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.

Moon Globe

This globe is 6 inches in diameter, with the moon's major known topographical features painted on in shades of gray, green, and black.
Description
This globe is 6 inches in diameter, with the moon's major known topographical features painted on in shades of gray, green, and black. A 60-degree-wide area on the far side of the moon is left blank on this globe, as these features were unknown at the time the globe was printed.
With the globe came an eight page booklet The Story of the Moon, written by Robert I. Johnson.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1963
date received
1965 or 1966
maker
Replogle Globes
ID Number
PH.326612
accession number
268427
catalog number
326612

Cylinder-type Electrostatic Machine

People from ancient times knew that rubbing certain materials and then touching something caused a spark. Studying what is called electrostatics laid the groundwork for understanding electricity and magnetism.
Description (Brief)
People from ancient times knew that rubbing certain materials and then touching something caused a spark. Studying what is called electrostatics laid the groundwork for understanding electricity and magnetism. Natural philosophers, scientists, and instrument makers created many ingenious devices to generate electrostatic charges starting in the 1600s. These machines varied in size and technique but all involved rotary motion to generate a charge, and a means of transferring the charge to a storage device for use.
This rudimentary cylinder machine is incomplete, missing the rubbing pad and charge collector. The construction appears very crude without the detailing or polish seen on a commercially-made device. Two U.S. coins were used as retaining washers on the crank axle. During the 1750s electrical researchers refined the design of electrostatic machines by replacing earlier spherical globes with a glass cylinder, a design used for many years. This change increased the surface area of the glass in contact with the rubbing pad and improved the efficiency of the generator. There is almost no background information about this object that came into the collections from the Merrimac Valley Textile Museum in 1975.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1850
ID Number
EM.333690
catalog number
333690
accession number
314579

Opera Glasses

Each eyecup of this instrument is marked “BARDOU & SON * PARIS.” The objective lenses are 40 mm diameter. The frame is brass. The barrels are brass covered with black leather. A center wheel adjusts the focus.
Description
Each eyecup of this instrument is marked “BARDOU & SON * PARIS.” The objective lenses are 40 mm diameter. The frame is brass. The barrels are brass covered with black leather. A center wheel adjusts the focus. The carrying case is black leather with a red silk lining.
The Bardou firm was established in 1818, and trading as Bardou & Son by 1876.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
maker
Bardou
ID Number
PH.336808
catalog number
336808
accession number
1978.2216

Engraved woodblock of an "Australian grave and carved trees"

This engraved woodblock of an “Australian grave and carved trees” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Figure 37 (p.76) in an article by Garrick Mallery (1831-1894) entitled “Pictographs of the North American Indians: a pr
Description
This engraved woodblock of an “Australian grave and carved trees” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Figure 37 (p.76) in an article by Garrick Mallery (1831-1894) entitled “Pictographs of the North American Indians: a preliminary paper” in the Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1882-83.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1886
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
author
Mallery, Garrick
block maker
J. J. & Co.
ID Number
1980.0219.1206
catalog number
1980.0219.1206
accession number
1980.0219

Gene Pulser Transfection Apparatus

These objects are parts of the Gene Pulser, one of the first commercial electroporators. Manufactured by Bio-Rad, the Gene Pulser was on the market from 1986 to 1995.Electroporation is a technique used to get drugs, proteins, DNA, and other molecules into cells.
Description (Brief)
These objects are parts of the Gene Pulser, one of the first commercial electroporators. Manufactured by Bio-Rad, the Gene Pulser was on the market from 1986 to 1995.
Electroporation is a technique used to get drugs, proteins, DNA, and other molecules into cells. The method works by delivering a controlled electric pulse to cells in a solution. The pulse causes cells to briefly open pores in their cell membrane and take in molecules around them. The process is particularly useful in the creation of transgenic organisms.
The tan box with the black display seen in the first photo is the pulse generator, the part of the Gene Pulser that produces the electric pulses for electroporation. The white chamber seen in subsequent photos is the shocking chamber, used to hold samples for electroporation.
Sources:
Accession File
Gene Pulser Product Manuals
“Electroporation Makes Impact on DNA Delivery in Laboratory and Clinic.” Glaser, Vicki. Genetic Engineering News, September 15, 1996. pp. 14–15.
“Electroporation applications: Special needs and special systems.” Ostresh, Mitra. American Biotechnology Laboratory. January 1995. p. 18.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1986-1995
maker
Bio-Rad Laboratories
ID Number
1998.0018.01
accession number
1998.0018
catalog number
1998.0018.01

