02.01). Students were permitted to trade this rule in toward the purchase of a Pickett all-metal rule.
Argentine-born electrical and mechanical engineer Richard R. Lombardi used this slide rule and donated it to the Smithsonian. A price tag on the box and a receipt for the object indicates he paid $1.56; the receipt is dated 1971, although the trade-in certificate also included with the rule expired in 1966. Company marks on the pamphlet indicate it was printed after 1964.
Reference: Peter M. Hopp, "Scales and Gauge Points," in Slide Rules: Their History, Models, and Makers (Mendham, N.J.: Astragal Press, 1999), 285–287.
Location
Currently not on view
date purchased
1971
maker
Pickett Industries
ID Number
1991.0445.02
accession number
1991.0445
catalog number
1991.0445.02

DNA-polymerase

This silver metal canister once contained DNA-polymerase, an enzyme commonly used in molecular biology.
Description (Brief)
This silver metal canister once contained DNA-polymerase, an enzyme commonly used in molecular biology. In living organisms, it plays an important role in DNA replication and repair, by helping to speed along the process of linking together nucleotide bases into the chains that make up DNA.
This particular canister of DNA-polymerase was used in DNA sequencing efforts at the labs at Genentech, a biotechnology company, in the early 1980s.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1983-08-16
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.23
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.23

Psychological Test Score Sheets, Strong Vocational Interest Blank

There are two record blanks in this collection. The first is entitled “Report Form-Strong Vocational Interest Blank-For Men.” This test was copyrighted in 1938 and 1945 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.
Description
There are two record blanks in this collection. The first is entitled “Report Form-Strong Vocational Interest Blank-For Men.” This test was copyrighted in 1938 and 1945 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. The second is entitled “Report Form-Strong Vocational Interest Blank-For Women.” Edward K. Strong, Jr. of Stanford, California, wrote the report on the back of both tests. The interest blank for men included more options than the interest blank for women. Therefore, the test is of value to researchers interested in the history of gender as well as the history of mental testing.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1945
maker
Strong, Jr., Edward K.
ID Number
1979.3064.04
catalog number
1979.3064.04
nonaccession number
1979.3064

Power Supply, ISCO MODEL 494

This power supply was used to provide an electric current for gel electrophoresis and electroelution in the lab at Genentech, a biotechnology company, in the early 1980s.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This power supply was used to provide an electric current for gel electrophoresis and electroelution in the lab at Genentech, a biotechnology company, in the early 1980s.
Location
Currently not on view
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.59
catalog number
2012.0198.59
accession number
2012.0198

Cut-away Section of Stanford Linear Electron Accelerator

date made
1967
referenced
Bishop, Philip W.
Sanders, Jack
maker
SLAC
ID Number
EM.N-09538
catalog number
N-09538
accession number
1968.276660
276660

Vision Award, presented to Ella Fitzgerald

This award was presented to Ella Fitzgerald by The Center for the Partially Sighted in 1985. It is a lucite rectangle with an embedded prism on a lucite beveled base.
Description

This award was presented to Ella Fitzgerald by The Center for the Partially Sighted in 1985. It is a lucite rectangle with an embedded prism on a lucite beveled base. The award is engraved:

1985 VISION AWARD
Presented To
ELLA FITZGERALD By
THE CENTER FOR THE PARTIALLY SIGHTED
June 14, 1985

Location
Currently not on view
presentation date
1985
recipient
Fitzgerald, Ella
ID Number
1996.0342.071
accession number
1996.0342
catalog number
1996.0342.071

Biotech Bay Teeshirt

This T–shirt depicts some of the biotechnology firms of “Biotech Bay” (the San Francisco Bay area) in 1991.
Description (Brief)
This T–shirt depicts some of the biotechnology firms of “Biotech Bay” (the San Francisco Bay area) in 1991. It was customized to highlight one of the firms, Genentech, with an orange star over the Genentech campus, the Genentech logo on the sleeve, and the slogan “Success is in our genes” on the back. The original image was created by artist Kat Wilson for Synergistic Designs, a promotional media publisher.
For more information, see object 1994.3092.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1991
maker
Synergistic Designs
ID Number
1994.3092.05
catalog number
1994.3092.05
nonaccession number
1994.3092

