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.

Leaflet, Directions for Using Woody-McCall Mixed Fundamentals Forms III and IV

American psychologists Clifford Woody (1884-1948) and William A. McCall (1891-1982) wrote these directions. Both men studied in the education department at Teachers College, and both received their PhDs in 1916. McCall would stay on the faculty at Columbia.
Description
American psychologists Clifford Woody (1884-1948) and William A. McCall (1891-1982) wrote these directions. Both men studied in the education department at Teachers College, and both received their PhDs in 1916. McCall would stay on the faculty at Columbia. Woody spent most of his career at the University of Michigan as Director of the Bureau of Educational Reference and Research.
Woody and McCall published Forms I and II of their test of fundamental processes in arithmetic in 1920. Forms III and IV were prepared in 1923 - Form III paralleled Form I and Form IV paralleled Form II. The directions describe in detail how the test is to be given to a group of students, procedures for marking, methods for finding the median class score, and standard scores on the test for the beginning of the class year.
For related materials, see 1989.0710.01 (Form I) and 1989.0710.02 (Form II).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1923
maker
Columbia University. Teachers College
ID Number
1990.0034.167
catalog number
1990.0034.167
accession number
1990.0034

Keuffel & Esser 4070-3 Polyphase Duplex Trig Slide Rule

This ten-inch mahogany duplex slide rule is coated with white celluloid and held together with metal endpieces that are significantly corroded. On one side, the base has DF, D, and L scales, with CF, CIF, CI, and C scales on the slide.
Description
This ten-inch mahogany duplex slide rule is coated with white celluloid and held together with metal endpieces that are significantly corroded. On one side, the base has DF, D, and L scales, with CF, CIF, CI, and C scales on the slide. The top of the base is marked in faded red: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO.; PATS. 2,500,460 2,168,056 2,170,144 PAT. PEND.; MADE IN U.S.A. The right end of the slide is marked in red: © (/) K + E; < 4070-3 >. On the other side, the base has K, A, D, and DI scales, with B, T, ST, and S scales on the slide. The left end of the slide has a serial number: 952594. The top and bottom of the base are both marked at the left end: 594. The indicator is glass with plastic edges; it is so corroded that it has fallen apart and is no longer on the rule.
There is a green leather case with white inlays on the holder for the flap. The flap is marked: K + E. Inside the flap is written in ink: Jeffery (/) Smith (/) P 68. An orange chamois case holds a magnifier with two lenses and a metal frame. On one side, the frame is marked: K + E. On the other side, the frame is marked: PAT. NO. 2556806. A green cardboard box, missing one end, holds the rule, its case, the magnifier, and its case.
For information on the patents on the rule, see 1993.0482.01 and 2007.0181.01. Paul E. Gaire of Manasquan, N.J., received a patent for the magnifier in 1951, replacing his earlier attempt at a magnifier, which could only be used on one side of a slide rule at a time. This double magnifier was first advertised in Keuffel & Esser's 1954 catalog and first pictured in the 1962 catalog; it sold for $5.50. K&E sold this version of the model 4070-3 slide rule from 1952 to 1962, at a price of $20.50.
References: Paul E. Gaire, "Magnifying Runner for Slide Rules" (U.S. Patent 2,556,806 issued June 12, 1951); K + E Catalog, 42nd ed. (New York: Keuffel & Esser Co., 1954), 276–277; Keuffel & Esser Co., Slide Rules, Catalog 8 (Hoboken, N.J., 1962), 29–30; Clark McCoy, ed., "K&E Catalogs and Price Lists for Slide Rules," http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/KEmain.htm.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1954-1962
maker
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
1990.0317.03
catalog number
1990.0317.03
accession number
1990.0317

Psychological Test, Terman-Mcnemar Test Of Mental Ability, Form C

Lewis M. Terman (1877-1956) and his student and then colleague at Stanford University Quinn McNemar (1900-1986), coauthored this intelligence test, which was copyrighted by World Book Company in 1941.
Description
Lewis M. Terman (1877-1956) and his student and then colleague at Stanford University Quinn McNemar (1900-1986), coauthored this intelligence test, which was copyrighted by World Book Company in 1941. It is a revision of Terman’s Group Test of Mental Ability, a test first published in the 1920s (for an example see MA.316371.065). As the name suggests, these tests were administered to students in groups rather than individually. This version focused particularly on verbal ability. It was designed for students in grades seven through twelve. The test had seven parts – information, synonyms, logical selection, classification, analogies, opposites, and best answers.
Reference:
Boring, Edwin G. “Lewis Madison Terman 1877-1956,” Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, 1959.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1941
publisher
World Book Company
author
Terman, Lewis M.
ID Number
1990.0034.101
catalog number
1990.0034.101
accession number
1990.0034

