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.

Topic: Mathematics

Tripod and Mount for Telescope

Tripod and mount for the 3.5-inch aperture refracting telescope made by W. & S. Jones of London, and used at Georgetown College.Ref: Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of Georgetown College, D.C. 1 (1852), p. 14.Currently not on view
Description
Tripod and mount for the 3.5-inch aperture refracting telescope made by W. & S. Jones of London, and used at Georgetown College.
Ref: Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of Georgetown College, D.C. 1 (1852), p. 14.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1840
maker
W. & S. Jones
ID Number
PH.316098.02
accession number
224215
catalog number
316098.02

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

Soroban, or Japanese Abacus

This instrument sits in a wooden box painted black around the edge. It has a wooden cross piece painted white. Twenty-one parallel bamboo rods rods pass through the cross piece.
Description
This instrument sits in a wooden box painted black around the edge. It has a wooden cross piece painted white. Twenty-one parallel bamboo rods rods pass through the cross piece. Each has one bead above the cross piece and five below.
The beads are similar in shape to those on other Japanese abaci. Every column but the middle one is labeled on the cross piece with a Japanese character. The ten beads to the left of the center may represent units of volume, those to the right are units of currency.
A stamp attached to the box below the beads that shows a Japanese diety known as Daikoku sama operating an abacus. Characters printed on the stamp refer to a trademark and to Osaka. A sticker attached to the back has characters on it that may represent a price in a vendor's code. The object is marked on the back in pen “4504.” It is recorded as found in museum storage in 1959.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1959
ID Number
MA.316866
catalog number
316866
accession number
228691

Psychological Test with Record Leaflet, Detroit Word Recognition Test

This test of word recognition of the vocabulary taught to first and second graders in the Detroit public schools was developed by Eliza F. Oglesby (1894-1924), assistant superintendent for reading there. It was intended to complement the use of intelligence tests.
Description
This test of word recognition of the vocabulary taught to first and second graders in the Detroit public schools was developed by Eliza F. Oglesby (1894-1924), assistant superintendent for reading there. It was intended to complement the use of intelligence tests. The test was published by the World Book Company in 1925. This is Form A.
Materials under this number include a copy of the test, a class record blank, and a manual of directions.
Compare MA.316371.016.
References:
Oglesby, E. F., “A Study of Achievements in Reading of X, Y, and Z Groups,” Detroit Journal of Education, April, 1922, vol. 2, #4, pp. 57-63.
Oglesby, E, F., “A First Grade Reading Test,” The Journal of Educational Research, June 1924, 10 #1, pp. 29-41.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1925
publisher
World Book Company
maker
Oglesby, E. F.
ID Number
1990.0034.127
accession number
1990.0034
catalog number
1990.0034.127

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

Model of Moebius's Theorem by Richard P. Baker, Baker #432a

This is a model relating to Moebius' theorem. It has a rectangular wooden base. A planar steel wire structure is stuck into holes in base. Black lines are drawn on the base, points labeled; and strings join wire and base.Currently not on view
Description
This is a model relating to Moebius' theorem. It has a rectangular wooden base. A planar steel wire structure is stuck into holes in base. Black lines are drawn on the base, points labeled; and strings join wire and base.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1906-1935
maker
Baker, Richard P.
ID Number
MA.211257.082
accession number
211257
catalog number
211257.082

Puzzle, Truncated Cube

This puzzle is in the shape of a truncated cube, with its eight corners sliced off.
Description
This puzzle is in the shape of a truncated cube, with its eight corners sliced off. It was made in Taiwan and received in an -open box that looks like a Rubik's Cube.
The eight corners of a cube are sliced so the puzzle has eight silver faces that are equilateral triangles and six octagonal faces of the same colors as the traditional Rubik's cube, blue, orange, green, red, yellow and white. The Diamond (see 2006.0061.09) is also a truncated cube. The slices in the Diamond are larger so the six faces do not join opposite vertices of the corner squares but, instead, join the midpoints of the center edge squares producing six squares rather than six octagons.
This puzzle is among Rubik’s Cube related items from the Cube Museum, which operated in Grand Junction, Colorado, from 1988 to 1991. For more information about the Rubik’s Cube and other twisting puzzles that use the same or similar mechanisms see 1987.0805.01.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2006.0061.13
catalog number
2006.0061.13
accession number
2006.0061

