Science & Mathematics - Overview
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.
"Science & Mathematics - Overview" showing 65 items.
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Adams Reflecting Telescope
- Description
- This brass Gregorian telescope dates from the last quarter of the 18th century. It has a metal primary mirror 2⅜ inches diameter, and a smaller secondary that is adjusted by the rod that runs along the tube. The stand is adjustable in altitude and azimuth. The “G. Adams N˚ 60 / Fleet Street London” signature could refer to George Adams or to his son of the same name, both of whom worked at this address.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Adams, George
- ID Number
- PH*329778
- catalog number
- 329778
- accession number
- 283516
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Dollond Refracting Telescope with Divided Glass Micrometer
- Description
- This brass telescope has an achromatic objective of 2.75 inches aperture, a finder, several eyepieces, two telescoping braces, two control rods, a split objective micrometer, a brass equatorial mount, and a wooden tripod. The tube is 43.5 inches long. The faceplate at the eye end is marked “DOLLOND * LONDON.” For storage, the telescope fits into a mahogany box with a hinged lid.
- This seems to be an example of the brass telescope “of 3½ feet focal length, with an aperture of 2¾ inches, two eye tubes for Land Objects, and two tubes for Astronomical purposes” that George Dollond was offering in the 1830s. That instrument could be had with either a brass stand for use on a table, or “a mahogany folding stand, to be used on the Floor.” It could, moreover, be “supported in the centre of Gravity, and applied to a socket that may be turned to any latitude, so that the Telescope may have an Equatorial Motion” The complete outfit cost £50. The micrometer would be extra.
- The Dollond family began working as opticians in London in 1750, and gained fame in 1758 when John Dollond introduced his design for achromatic lenses. John Dollond was also responsible for the split objective micrometer.
- Ref: “A Description of a Contrivance for Measuring Small Angles, by Mr. John Dollond; Communicated by Mr. J. Short, F.R.S.,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 48 (1753): 178-181.
- “An Explanation of an Instrument for measuring small Angles, the first Account of which was read before the Royal Society May 10, 1753. By Mr. John Dollond,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 48 (1754): 551-564.
- George Dollond, A Catalogue of Optical, Mathematical, Philosophical Instruments (London, ca. 1830).
- Gloria Clifton, “Dollond Family,” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- probably 1760s
- maker
- Dollond
- ID Number
- 1979.1110.01
- accession number
- 1979.1110
- catalog number
- 79.1110.1
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Isometric Protractor Presented to Alexander Leslie
- Description
- This brass drawing instrument consists of a narrow 10" arm joined to a base (4-1/8" by 1-1/16") with a thumbscrew. The arm may be placed in two positions: horizontally and at 150° (30° if measuring an angle opening to the right). Since it only measures 30° angles, this device is an isometric protractor. An isometric protractor is used to create three-dimensional drawings by depicting an object from an angle at which the scales on the three axes are equal. The technique was popular in the 19th century for its simplicity and ease of use. In the 20th century, isometric projections were typically created on specialized graph paper marked with triangles. In the 21st century, isometric engineering drawings and the isometric protractors used to prepare them are both created with computers.
- The base of this protractor is engraved with a presentation mark: TO (/) Alexander Leslie C. E. (/) FROM (/) Mortimer Evans. Leslie (1844–1893) was a civil engineer who was especially known for constructing waterworks in Scotland. From 1871, he partnered with his father, James Leslie (1801–1889), in Edinburgh. James was the nephew of the mathematician John Leslie. He trained under the architect William H. Playfair and worked with George and John (Jr.) Rennie early in his career. He was a founding member of the British Institution of Civil Engineers. Alexander was elected to the society in 1869. In 1871, he was elected to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, while Mortimer Evans became a member of that institution in 1876. Little is known of Evans or of when and why he presented this isometric protractor to Leslie. Evans lived in Glasgow in the 1870s and then moved to the Piccadilly area of London, where he patented a precursor of a motion picture camera (with William Friese-Greene) in 1889.
- The protractor is stored in a leather case lined with blue satin and blue velvet. The lid of the case has a protrusion to accommodate the thumbscrew.