Psychological Test, Progressive Reading Tests - Advanced Form A

Ernest W. Tiegs (1891-1970), the coauthor of this diagnostic test of reading, was born in Wisconsin.
Description
Ernest W. Tiegs (1891-1970), the coauthor of this diagnostic test of reading, was born in Wisconsin. He served as a principal and superintendent in the public schools of Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota; and also did graduate work in education at the University of Minnesota, completing his M.A. in 1921 and his PhD. in 1927. He then went to the University of Southern California as a member of the faculty in education and head of the university college, the downtown division of USC. By 1945, Tiegs was the editor-in-chief of the California Test Bureau. He would later be affiliated with Los Angeles State College (now California State University Los Angeles).
Willis W. Clark (1895-1964), the other author, received his A.B. (1916), A.M. (1918) and doctorate in education (1941) from the University of Southern California. He held a variety of positions in the Los Angeles public schools and at USC. He developed a diagnostic test in fundamentals of arithmetic for the L.A. Schools, and his wife, Ethel M. Clark, set out to market it to school districts around the country. The following year, she received an order from the Kansas City schools, and the California Test Bureau was born. Both Tiegs and Willis Clark published their tests with the company and would serve as administrators for it.
This particular object is the 1943 edition of the Progressive Reading Tests – Advance Form A. The test is copyrighted 1934, 1937, and 1943. It is intended for grades nine through adults.
References:
Ernest Walter Tiegs,A Study of Common School Support in the State of New Jersey M.A. Dissertation, University of Minnesota, 1921 – published in “Studies in “Public School Finance: The East”, Research Publications of the University of Minnesota, Education Series No.2, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota,1923, pp. 160-210.
Ernest W. Tiegs, An Evaluation of Some Techniques of Teacher Selection, PhD. Dissertation, University of Minnesota, 1927.
U.S. Congress, Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 88th Congress, Part I, vol. 109, Part 15, pp. 20274-20275.
“U.S.C. Completes Faculty,” Los Angeles Times, August 14, 1927. The article lists new appointments at the University of Southern California. Ernest W. Tiegs of the Minneapolis public schools has been named assistant professor of education and head of university college.
Mark Walsh, “Quiz Biz,” Education Week, June 16, 1999 The article discusses the history of businesses marketing tests in the U.S. It may be found online (accessed May 2020).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1943
author
Clark, Willis W.
Tiegs, Ernest W.
maker
California Test Bureau
ID Number
1989.0710.40
catalog number
1989.0710.40
accession number
1989.0710

Sheets, Instructions for the Kent Emergency Test (E-G-Y)

These sheets give instructions for administering the Kent E-G-Y test.Materials relating to the Kent E-G-Y Test comprise 1979.0710.12, 1979.0710.13, and 1979.0710.14.
Description
These sheets give instructions for administering the Kent E-G-Y test.
Materials relating to the Kent E-G-Y Test comprise 1979.0710.12, 1979.0710.13, and 1979.0710.14. Other tests relating to Kent have numbers MA.316372.01, MA.316372.02, MA.316372.07, MA.316372.19, and MA.316372.20.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1932
maker
Kent, Grace Helen
ID Number
1989.0710.14
accession number
1989.0710
catalog number
1989.0710.14

Pamphlet, Michigan Vocabulary Profile Test Directions

These are the instructions for the 1949 revision of a test first published in 1939 by Edward Barrows Greene of the University of Michigan. See 1989.0710.24 for further information and references.Currently not on view
Description
These are the instructions for the 1949 revision of a test first published in 1939 by Edward Barrows Greene of the University of Michigan. See 1989.0710.24 for further information and references.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1949
maker
World Book Company
ID Number
1990.0034.165
catalog number
1990.0034.165
accession number
1990.0034

Sheets, Toops Scoring Pad. Form 21

In the years following World War I, as the number of students taking psychological tests expanded and as data processing companies like IBM sought new markets for their equipment, more efficient forms for recording and scoring written psychological tests developed.
Description
In the years following World War I, as the number of students taking psychological tests expanded and as data processing companies like IBM sought new markets for their equipment, more efficient forms for recording and scoring written psychological tests developed. Born and raised in Ohio, Herbert Anderson Toops (1895-1972) earned B.S. and B.A. from Ohio State University and was beginning graduate studies at the time of the outbreak of World War I. He became familiar with mass testing programs during that war, when he worked on trade tests in the U.S. Army. Afterward, he continued this research, writing a PhD. dissertation at Teachers College of Columbia University. In 1923, he returned to Ohio State to serve on the faculty, rising to the rank of professor in 1927 and staying until his retirement in 1965. Toops and his students also promoted the spread of aptitude testing in the Ohio schools. In the mid-1930s, Toops patented this score sheet for recording the results of tests. This example was sold by Science Research Associates.
References:
H.A. Toops, “Trade Tests in Education, The Journal of Educational Research, 1922, vol. 6, pp. 74-75.
Herbert A. Toops, “Examination Conducting Device,” U.S. Patent 2,052,369, August 25, 1936.
Herbert A. Toops Papers, Ohio State University Archives, Columbus, Ohio.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1936
maker
Science Research Assoc. Inc.
ID Number
1989.0710.19
accession number
1989.0710
catalog number
1989.0710.19