Dividers from Japan

The Japanese Empire Department of Education displayed these oversized wooden dividers at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. One leg partially fits into a slot in the other leg.
Description
The Japanese Empire Department of Education displayed these oversized wooden dividers at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. One leg partially fits into a slot in the other leg. A string holds the legs together at the joint, but originally there was probably a metal screw there. A metal point, 3 1/8" long, extends from one leg. A wooden peg, supposedly for holding a crayon, is attached to the other leg. The dividers unfold into a 30" straight line, and their large size may indicate that they were used for classroom demonstrations. On the fair and the fate of the exhibit, see 261313.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1876
ID Number
MA.261301
catalog number
261301
accession number
51116

Wing Dividers

These brass and steel dividers are joined by a ball-shaped hinge. The steel pointed tips of each leg are approximately 3-1/2" long. The brass portions continue for nearly another 9". A brass arc, or wing, with a circumference of approximately 8-1/2", joins the legs.
Description
These brass and steel dividers are joined by a ball-shaped hinge. The steel pointed tips of each leg are approximately 3-1/2" long. The brass portions continue for nearly another 9". A brass arc, or wing, with a circumference of approximately 8-1/2", joins the legs. A butterfly screw allows the arc to be removed. A wing nut tightens the adjustable leg so that the dividers are set in position. On the outsides of the legs, below the two screws, the dividers are stamped with wheels that have six spokes and a small circle at the center. According to a note in the accession file, this mark represents the heraldic symbol of the city of Osnabrück, Germany.
Dividers are alternatively called (non-drawing) compasses, or Zirkel in German. Draftsmen used them to measure distances and to create circles. This pair was probably manufactured in the 18th century.
Reference: Maya Hambly, Drawing Instruments: 1580–1980 (London: Sotheby's Publications, 1988), 69–79.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1700s
ID Number
MA.322756
accession number
248674
catalog number
322756

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

Volumetric flask

This object is a 50 mL volumetric flask made from Pyrex glass.
Description (Brief)
This object is a 50 mL volumetric flask made from Pyrex glass. Volumetric flasks are calibrated with great accuracy, for the purpose of preparing dilutions and solutions of a precise volume.
Pyrex has its origins in the early 1910s, when American glass company Corning Glass Works began looking for new products to feature its borosilicate glass, Nonex. At the suggestion of Bessie Littleton, a Corning scientist’s wife, the company began investigating Nonex for bakeware. After removing lead from Nonex to make the glass safe for cooking, they named the new formula “Pyrex”—“Py” for the pie plate, the first Pyrex product. In 1916 Pyrex found another market in the laboratory. It quickly became a favorite brand in the scientific community for its strength against chemicals, thermal shock, and mechanical stress.
This object is part of a collection donated by Barbara Keppel, wife of C. Robert Keppel. Robert Keppel taught at the University of Nebraska-Omaha after receiving his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from M.I.T. The glassware in the Keppel collection covers the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Sources:
Dyer, Davis. The Generations of Corning: The Life and Times of a Global Corporation. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Jensen, William B. “The Origin of Pyrex.” Journal of Chemical Education 83, no. 5 (2006): 692. doi:10.1021/ed083p692.
Kraissl, F. “A History of the Chemical Apparatus Industry.” Journal of Chemical Education 10, no. 9 (1933): 519. doi:10.1021/ed010p519.
Markel, Howard. “Science Diction: The Origin Of The Petri Dish.” ScienceFriday.com. December 16, 2011. http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/12/16/2011/science-diction-the-origin-of-the-petri-dish.html.
National Museum of American History Accession File #1985.0311
Petri, R.J. “Eine Kleine Modification Des Koch’schen Plattenverfahrens.” Centralblatt Fur Bacteriologie Und Parasitenkunde 1 (1887): 279–80.
“University of Nebraska Omaha.” 2015. Accessed May 4. http://www.unomaha.edu/college-of-arts-and-sciences/chemistry/student-opportunities/scholarships.php.
Description
Glass volumetric flask with a red “CONTAINS / 50 ml / 20°C / C.G.W.” inscription and a PYREX pennyhead stopper. This was probably made by the Clyde Glass Works in Clyde, N.Y., a firm established as such in 1895.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1916
maker
Corning Incorporated
ID Number
1985.0311.085
catalog number
1985.0311.085
accession number
1985.0311