Cylinder-type Electrostatic Machine

People from ancient times knew that rubbing certain materials and then touching something caused a spark. Studying what is called electrostatics laid the groundwork for understanding electricity and magnetism.
Description (Brief)
People from ancient times knew that rubbing certain materials and then touching something caused a spark. Studying what is called electrostatics laid the groundwork for understanding electricity and magnetism. Natural philosophers, scientists, and instrument makers created many ingenious devices to generate electrostatic charges starting in the 1600s. These machines varied in size and technique but all involved rotary motion to generate a charge, and a means of transferring the charge to a storage device for use.
This machine was made by the "Chambers’ National Lightning Protection Company," established around 1880 by Josephus C. Chambers, Cincinnati to market his lightning protection system. Apparently Chambers branched out into more general electrical devices after negative reviews of his lightning system were published.
During the 1750s electrical researchers refined the design of electrostatic machines by replacing earlier spherical globes with a glass cylinder, a design used for many years. This change increased the surface area of the glass in contact with the rubbing pad and improved the efficiency of the generator. The Chambers machine shows a cruciform design with centrally-mounted cylinder that rubbed against a leather pad. A steel prime conductor with a comb on one end collected the charge. The glass rod serves as an insulator.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
EM.271855.08
accession number
271855
catalog number
271855.08

Salt Works

This ink-and-wash drawing shows several men and women producing salt from brine. Some are raking the salt drying in long pans, and others are carrying wood to stoke the fires below.
Description
This ink-and-wash drawing shows several men and women producing salt from brine. Some are raking the salt drying in long pans, and others are carrying wood to stoke the fires below. The well-dressed man at right may be a government official responsible for collecting the salt tax known as the “gabelle di sale.”
On the back, a hand-written text reads “F. XIII.” “A. Pigne” could refer to Pinecone, a medieval town in Liguria, or something shaped like a cone. “B. Vergoni di ferro che reggono le Cabaie” could refer to refer to big rods of iron that support [whatever the plural noun is]. “C. Gabbei su[i] quoli sgrona il sale” could refer to the frames onto which the salt drips.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PH.329203
accession number
280071
catalog number
329203

Porter Garden Telescope

A skillful blending of art and science, the Porter Garden Telescope is a 6-inch f/4 Newtonian reflector cast in solid statuary bronze that can also serve as a sundial and as an elegant piece of domestic garden furniture.
Description
A skillful blending of art and science, the Porter Garden Telescope is a 6-inch f/4 Newtonian reflector cast in solid statuary bronze that can also serve as a sundial and as an elegant piece of domestic garden furniture. The slender blade of overlapping leaves holds the primary mirror, the prism, and the eyepiece in alignment. A bowl of lotus leaves embraces the mirror and a pair of cylindrical flowers forms the slow motion controls. The base is embellished with the names of Galileo, Kepler, and Newton. When not in use, the optical elements could be removed and taken indoors.
Russell Porter, an Arctic explorer and Boston architect, designed the Garden Telescope. John A. Brashear provided the eyepieces and prisms. Wilbur Perry, an early member of Stellafane, figured the mirrors.
This example is marked "The Porter Garden Telescope built and sold by Jones & Lamson Machine Co. Springfield Vermont. -U-S-A- / No. 49 / US Patent 1468973 Sept. 25, 1923." Christian La Roche acquired it in the early 1930s and gave it to the Smithsonian in 1992.
The Garden Telescope has a split-ring equatorial mount. Porter developed this design in 1918 and later proposed it for the large telescope on Mt. Palomar. John Pierce, a member of the Springfield Telescope Makers, suggested "that the 200-inch mount as constructed is simply a glorified 'Garden Telescope,' with a lattice tube instead of the bar which supports the prism and ocular in the garden telescope."
We suspect that fewer than 100 Garden Telescopes were ever made. This commercial failure can be partially attributed to cost. With a price tag ranging from $400 to $500, it was beyond the means of most potential buyers.
Ref: John Tracy Spaight, "The Porter Garden Telescope," Rittenhouse 6 (1992): 97-102.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1923-09-25
maker
Jones & Lamson Machine Co.
Brashear, John A.
ID Number
1992.0242.01
catalog number
1992.0242.01
accession number
1992.0242