Light Box

This UV light box was used in the lab of Stanley Cohen at Stanford University in his research on recombinant DNA. UV light boxes are used to help visualize results from of DNA and RNA analysis through gel electrophoresis.
Description (Brief)
This UV light box was used in the lab of Stanley Cohen at Stanford University in his research on recombinant DNA. UV light boxes are used to help visualize results from of DNA and RNA analysis through gel electrophoresis. Molecules subjected to gel electrophoresis create a pattern of bands on a gel medium as they move. Scientists can interpret the pattern to obtain the results of the analysis. However, because the bands of molecules are naturally colorless, they must be dyed to be made visible. Dyes that fluoresce under UV radiation are commonly used. This UV light box was used to provide illumination behind the dyed bands, causing them to fluoresce so that they could be photographed and interpreted.
For more information on the Cohen/Boyer experiments with recombinant DNA see object 1987.0757.01
Source:
Accession File
Location
Currently not on view
user
Cohen, Stanley N.
ID Number
1987.0757.39
catalog number
1987.0757.39
accession number
1987.0757

Protective Jumpsuit

This jumpsuit was worn by a scientist from Advanced Genetic Systems during the first release of genetically modified microorganisms into the environment approved by the federal government.The organisms, a genetically modified version of naturally occurring bacteria from the genus
Description (Brief)
This jumpsuit was worn by a scientist from Advanced Genetic Systems during the first release of genetically modified microorganisms into the environment approved by the federal government.
The organisms, a genetically modified version of naturally occurring bacteria from the genus Pseudomonas, were sprayed on test fields of strawberry plants in Monterey County, Calif., to increase their resistance to frost.
In nature, Pseudomonas can be found on the surface of many plants. The bacteria contribute to problems with frost on crops because they produce a protein that promotes the formation of ice. In hopes of reducing frost damage to crops, scientist Steve Lindow at the University of California altered the bacteria to stop producing this protein. The University patented these “ice-minus” bacteria and licensed the technology to Advanced Genetic Systems, a company based in Oakland, Calif. AGS hoped to bring the bacteria to market as an ice-proofing spray for crops called “Frostban.”
After careful review, the U.S. government approved field tests of Frostban. Despite the review, public fear of releasing these bacteria into the environment remained. Some scientists raised concerns that the ice-minus bacteria could replace the natural bacterial population. Because of their ice-forming abilities, the natural bacteria play a role in the creation of precipitation. This fact led some to worry that damage to the natural population could have repercussions for rainfall and weather patterns.
Activists against Frostban broke into test fields and uprooted plants to be sprayed several times throughout the field trials. After four years of tests, Frostban was found to be effective in reducing frost damage to crops. Due to continued public discomfort with genetically modified organisms, however, AGS never marketed the product. The company feared that the expense of fighting legal battles to get it to market would outweigh possible profit.
Sources:
“Public Fears Factored Into Gene-Altered Bacteria Tests.” Griffin, Katherine. The Los Angeles Times. April 18, 1988. p. AOC11.
“Bacteria on the Loose.” Fox, Michael W. The Washington Post. November 26, 1985. p. A16.
“Chapter 5: Ecological Considerations.” Office of Technology Assessment, Congress of the United States. Field-Testing Engineered Organisms: Genetic and Ecological Issues. 2002. pp.94–95.
“Chapter 4: The Release of a Genetically Engineered Microorganism.” Schacter, Bernice Zeldin. Issues and Dilemmas of Biotechnology: A Reference Guide. 1999.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1987.0770.01
accession number
1987.0770
catalog number
1987.0770.01

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