Radium secondary gamma-ray standard, 0.100x10E-6 gm

Background on secondary gamma-ray standards, Object IDs 1994.0125.55, .56, .57, & .58Instruments used for radiation detection, measurements, or surveys need to be calibrated periodically.
Description
Background on secondary gamma-ray standards, Object IDs 1994.0125.55, .56, .57, & .58
Instruments used for radiation detection, measurements, or surveys need to be calibrated periodically. A radioactive source (not necessarily calibrated) is used to confirm the satisfactory operation of an instrument. A standard source is a radiation source exhibiting a disintegration (e.g., disintegrations per second or dps), emission or exposure rate certified by or traceable to the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), formerly the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). NIST maintains the primary radiation sources, and makes available and/or certifies secondary sources for instrument calibration. For details on survey instrument calibration, see:
http://www.rso.utah.edu/policies/rpr/52instrucare/52instrucare.pdf
Detailed description of Radium secondary gamma-ray standard, 0.100x10E-6 gm, Object 1994.0125.58
(One of the accompanying] photographs provided by donor, Prof. Herbert Clark, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.)
Flat-bottomed glass ampoule, approximately 3 1/8” long, 5/8” diam., held by cotton wool in a test-tube shaped container capped by a shiny steel screw-cap, 5 ¾” long, 7/8” diam. The ampoule is more than two-thirds full of colorless liquid. The ampoule bears a legend printed on the glass: “0.1 Micro gms. / Radium”. The top of the containing tube bears an adhesive label with the following words printed: “CAUTION / [symbol] / RADIOACTIVE / MATERIAL”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1947
maker
National Bureau of Standards
ID Number
1994.0125.58
accession number
1994.0125
catalog number
1994.0125.58

Psychological Test, Barrett-Ryan-Schrammel English Test: New Edition

In about 1914, the State Board of Administration of the Kansas public schools established a Bureau of Educational Measurements and Standards at the Kansas State Teachers College (now Emporia State University). The director was Walter S. Munroe.
Description
In about 1914, the State Board of Administration of the Kansas public schools established a Bureau of Educational Measurements and Standards at the Kansas State Teachers College (now Emporia State University). The director was Walter S. Munroe. The goals of the bureau were to make tests and scales available to schools of the state, to establish state standards, to devise new tests, and to investigate problems of school administration. Reports of the work of the organization appeared in annual volumes of studies, and tests were published under the rubric of the bureau. Monroe would soon move on to the University of Illinois, and Henry E. Schrammel (1883-1964) took his place as head of the Bureau. Schrammel, born in Kansas, had graduated from Northwestern College in Illinois (1912), began educational work, and took summer school classes, receiving a masters from Teachers College of Columbia University in 1923 and completing his doctorate at Ohio State University in 1925. From 1924 he was on the faculty in psychology at Kansas State Teachers College. He would coauthor numerous tests for a wide range of school subjects in addition to English.
Edwin R. Barrett (1871-1961) and Teresa M. Ryan of the English Department at Kansas State first coauthored a version of this test in about 1929. Born in Indiana, Barrett had received his undergraduate degree from Park College, and his master’s (1905) from the University of Kansas. He taught at a normal school in Missouri and then at Kansas State. Ryan graduated from the University of Wisconsin (1911) and Columbia University. She then joined the faculty in English at Kansas State, teaching there until her retirement in 1952. Schrammel first joined Ryan and Barrett as a coauthor in the 1938 edition of the exam. It, like the materials relating to the 1954 version of the test cataloged here, was published by World Book Company, not in Kansas.
The documents relate to form DM of the test. Included are two scoring keys, one for page 1 and one for page 2, as well as a blank machine-readable answer sheet. There is no example of the test.
References
Barrett, E.R., The Dramatic Use of Madness, M.A. Thesis, University of Kansas, 1905 . This degree is in English.
Barrett, E.R. and T.M. Ryan, The Barrett-Ryan Literature Test, Emporia: Bureau of Educational Measurements and Standards, ca. 1929.
Barrett, E.R. and T.M. Ryan, English Test, Emporia: Bureau of Educational Measurements and Standards, ca. 1929.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1954
publisher
World Book Company
ID Number
1990.0034.105
catalog number
1990.0034.105
accession number
1990.0034