Telescope

Refracting telescopes with a short focus and wide field of view are known as comet seekers. This example has an achromatic objective of 5 inches aperture, a tapered wooden tube 34 inches long, and a small finder scope.
Description
Refracting telescopes with a short focus and wide field of view are known as comet seekers. This example has an achromatic objective of 5 inches aperture, a tapered wooden tube 34 inches long, and a small finder scope. The inscription on the focusing mount reads “TOLLES BOSTON.”
The "B.A. Gould" inscription on the flange of the objective mount refers to the astronomer, Benjamin Apthorp Gould. In his account of a solar eclipse in August 1869, Gould noted that he had used a “somewhat peculiar” telescope that had been made for him several years since by Robert E. Tolles, “then of Canastota, N.Y. and now superintendent of the Boston Optical Works.” Gould took this telescope to Cordoba where he served as the first director of the Argentine National Observatory, and he later ordered a similar instrument for the Argentine government. Following his return to the United States, Gould gave the telescope to Seth Chandler, an astronomer who had been his assistant in the late 1860's. A Chandler descendant gave it to the Smithsonian in 1980.
Ref: “Report of Dr. Benjamin Apthorp Gould, Burlington, Iowa,” in Reports of Observations of the Total Eclipse of the Sun, August 7, 1869, p. 29-38.
D. J. Warner, “The Microscopes and Telescopes of Robert B. Tolles,” Rittenhouse 9 (1995): 65-83.
George C. Comstock, “Benjamin Apthorp Gould,” Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences 17 (1922): 155-180.
W. E. Carter and M. S. Carter, “Seth Carlo Chandler, Jr.,” Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (1995): 45-79.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1867
maker
Tolles
ID Number
1980.0709.01
catalog number
1980.0709.01
accession number
1980.0709

Binocular Telescope

This is a brass instrument with center focus, and center adjustment for inter-ocular distance. The objective lenses are 40 mm diameter. The length is 29 cm (closed). Each eye tube is marked “LEVY, DREYFUS & CO / NEW YORK.” These came to the Smithsonian in 1907.
Description
This is a brass instrument with center focus, and center adjustment for inter-ocular distance. The objective lenses are 40 mm diameter. The length is 29 cm (closed). Each eye tube is marked “LEVY, DREYFUS & CO / NEW YORK.” These came to the Smithsonian in 1907. A note in the file reads: “Prussian Army Field Glass used in 1885 by the [U.S.] Geological Survey but now discarded because of the small field of view.
Levy, Dreyfus & Co. was in business in New York City in the 1890s, advertising as opticians and wholesale importers.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
ID Number
PH.247931
catalog number
247931
accession number
47736

Microscope

Small compound monocular microscope with coarse and fine focus, square stage, inclination joint, condenser on an arm, sub-stage mirror, and solid base.
Description
Small compound monocular microscope with coarse and fine focus, square stage, inclination joint, condenser on an arm, sub-stage mirror, and solid base. The “NACHET ET FILS / rue Serpente, 16, Paris” inscription refers to an important French optical firm that was begun by Camille Sebastien Nachet in 1839, that became Nachet et Fils around mid-century, and that moved from this address around 1862.
Ref: Nachet et Fils, Catalogue Descriptive des Instruments de Micrographie (Paris, 1863), p. 12.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1856-1862
maker
Nachet et Fils
ID Number
1991.0682.01
catalog number
1991.0682.01
accession number
1991.0682