- References: William Farish, "On Isometrical Perspective," Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 1 (1822); William Ford Stanley, Mathematical Drawing and Measuring Instruments, 6th ed. (London, 1888), 268; Catalog of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 12th ed. (Chicago, 1926), 41, 44; Institution of Civil Engineers, "Alexander Leslie," Minutes of the Proceedings 116 (1894): 366–368.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1870
- recipient
- Leslie, Alexander
- producer
- Evans, Mortimer
- ID Number
- 1983.0474.01
- accession number
- 1983.0474
- catalog number
- 1983.0474.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Mathematical Tables, Automatic Arithmetic: A New System for Multiplication and Division without Mental Labour and without the Use of Logarithms
- Description
- The title of this bound set of tables well describes the goal of the author. Printed in gold color on the front of the reddish brown binding, it reads: AUTOMATIC ARITHMETIC: (/) A NEW SYSTEM (/) FOR (/) MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION (/) WITHOUT MENTAL LABOUR (/) AND (/) WITHOUT THE USE OF LOGARITHMS. In 1879, when the book was published, London accountants like the author John Sawyer multiplied and divided large numbers by consulting tables of logarithms. They or their clerks also carried out calculations by hand. However, the results obtained from logarithm tables were only approximate, and hand calculations might be erroneous. Calculating machines had sold commercially in England from the 1850s, but they were expensive and required maintenance.
- As an alternative, Sawyer proposed and patented his system of “automatic arithmetic.” This was an unusually designed arrangement of multiplication tables that allowed one to read off the partial products needed to solve multiplication problems.
- Sawyer’s system consisted of eighteen pages of instructions bound with ten sheets of heavier paper. Each of these heavier pieces is cut horizontally to form nine rows. The topmost and shortest strip of paper has the digits from 1 to 9 in one row and then a row of nine 00s. The eight other strips on this page simply have a row of nine 00s. The figures in each succeeding row are shifted one place to the right from those immediately above them.
- On the second page of the tables, the slips are slightly longer and are marked 1 on the right end. The topmost slip has the digits from 1 to 9 in a row, as well as a row of multiples of 1 running from 01 to 09. The slips below it have the multiples of 1, shifted one place to the right in each successive row. Similarly, the third page has still longer slips, marked 2 on the right end. The topmost slip has the digits from 1 to 9 in a row, and then multiples of two. The slips below this have multiples of two, shifted one place to the right from the row above. The remaining slips follow a similar pattern.
- To multiply using the tables, one turns the top pile of slips to the slips for the leftmost digit of the multiplicand, the slips in the second pile to the second digit of the number and so forth. To multiply by a single digit, one adds the partial products found on the slips turned. Further instructions suggest how the slips can be used to multiply by larger number of digits and to divide.
- Sawyer obtained patents for his invention in the United Kingdom in 1877 and in the United States in 1879. It was advertised in the British journal The Accountant, and reviewed there and in Nature. This example was from the library of Brooklyn mathematics teacher, collector and historian of mathematics L. Leland Locke. There is no indication that the product proved popular.
- References:
- John Sawyer, “Improvement in the Means of Obtaining Arithmetical Results,” U.S. Patent 208037, September 17, 1878.
- The Accountant, vol. 4, #189, (July 20, 1878), p. 1; #191 (August 10, 1878), p. 9. The second reference is the review.
- Nature, July 25, 1878, p. 327.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1878
- ID Number
- 2011.0129.03
- accession number
- 2011.0129
- catalog number
- 2011.0129.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Protractor Signed by Cox
- Description
- This semicircular brass protractor is graduated to half-degrees. It is marked by tens from 10° to 170° in both directions, from left to right and from right to left. A brass rectangle with a curved notch has been soldered on at the origin point. The rectangle contains a small hole for locating the vertex of the angle being measured. The base of the protractor bears the maker's mark: W. C. Cox, Devonport. The letters DB are scratched near the maker's mark.
- William Charles Cox, a British instrument maker who worked in Plymouth and Devonport, had his shop in Devonport from 1830 to 1851. He presumably made this protractor during that period. The Smithsonian purchased this instrument in 1959 from the estate of Henry Russell Wray via an auction conducted by Maggs Bros. Ltd. of London.
- Reference: Gloria Clifton, Directory of British Scientific Instrument Makers 1550-1851 (London: National Maritime Museum, 1995), 69–70.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1840
- maker
- Cox, William Charles
- ID Number
- MA*316927
- accession number
- 228694
- catalog number
- 316927
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Blunt Reflecting Telescope
- Description
- This is a brass Gregorian telescope with a speculum metal mirror 3¾ inches diameter. The rod that runs along the tube serves to adjust the smaller secondary mirror. The “T. Blunt, London” signature refers to Thomas Blunt, an instrument maker who worked on his own from 1794 to 1823, or to his son of the same name, who worked for a year or two later.
- Location
- Currently on loan
- date made
- 1794-1824
- maker
- Blunt, Thomas
- ID Number
- PH*329777
- accession number
- 283516
- catalog number
- 329777
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Bow Compass with Pen Point
- Description
- This steel drawing compass has a hexagonal brass handle. The width of the instrument is adjusted with a small brass nut on the outside of the leg with the needle point. A second screw adjusts the width of the pen point. This object resembles the bow compasses made by Stanley around 1860 that are depicted in Michael Scott Scott, Drawing Instruments (Haverfordwest, UK: Shire Publications Ltd., 1986), 10.