Stanley Folding Rule with Caliper

This four-fold boxwood rule has a brass arch joint at the center and two brass hinges. Unfolded, it measures 31.2 cm W x 1.2 cm D x 0.5 cm H. Both sides are marked: No 32. The scales on both sides are numbered by ones from 11 to 1.
Description
This four-fold boxwood rule has a brass arch joint at the center and two brass hinges. Unfolded, it measures 31.2 cm W x 1.2 cm D x 0.5 cm H. Both sides are marked: No 32. The scales on both sides are numbered by ones from 11 to 1. On one side, the rule is divided to 1/16" along the top edge and to 1/12" along the bottom edge.
The other side is divided to 1/8" along the top edge and to 1/10" along the bottom edge. A brass caliper slides out from the right end of the rule. Both sides are divided to 1/16" and marked: 1, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4. The underside and the slot in the rule are also marked: 58. The divisions are all roughly made; the instrument does not appear to be machine-divided.
The Stanley Rule & Level Company of New Britain, Conn., offered model number 32 from 1859 to 1941. The shape of caliper jaw found on this instrument was introduced between 1888 and 1892. An illustration from a 1919 Stanley catalog indicates that the company name was stamped on the ruler by that time. A similar folding pocket rule with caliper is advertised as model number 1752 in Catalog of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 7th ed. (Chicago, 1904), 167. Its price was 60¢. The Department of Entomology at the National Museum of Natural History used this rule to study its collections.
Reference: Philip E. Stanley, Boxwood & Ivory: Stanley Traditional Rules, 1855–1975 (Westborough, Mass.: Stanley Publishing Company, 1984), 95–96.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1892
maker
Stanley Works
ID Number
1990.0099.01
accession number
1990.0099
catalog number
1990.0099.01

Psychological Test, A Test in Civic Action

Howard C. Hill (1878-1940) and Howard E.
Description
Howard C. Hill (1878-1940) and Howard E. Wilson (1901-1966) developed this test of twenty multiple choice questions for students in grades six through twelve.Questions describe situations for which government intervention is appropriate, and the student is asked to select from among four choices the agency that should be consulted. This copy of the test is undated, although it was advertised as a relatively new product in 1930.
For biographical information about Hill, see 1990.0034.152. Illinois-born Wilson attended the University of Illinois briefly before obtaining his undergraduate degree (1923) and master’s (1928) from the University of Chicago. He then went on to Harvard University where he earned his doctorate in education (1931), writing his dissertation on social studies in the junior high school. Wilson taught school during his years a graduate student, including time at the Lincoln School where Hill taught. He went on to serve on the faculty of the Harvard school of education and then, in 1957, became dean of the school of education at the University of Southern California.
References:
Holmes, Roger Franklin, Inventory Test of American Government and Politics for High School Seniors, M.A. Dissertation, Boston University, 1934, p. 30-32.
"[Advertisement – Public School Publishing Company]," The Journal of Educational Research, 1930, 22 # 4, front matter. [Accessed May 11, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/27525237].
"Howard Eugene Wilson, Education: Los Angeles," In memoriam, May 1969, Berkeley: University of California, Academic Senate. See
University of California (System) Academic Senate, “1969, University of California, In Memorium,” UC History Digital Archives. University Archives, The Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley.
Location
Currently not on view
author
Wilson, H. E.
Hill, Howard C.
publisher
Public School Publishing Company
ID Number
1990.0034.153
catalog number
1990.0034.153
accession number
1990.0034

Geometric Model, L. Brill No. 4. Ser. 10,1. 3, Ellipsoid Divided along a Circular Crossection

This white plaster ellipsoid is divided in two along a circle that makes an angle of about 45 degrees with the major axis of the ellipse.
Description
This white plaster ellipsoid is divided in two along a circle that makes an angle of about 45 degrees with the major axis of the ellipse. Two metal rods protruding from the right portion fit into metal-lined holes in the left portion.
A tag on the model reads: Ellipsoid mit Kreisschitt. (/) Ver. v. L. Brill 10. S. 1. Nachtr. Nr.3. Another tag reads: D41,11. A stand with number MA.304722.23 also is marked D41,11.
This series of models was designed at the technical high school in Munich under the direction of Alexander Brill, and originally published in 1885.
Reference:
L. Brill, Catalog, 1892, p. 21, 57, 91
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1885-1900
maker
Brill, L.
ID Number
1990.0571.02
catalog number
1990.0571.02
accession number
1990.0571