Painting - Curve Tangents (Fermat)

The French lawyer and mathematician Pierre de Fermat (1601–1665) was one of the first to develop a systematic way to find the straight line which best approximates a curve at any point. This line is called the tangent line.
Description
The French lawyer and mathematician Pierre de Fermat (1601–1665) was one of the first to develop a systematic way to find the straight line which best approximates a curve at any point. This line is called the tangent line. This painting shows a curve with two horizontal tangent lines. Assuming that the curve is plotted against a horizontal axis, one line passes through a maximum of a curve, the other through a minimum. An article by H. W. Turnbull, "The Great Mathematicians," published in The World of Mathematics by James R. Newman, emphasized how Fermat's method might be applied to find maximum and minimum values of a curve plotted above a horizontal line (see his figures 14 and 16). Crockett Johnson owned and read the book, and annotated the first figure. The second figure more closely resembles the painting.
Computing the maximum and minimum value of functions by finding tangents became a standard technique of the differential calculus developed by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz later in the 17th century.
Curve Tangents is painting #12 in the Crockett Johnson series. It was executed in oil on masonite, completed in 1966, and is signed: CJ66. The painting has a wood and metal frame.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966
referenced
Fermat, Pierre de
painter
Johnson, Crockett
ID Number
1979.1093.07
catalog number
1979.1093.07
accession number
1979.1093

Teaching Machine Designed by B.F. Skinner

This gray and silver-colored machine has a metal base with a hinged metal cover over the back section. Inside this is a metal and plastic mechanism driving a paper tape. The machine was designed to teach arithmetic and spelling to grade school students.
Description
This gray and silver-colored machine has a metal base with a hinged metal cover over the back section. Inside this is a metal and plastic mechanism driving a paper tape. The machine was designed to teach arithmetic and spelling to grade school students. A plastic window in the lid reveals a question on the paper tape. On the base of the machine there are ten columns of holes; each column is labeled along its side with "+", "-", the digits from 9 to 0 and then the letters from a to z. A student enters answers by moving a lever down the appropriate column to the desired number or letter. A light bulb is on the right of the machine, above the paper tape (entering the correct answer may light up the bulb). A counter is inside the machine and a handle on the side advances the paper tape. A rubber cord with plug extends from the back of the machine. According to the donor, this is an improvement on the machine he demonstrated in Pittsburgh in 1954.
Compare 1981.0997.01.
Reference:
Accession file.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1954
maker
IBM
ID Number
1984.1069.01
accession number
1984.1069
catalog number
1984.1069.01