- Reference: J. F. Heather, Mathematical Instruments: Their Construction, Adjustment, Testing, and Use, rev. ed. (London: Crosby Lockwood and Co., 1870), i:15–16.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1860
- ID Number
- 1978.2110.11
- catalog number
- 1978.2110.11
- accession number
- 1978.2110
- catalog number
- 336737
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Magnetometer
- Description
- This instrument, a lighter and more robust version of the standard unifilar magnetometer used at the Kew Observatory, was designed by H. A. Denholm Fraser for the Magnetic Survey of India. Features include scales graduated on optical glass, and a phosphor-bronze ribbon to suspend the magnet. This example is marked "T. COOKE & SONS LTD. LONDON & YORK. No. 26" and "U.S.C.& G.S. No. 40." It was used at the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey's magnetic observatory in Honolulu from 1927 to the 1950s. The U.S. Geological Survey acquired it in 1973, when it took over the geomagnetic program of the federal government, and transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1982.
- Thomas Cooke began in business in York, England, in 1837. The firm became T. Cooke & Sons in 1868, and T. Cooke & Sons Ltd. in 1897. A merger with Troughton & Simms Ltd. in 1922, led to the formation of Cooke, Troughton & Simms Ltd.
- Photograph 82-15291 shows this magnetometer fitted with the induction apparatus developed by J. H. Nelson in 1938.
- Ref: H. A. Denholm Fraser, "The Unifilar Magnetometer of the Magnetic Survey of India," Terrestrial Magnetism 6 (1901): 65-69.
- T. Cooke & Sons, Illustrated Catalogue of Surveying Instruments, etc. (London, 1907), pp. 62-63.
Anita McConnell, Instrument Makers to the World. A History of Cooke, Troughton & Simms (York, 1992), pp. 69-70.
- maker
- T. Cooke & Sons Ltd.
- ID Number
- 1982.0671.02
- accession number
- 1982.0671
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Summit Adding Machine
- Description
- By the mid-20th century, printing adding machines with a block of ten keys sold much more cheaply than full-keyboard machines. Mindful that it was losing sales, Burroughs Adding Machine Company of Detroit set out to manufacture its own ten-key machine. The Burroughs Patent Division acquired examples and blueprints of a recently introduced British adding machine, the Summit.
- This manually operated example of the Summit has a steel case painted gray, a block of 12 number keys (for the 12 digits in Sterling currency), four keys on the right, and a “COR” key on the left. The metal crank on the right has a wooden handle. A place indicator is above the keyboard. The machine allows one to enter numbers up to nine digits long and prints nine-digit totals. The printing mechanism with paper tape is at the back. The paper tape is 6 cm. (2-3/8”) wide, with a serrated edge for tearing it off. A metal plate at the top lifts off for access to the mechanism and the black ribbon. The machine has wheels on the left and the right to advance the platen.
- The machine is marked on the front: Summit. It is also marked there: MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN. It has serial number: #1885. A red Burroughs Patent Department tag attached to the machine reads: #300.
- Compare to 1982.0794.77.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1950
- ID Number
- 1982.0794.76
- maker number
- #1885
- accession number
- 1982.0794
- catalog number
- 1982.0794.76
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Summit Adding Machine
- Description
- By the mid-20th century, printing adding machines with a block of ten keys sold much more cheaply than full-keyboard machines. Mindful that it was losing sales, Burroughs Adding Machine Company of Detroit set out to manufacture its own ten-key machine. The Burroughs Patent Division acquired examples and blueprints of a recently introduced British adding machine, the Summit.
- This manually operated machine has 11 white plastic keys numbered 1 to 11 (for Sterling currency), as well as a 0 bar. Four black keys are on the right and a correction key is on the left. A place indicator is above the keyboard and a printing mechanism behind it. This includes a paper tape 6 cm. (2 3/8”) wide, a black ribbon, and a serrated edge for tearing the paper tape. The rightmost type bar prints symbols. A metal cover fits over the ribbon and mechanism. Left and right wheels turn the tape and advance the paper. A place for a crank exists, but no crank is present. The machine allows one to enter numbers up to nine digits long and prints nine-digit totals.
- The machine is marked on the front: Summit. It is also marked there: MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN. It has serial number: #1895. A red Burroughs Patent Department tag attached to the machine reads: #300. Compare to 1982.0794.76.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1950
- ID Number
- 1982.0794.77
- maker number
- 1895
- accession number
- 1982.0794
- catalog number
- 1982.0794.77
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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