Pamphlet, Trades Interest Questionnaire. Test No. 10a

In 1946, the U.S. Civil Service Commission began using the Trades Interest Questionnaire to determine the vocational interest of prospective apprentices. Subjects were to fill out the test before coming to the official Civil Service examination.
Description
In 1946, the U.S. Civil Service Commission began using the Trades Interest Questionnaire to determine the vocational interest of prospective apprentices. Subjects were to fill out the test before coming to the official Civil Service examination. This is the 1952 version of the test, developed for wider use in response to the outbreak of the Korean War. Subjects were to indicate their preferences by circling an L (for like), a D (for dislike), or and I (for indifferent). They also were to indicate a W or W* if they were well-informed on a matter, a S or S* if they had some information or ideas about a condition, and an N or N* of they had no or little information about a task or condition.
Results of the Trades Interest Test (1990.0034.096) were plotted on the Trades Interest Profile (1990.0034.097). Instructions for use also were available (see 1990.0034.098).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1952
publisher
U.S. Civil Service Commission
ID Number
1990.0034.096
catalog number
1990.0034.096
accession number
1990.0034

Psychological Test, Test for Developmental Age. Form B-3

Paul Hanley Furfey (1896-1992) was raised in a Catholic family in Cambridge, Massachusetts, attended Boston College, and pursued graduate work in psychology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. There he studied under Thomas V.
Description
Paul Hanley Furfey (1896-1992) was raised in a Catholic family in Cambridge, Massachusetts, attended Boston College, and pursued graduate work in psychology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. There he studied under Thomas V. Moore, who took particular interest in clinical psychology, particularly as used in assisting the development of children. Furfey developed some interest in this area, but also pursued his interests in languages, the priesthood, and social justice. His PhD. dissertation at CUA concerned gangs and the sociology of teenaged boys. On completing his degree, he joined the department of sociology at Catholic University.
Furfey’s investigations pointed up striking differences in the behavior of children with similar scores on intelligence tests (then given as “mental age”). To measure the maturity of children, he introduced the concept of “developmental age” and published this test for it with C.H. Stoelting Company of Chicago in 1931. The scale consisted of 196 items, divided into six tests. In every instance, the child (a boy) was to select a preference between two possibilities. Test 1 listed pairs of “things to do,” Test 2 “things to be when you grow up,” Test 3 “books to read,” Test 4 “things to have,” Test 5 “things to see,” and Test 5 “things to think about.” In this version of the test, test takers indicated a 1 or a 2 to indicate their preferences.
For related materials, see MA.316371.011 and MA.316372.21.
References:
Furfey, P. H., “Developmental Age,” American Journal of Psychiatry, 85 #1, 1928, pp. 149-157.
Furfey, P. H., "A Revised Scale for Measuring Developmental Age in Boys." Child Development, 1931, 2, no. 2, pp. 102-14. Accessed April 9, 2020
Rademacher, Nicholas K., Paul Hanly Furfey: Priest, Scientist, Reformer, New York: Fordham University Press, 2017.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1931
maker
C. H. Stoelting Company
ID Number
1990.0034.032
accession number
1990.0034
catalog number
1990.0034.032

Carrel flask

Min Chueh Chang (1908–1991) used this Carrel flask in his laboratory at the Worchester Foundation for Experimental Biology.
Description (Brief)
Min Chueh Chang (1908–1991) used this Carrel flask in his laboratory at the Worchester Foundation for Experimental Biology. While Chang is perhaps best remembered for his role in the development of oral contraceptives in the early 1950s, he spent most of his career studying mammalian fertilization. His groundbreaking research with rabbits, hamsters, and other small mammals laid the foundation for the 1978 birth of the first human child conceived through in vitro fertilization.
In a 1959 paper detailing the procedure for rabbit in vitro fertilization, Chang described using Carrel flasks of 1.5 mL volume as the primary vessels for fertilization. Rabbit eggs and sperm united in the flask, placed on a gently rocking platform, and incubated for several hours. Eggs were then removed and transferred to a larger 8 mL Carrel flask and again incubated. These eggs were later removed and examined under a microscope to identify those which had been successfully fertilized, and had begun division and could therefore be implanted into recipient rabbit mothers.
From the 1920s through the 1950s biologists and medical researchers made a concerted effort to solve the problem of tissue culture—how to raise and maintain cells for scientific research. Part of the challenge was to create a home outside the body in which cells could survive.
Early methods of cell culture relied on the hanging-drop technique, in which tissue grew in a plasma clot suspended from a glass slide. The hanging-drop technique, however, posed several problems: cells in a clot were difficult to view under the microscope, cultures could not grow to a large size, and specimens were prone to contamination.
To address these issues, surgeon Alexis Carrel (1873–1944) of the Rockefeller Institute developed a new vessel for tissue culture, which came to bear his name. The Carrel flask featured an angled neck to prevent airborne particles from falling into the flask when it was open. Technicians could also sterilized the neck with a flame both before and after adding or removing nutrient broth.
The flask’s round flat base and in some cases, the use of thin, optically optimized glass facilitated the viewing of specimens under a microscope without removing them from their vessel.
Sources:
Carrel, Alexis. “Tissue Culture and Cell Physiology.” Physiological Reviews 4, no. 1 (1924): 1–20.
Chang, M. C. “Fertilization of Rabbit Ova in Vitro.” Nature 184, no. 4684 (1959): 466–67. doi:10.1038/184466a0.
Greep, Roy O. Min Chueh Chang 1908–1991. Washington D.C.: National Academies Press, 1995. http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/chang-m-c.pdf.
Landecker, Hannah. Culturing Life: How Cells Became Technologies. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2007.
National Museum of American History Accession File #1992.0555
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1950s-1960s
ID Number
1992.0555.074
catalog number
1992.0555.074
accession number
1992.0555