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

McMillan synchrotron assembly

Object N-09261.01 consists of an assembly of numerous major subparts or components, most of which were separated during dismantling after the NMAH Atom Smashers exhibition closed.The major subparts include: coils carrying current to produce magnetic field; laminated steel yoke to
Description
Object N-09261.01 consists of an assembly of numerous major subparts or components, most of which were separated during dismantling after the NMAH Atom Smashers exhibition closed.
The major subparts include: coils carrying current to produce magnetic field; laminated steel yoke to provide path for the lines of magnetic field; aluminum clamps and steel tie-bars for clamping magnetic yoke together horizontally; "strong back" for clamping magnet together vertically; toroid-shaped vacuum chamber ("donut") in which the electrons circulate and are accelerated; high vacuum oil diffusion pump for evacuating air from vacuum chamber; assembly for remote positioning of high voltage injector (electron gun); source and transmission line for voltage pulse to injector (electron gun); high voltage transformer (110 kV) of pulse to injector (electron gun); radiation warning light; lead shielding wall to prevent stray radiation from interfering with experiments; magnet to sweep out stray electrons, etc., contaminating the x-ray beam; x-ray beam line; tapered lead plugs for making x-ray beam parallel; electrometer connected to ionization chamber in path of beam (measures beam intensity); crash button; "patch panel" for electronic connections between experiment area and "counting room"; peripheral and/or connecting elements, such as conduit containing cables carrying electric current to upper coil, current-carrying coil for producing magnetic field guide, air blower to cool magnet coils, oscillator to generate 47MHz electric field for accelerating electrons, oil diffusion pump to evacuate acceleration (vacuum) chamber, vacuum-insulated storage vessel ("Dewar") for liquid nitrogen, liquid nitrogen receptacle ("cold trap") to improve vacuum in acceleration chamber by freezing out vapors, target, evacuation port, injector (electron gun), evacuation port, synchrotron light port, RF power input.
Along with the McMillan synchrotron assembly proper N-09261.01, there are 25 related objects in this accession with catalog numbers .02-.26. Mimsy XG catalog records have been created for 13 of the objects in this accession. Additional items: a cross-section of the vacuum chamber and magnet pole pieces are in a separate accession (1978.2302.06) under catalog ID N-10012. There is also a related non-accessioned item N-10022, "Synchrotron Counting Room" sign.
Basic Principles and History
The methods of particle acceleration used before WWII were approaching their limits. The size and cost of cyclotrons and betatrons with ever increasing particle output energy had grown substantially. (See “basic principle of the cyclotron” in Background on Dunning Cyclotron; Object id no. 1978.1074.01 in Modern Physics Collection). For accelerating particles to the highest energies in circular machines, the “synchrotron” was developed in the mid-1940s. In contrast to a cyclotron, particles in a synchrotron are constrained to move in a circle of constant radius by the use of a ring of electromagnets, open in the middle and so much less massive than an equivalent cyclotron magnet. The magnetic field is varied in such a way that the radius of curvature remains constant as the particles gain energy through successive accelerations by a synchronized alternating electric field.
Towards the end of WWII Vladimir Veksler in the USSR and Edwin M. McMillan in the USA independently advanced the following “principle of phase stability”; 1) charged particles forced into a circular path by a magnetic field and accelerated by an oscillating electric field will “bunch” if they lie in the proper phase or “side” of the electric wave; and 2) these particle bunches, if confined in buckets, can be carried to higher energies by gradually increasing the magnetic guide field (as in the electron synchrotron), or by decreasing the oscillation frequency of the electric accelerating field (as in the synchro-cyclotron), or increasing both magnetic field and the electric oscillation frequency (as in the proton synchrotron).
After considerable difficulties and some changes in design, McMillan’s synchrotron began operating in the winter of 1948-49 at its intended energy of about 300 million volts – thought to sufficient to produce subatomic particles called mesons, with a mass between that of the electron and the proton. (In later years mesons would be defined as “hadronic” particles composed of one quark and one antiquark bound together by the strong interaction.) Note: The synchrotron electrons never were brought out of the machine, but were brought into collision with an internal target to produce photons with the bremsstrahlung spectrum; these emerging photon beams (x-rays) would then be used to produce the mesons.
Among the first and most significant experiments performed with this accelerator was production of a new subatomic particle, the “pi-zero” meson. Theoretical physicists had previously predicted the existence of an electrically neutral variety of such particles observed in cosmic rays. In this experiment, J. Steinberger, W.K.H. Panofsky, and J. Steller provided convincing evidence that such charge-neutral mesons were produced by the 330 MeV x-rays emerging from the synchrotron and striking an external target. The experimenters looked for the pair of simultaneous photons into which the unstable meson was expected to decay. They found that the energies of these two photons, and the angle between them, were just what would result from the decay in flight of a particle mass about 150 times that of an electron, moving with a velocity expected for such particles were they created by 300 MeV x-rays. A reproduction of the apparatus for this experiment, made for the NMAH Atom Smashers exhibition, is in the Modern Physics Collection (Object ID no. 1989.3014.01).
Virtually all circular high-energy particle accelerators built since WWII have been based on the principle of phase stability. Although particle energies attainable by pre-War accelerator concepts were sufficient for atom smashing (splitting the nucleus in a target atom), they were not high enough to create the sub-atomic particles that had been discovered in cosmic rays in the 1930’s. With the principle of phase stability, and the ability to build particle accelerators based upon it, the field of “high-energy” or “elementary particle physics” came into existence.
maker
McMillan, Edwin M.
ID Number
EM.N-09261.01
catalog number
N-09261.01
accession number
269226

Model for Descriptive Geometry by A. Jullien - Angle of a Plane with Planes of Projection

Given plane APA’, c’ is a point on the intersection line of the plane with the vertical plane. Point b on the horizontal intersection of the plane is chosen so it that bc’ is perpendicular to PA. Connect b and c’ to from the red string.
Description
Given plane APA’, c’ is a point on the intersection line of the plane with the vertical plane. Point b on the horizontal intersection of the plane is chosen so it that bc’ is perpendicular to PA. Connect b and c’ to from the red string. The horizontal projection of bc’ is bc and the vertical projection is cc’. By rotating bc’ about bc to the horizontal, point C1 is found. Now angle cbC1 is the angle of the plane with the horizontal plane. Similarly, the angle bC1C is the angle with the vertical plane.
For more details, see COLL.1986.0885 and 1986.0885.01.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
maker
Jullien, A.
ID Number
1986.0885.01.24
catalog number
1986.0885.01.24
accession number
1986.0885

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

Software on CD (Computer Viruses), The Collection, Outlaws from America's Wild West Release 2.00

The compact disc contains live computer viruses (over 500 viruses), anti-virus programs and utilities, source listings for viruses, virus simulator programs, virus information programs and text, virus creation tools, and newsletters and literature related to viruses.
Description
The compact disc contains live computer viruses (over 500 viruses), anti-virus programs and utilities, source listings for viruses, virus simulator programs, virus information programs and text, virus creation tools, and newsletters and literature related to viruses. Title of the cd is "The Collection Outlaws from America's Wild West." It was sold by American Eagle Publications, Inc. in Tucson, Arizona for "serious researchers and programmers who have a legitimate need to know the information it contains." The copyright date is 1996 and the release version is 2.00.
See related object 2017.3018.01
Location
Currently not on view
copyright date
1996
publisher; distributor
American Eagle Publications, Inc.
ID Number
2017.3018.02
nonaccession number
2017.3018
catalog number
2017.3018.02

Pamphlet, Axonometric Drawing . . . The Universal Picture Language

This small pamphlet by the engineer Paul F. Boehm describes the principles of axonometric drawing. It was distributed by John R. Cassell Company of New York and features instruments of Instrumaster, Industries, Inc. of Greenwich, Ct.Currently not on view
Description
This small pamphlet by the engineer Paul F. Boehm describes the principles of axonometric drawing. It was distributed by John R. Cassell Company of New York and features instruments of Instrumaster, Industries, Inc. of Greenwich, Ct.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1979.3074.29
catalog number
1979.3074.29
nonaccession number
1979.3074

Geometric Model Stand for an Ellipsoid by L. Brill or M. Schilling, III.4

This is one of a group of wooden stands, painted black, which are designed to hold models like those produced by Ludwig Brill and Martin Schilling. It is an elliptical ring. It is probably for model 1990.0571.04.Currently not on view
Description
This is one of a group of wooden stands, painted black, which are designed to hold models like those produced by Ludwig Brill and Martin Schilling. It is an elliptical ring. It is probably for model 1990.0571.04.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1879-1914
possible maker
Brill, L.
Schilling, Martin
ID Number
MA.304722.23.07
catalog number
304722.23.07
accession number
304722

Equinoctial Sundial by John Smith

This brass universal equinoctial ring dial consists of a meridian ring, hour ring, rotating crosspiece or bridge, and suspension ring/handle. The suspension ring looks like it should slide, but it does not in its current condition.
Description
This brass universal equinoctial ring dial consists of a meridian ring, hour ring, rotating crosspiece or bridge, and suspension ring/handle. The suspension ring looks like it should slide, but it does not in its current condition. The meridian ring is calibrated on one side for northern and southern latitudes from 90 to 0 to 84 by half-degree. The reverse contains an elongated nautical quadrant for solar altitude calibrated 0 to 90 by half-degree. The hour ring is calibrated on one side from I to XII x 2 by I. Each hour is divided into increments of 5 minutes; these divisions continue onto the inner edge of the hour ring. The bridge contains a pinhole gnomon sliding over a calendar scale calibrated by 3-letter abbreviations for the English months. There is a declination scale (20 to AE to 20 by 0.5) and zodiacal sign scale on verso. There is no list of cities on this dial. There were numerous John Smiths active in England, but this dial may have been made by the one who died in 1694. This sundial is a transfer from the Findlay Collection in the NMAH Division of Physical Sciences.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1600s
1600s?
maker
Smith, John
ID Number
MA.319946
catalog number
319946
accession number
239625

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