C-Thru Hinged Parallel Rule

This clear plastic ruler has two aluminum hinges and small positioning knobs that may be tightened or loosened. The lower left and upper right corners of the blades are marked: 18". The hinges are marked: THE C-THRU RULER CO. (/) BLOOMFIELD, CONN. U.S.A.
Description
This clear plastic ruler has two aluminum hinges and small positioning knobs that may be tightened or loosened. The lower left and upper right corners of the blades are marked: 18". The hinges are marked: THE C-THRU RULER CO. (/) BLOOMFIELD, CONN. U.S.A. Six circular slices of cork on the bottom of the instrument protect the surface on which it is used.
Teacher Jennie Zachs established the C-Thru Ruler Company of Hartford, Conn., in 1939. Although the firm was acquired by Acme United Corporation in 2012, it continues to make drafting tools and drawing instruments, including an aluminum version of this instrument. For other C-Thru products, see 1984.1071.12 and 1988.0807.02.
References: Brian Dowling, "Acme United Acquires Bloomfield's C-Thru Ruler," Hartford Courant, June 11, 2012; "About Us," C-Thru Ruler Company, http://www.cthruruler.com/.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 20th century
maker
C-Thru Ruler Company
ID Number
1990.3130.01
catalog number
1990.3130.01
nonaccession number
1990.3130

Bow Compass with Pencil Point Sold by Keuffel & Esser

This tarnished German silver bow pencil has a ring connecting the instrument to its ridged cylindrical handle. It is marked: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. (/) GERMANY. The disc adjusting the instrument's width is between the legs.
Description
This tarnished German silver bow pencil has a ring connecting the instrument to its ridged cylindrical handle. It is marked: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. (/) GERMANY. The disc adjusting the instrument's width is between the legs. Thumbscrews on the back of one leg and the front of the other permit adjustments to the height of the pencil and pricker points. The instrument has no pencil lead.
The instrument does not appear in K&E's 1892 or 1909 catalogs. K&E sold a similar bow compass from at least 1921 to at least 1936, but that instrument was made in the United States and had bolts in each leg at the ends of the bow screw. Therefore, this object may have been imported before 1892.
References: Catalogue and Price-List of Keuffel & Esser Co., 36th ed. (New York, 1921), 92s; Catalogue and Price-List of Keuffel & Esser Co., 38th ed. (New York, 1936), 141.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
maker
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
1991.0793.02
accession number
1991.0793
catalog number
1991.0793.02

Model Associated with an Invention of James Powers, #310

This wooden model is associated with inventor James Powers. It is roughly the shape of a trapezoid, with a curved and notched bottom edge. It may be a pattern used to make a mold, which in turn were used to make pieces of this shape.
Description
This wooden model is associated with inventor James Powers. It is roughly the shape of a trapezoid, with a curved and notched bottom edge. It may be a pattern used to make a mold, which in turn were used to make pieces of this shape. The phrase "one off" indicates that one piece of the given shape is to be made. The phrase "hard compo" suggests that it was to be made from a hard composition plastic. The number on the pattern does not match up with the numbers of the parts of Powers tabulating equipment shown in 1992.3214.03.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1991.0871.04
accession number
1991.0871
catalog number
1991.0871.04

Victor Automatic Calculator

This ten-key electric printing adding machine has a brown metal and plastic frame with brown keys. The block of nine number keys has a 0 bar below it, and a subtraction bar and a blank bar to its right..
Description
This ten-key electric printing adding machine has a brown metal and plastic frame with brown keys. The block of nine number keys has a 0 bar below it, and a subtraction bar and a blank bar to its right.. A lever is in the right front corner and a red button in the upper right corner. To the left of the number keys are a clearance lever, a N (/) R lever, and a lever for which one setting is x. The place indicator is over the keyboard, and the printing mechanism, carriage, paper tape, and motor behind it. The machine allows one to enter 11 (possibly 12)-digit numbers and print 12 (possibly 13)-digit totals. In addition to numbers, the printing mechanism prints decimal markers and labels on both the right and the left of the numbers. A serrated edge helps to tear off the paper tape. The brown rubber cord is separate.
The model number is 76 86 54. The serial number is 2930-987. Dated from Smithsonian tag number. Walter J. Smith, who was a supply technician in Exhibits Production at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History from February 1979 to September 1994, used the machine.
Reference:
NOMDA’s Blue Book: Approximate January 1st Ages Adding Machines and Calculator Retail Prices, November, 1980, p. 57.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1967
maker
Victor Comptometer Corporation
ID Number
1995.3069.01
maker number
2930987
nonaccession number
1995.3069
catalog number
1995.3069.01

Psychological Test, Dearborn Form Board

This wooden puzzle has nine holes which hold one or more pieces each. There are eighteen pieces, but these do not fill all the holes. Each piece has a hole in the top, perhaps to hold a knob for lifting the piece. There are no knobs.
Description
This wooden puzzle has nine holes which hold one or more pieces each. There are eighteen pieces, but these do not fill all the holes. Each piece has a hole in the top, perhaps to hold a knob for lifting the piece. There are no knobs. A mark on a sticker on the back of the test reads: Dr. Samuel Kavruck (/) Specialist, Testing Programs (/) Guidance and Counseling Programs Branch (/) U.S.
Reference:
C.H. Stoelting Co., Apparatus, Tests and Supplies, Chicago: 1936, p. 130, 132.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1935
possible maker
C. H. Stoelting Company
ID Number
1990.0034.174
catalog number
1990.0034.174
accession number
1990.0034

Geometric Model, M. Schilling No. 190 or L. Brill No. 101. Ser. 3 No. 16, Hyperbolic Paraboloid

In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, students studying technical subjects often learned about the representation of surfaces by equations in courses in solid analytic geometry.
Description
In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, students studying technical subjects often learned about the representation of surfaces by equations in courses in solid analytic geometry. Schools in Europe, the United States, and Japan sometimes purchased models to illustrate such surfaces. This object is part of series of models of quadric surfaces (surfaces of degree two) designed in 1878 by Rudolf Diesel, then a student at the technical high school in Munich. It was published by the firm of Ludwig Brill in Darmstadt or its successor, Martin Schilling in Leipzig.
The saddle-shaped plaster model shows a hyperbolic paraboloid. The surface is represented by the equation: + y2/ b2 - x2/a2 = - 2z. Sections by any plane where x = c or y=c (c being an arbitrary constant) are parts of parabolas. Sections parallel to the plane z = 0 are parts of hyperbolas. A grid of perpendicular lines of curvature is shown on the model.
A tag on the model reads: 3. Ser. Nr. 16. The use of the abbreviation "Ser." (and not "Serie") on the label suggests that the model was sold by Brill and not Schilling.
Compare 1985.0571.15 and 1985.0112.74.
References:
Ludwig Brill, Catalog mathematischer Modelle. . ., Darmstadt: L. Brill, 1892, p. 7, 77.
Gerard Fischer, Mathematical Models, Braunschweig / Wiesbaden: Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, 1986, vol. II, pp.25-28.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1900-1914
ID Number
1990.0571.14
catalog number
1990.0571.14
accession number
1990.0571

Facit ESA-0 Calculating Machine

This ten-key non-printing electric pinwheel calculating machine has an iron frame painted dark green.
Description
This ten-key non-printing electric pinwheel calculating machine has an iron frame painted dark green. It has fully automatic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, as well as electric clearing of registers.
A lever on the front left sets the machine for multiplication, addition (and subtraction), or division. There are five function keys and three tab keys. All the key tops are plastic. Plastic-covered windows reveal the number wheels of the product register, multiplier register, and setting mechanism. Included are a plastic cover, rubber cord, and leather-covered wood case.
A mark on the bottom of the machine reads: 347409. A tag on the back reads: MOD.ESA-0 (/) Fi (/) 105-115V = 65W. Another tag on the back reads: MADE BY (/) ATVIDABERG-FACIT (/) SWEDEN (/) Protected by patents in Sweden and other countries. A mark on the front reads: FACIT. The digit keys are marked: 2 4 5 7 9 (/) 1 3 0 6 8. A name tag attached to the case reads: WILLIAM C. ZAHN.
The Swedish firm of Facit Calculator began manufacturing pinwheel calculating machines in 1918 and became Facit in 1924. In 1932 it began to manufacture a ten-key calculating machine. The ESA-0 is an electric, fully automatic version of that machine, with electric clearing of registers. It sold from 1949 through 1952.
According to the donor, this machine was used by her husband, William C. Zahn, in his wide-ranging research on organic chemistry, the senses, the weather, and economics.
For related documentation, see 1996.0033.02, 1996.0033,03. and 1996.0033.04.
Reference:
FACIT Kalkylmaskiner - samitliga modeller, Stockholm, 1961.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1952
maker
Atvidaberg-Facit
ID Number
1996.0033.01
catalog number
1996.0033.01
accession number
1996.0033
maker number
347409

Stereometry Made Easy, A Set of Geometric Models

From the 16th through the 19th centuries, English-speaking mathematicians referred to the measurement of solid bodies as stereometry. This set of forty-odd models, made in London in the mid-19th century, assisted in teaching the subject.
Description
From the 16th through the 19th centuries, English-speaking mathematicians referred to the measurement of solid bodies as stereometry. This set of forty-odd models, made in London in the mid-19th century, assisted in teaching the subject. According to the maker, the solids also were well suited for use by art students.
Included in the wooden box are a diagonal scale; three equal trapezoids, any two of which can be arranged to form a rectangle or a parallelogram; two equal triangles which together form a rectangle or a triangle; three equal quadrilaterals (with a fourth quadrilateral of the same size, they would form a square); and nine pieces that are lettered from a to i. Pieces a to c are equal oblique pyramids that can be arranged to form a cube. Pieces d to i are equal square pyramids which can be arranged to form a cube.
The set also includes eight pieces of a cube root block. The smaller cube of the cube root block is not labeled, and three of the other pieces are mislabeled. Also included are six equal triangular prisms, one longer triangular prism, two additional cubes, a cylinder, a tetrahedron, an icosahedron, two rectangular parallelepipeds, one oblique parallelepiped, one taller square pyramid, two triangular pyramids, and an irregular tetrahedron.
A discolored label on the lid of the box reads: STEREOMETRY (/) MADE EASY.
An example of the set in the library of Princeton University also includes several lithographed cards and an instruction booklet, published in 1853. The Catalogue of the Educational Division of the South Kensington Museum indicates that the set was made by Myers and Company of London. This example came to the Smithsonian from the Physics Department of Queens College of London University. An 1877 advertisement of A. N. Myers & Co. indicates that by that date, a set of 44 geometrical models sold in three sizes. This would correspond to the smallest size. As the advertised set contained 44 surfaces, it seems likely that one object in this example (perhaps the diagonal scale) was not part of the original.
References:
Catalogue of the Educational Division of the South Kensington Museum, London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1876, p. 407.
Stereometry Made Easy: A Short Compendium of the Facts and Principles of that Instructive and Amusing Science: Intended as a Companion to the Collection of Solids, London: Thompson and Davidson, 1853.
“Educational and Amusing Publications of A. N. Myers & Co.,” A Catalogue of Works of Natural Science, Art, General Literature, Medicine &c. Published by Hardwick & Bogue, London, 1877, p. 1.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1860
maker
A. N. Myers & Company
ID Number
1990.0539.41
catalog number
1990.0539.41
accession number
1990.0539
catalog number
323474

Psychological Test Score Sheet, Pinter-Patterson Short Performance Scale

During their time at Ohio State University, Rudolf Pintner (1884-1942) and Donald G. Paterson (1892-1961) devised an influential Scale of Performance Tests, an intelligence examination for use with deaf children in the schools of Ohio.
Description
During their time at Ohio State University, Rudolf Pintner (1884-1942) and Donald G. Paterson (1892-1961) devised an influential Scale of Performance Tests, an intelligence examination for use with deaf children in the schools of Ohio. This initially involved manipulation of concrete objects. During the course of World War I, U.S. Army psychologists adopted portions of this scale into the paper-and-pencil Army Beta examination. These materials are printed and typed copies of score sheets for the Pintner-Paterson Short Performance Scale. They were prepared by the Letchworth Village Psychology Laboratory for use with patients there. The tests listed on both sheets are the same, although the order is slightly different. The sheets are undated, though it seems likely that they are from the 1920s.
For more information about Pintner, see 1990.0034.11. For more on Paterson – whose parents were deaf – see 1989.0710.59. For an example of the Army Beta, see 1990.0334.02.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Letchworth Village Psychological Laboratory
ID Number
1990.0034.045
accession number
1990.0034
catalog number
1990.0034.045

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