Moon Globe

This moon globe is 6 inches in diameter, with topographical features painted in shades of white, gray and tan. Three lunar landings are located and labeled.
Description
This moon globe is 6 inches in diameter, with topographical features painted in shades of white, gray and tan. Three lunar landings are located and labeled. One is the U.S.S.R.'s LUNIK 2, dated 9/12/59, and described as "First unmanned spacecraft to reach the moon." The second is the RANGER 4, dated 4/26/62, and described as "First U.S. unmanned spacecraft to reach the Moon." And there is the site of the U.S. APOLLO 11, dated 7/20/69, and described as "First manned spacecraft landing."
With the globe came a twelve-page booklet written by Robert I. Johnson, and titled The Story of the Moon. The cover shows a view of the moon composed from satellite photographs and carries the notation: "This book dedicated to the Flight of Apollo 8."
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1969
maker
Replogle Globes, Inc.
ID Number
1990.0015.02
accession number
1990.0015
catalog number
1990.0015.02

Protective Jumpsuit

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

Sample of Plutonium-239

The discovery of nuclear fission in uranium, announced in 1939, allowed physicists to advance with confidence in the project of creating "trans-uranic" elements - artificial ones that would lie in the periodic table beyond uranium, the last and heaviest nucleus known in nature.
Description
The discovery of nuclear fission in uranium, announced in 1939, allowed physicists to advance with confidence in the project of creating "trans-uranic" elements - artificial ones that would lie in the periodic table beyond uranium, the last and heaviest nucleus known in nature. The technique was simply to bombard uranium with neutrons. Some of the uranium nuclei would undergo fission, newly understood phenomenon, and split violently into two pieces. In other cases, however, a uranium-238 nucleus (atomic number 92) would quietly absorb a neutron, becoming a nucleus of uranium-239, which in turn would soon give off a beta-particle and become what is now called neptunium-239 (atomic number 93). After another beta decay it would become Element 94 (now plutonium-239)
By the end of 1940, theoretical physicists had predicted that this last substance, like uranium, would undergo fission, and therefore might be used to make a nuclear reactor or bomb. Enrico Fermi asked Emilio Segre to use the powerful new 60-inch cyclotron at the University of California at Berkeley to bombard uranium with slow neutrons and create enough plutonium-239 to test it for fission. Segre teamed up with Glenn T. Seaborg, Joseph W. Kennedy, and Arthur C. Wahl in January 1941 and set to work.
They carried out the initial bombardment on March 3-6, then, using careful chemical techniques, isolated the tiny amount (half a microgram) of plutonium generated. They put it on a platinum disc, called "Sample A," and on March 28 bombarded it with slow neutrons to test for fission. As expected, it proved to be fissionable - even more than U-235. To allow for more accurate measurements, they purified Sample A and deposited it on another platinum disc, forming the "Sample B" here preserved. Measurements taken with it were reported in a paper submitted to the Physical Review on May 29, 1941, but kept secret until 1946. (The card in the lid of the box bears notes from a couple of months later.)
After the summer of 1941, this particular sample was put away and almost forgotten, but the research that began with it took off in a big way. Crash programs for the production and purification of plutonium began at Berkeley and Chicago, reactors to make plutonium were built at Hanford, Washington, and by 1945 the Manhattan Project had designed and built a plutonium atomic bomb. The first one was tested on July 16, 1945 in the world's first nuclear explosion, and the next was used in earnest over Nagasaki. (The Hiroshima bomb used U-235.)
Why is our plutonium sample in a cigar box? G.N. Lewis, a Berkeley chemist, was a great cigar smoker, and Seaborg, his assistant, made it a habit to grab his boxes as they became empty, to use for storing things. In this case, it was no doubt important to keep the plutonium undisturbed and uncontaminated, on the one hand, but also, on the other hand, to make it possible for its weak radiations to pass directly into instruments - not through the wall of some closed container. Such considerations, combined probably with an awareness of the historic importance of the sample, brought about the storage arrangement we see.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1941-05-21
Associated Date
1941-05-29
referenced
Segre, Emilio
Seaborg, Glenn T.
Kennedy, Joseph W.
Wahl, Arthur C.
Lewis, G. N.
University of California, Berkeley
maker
Segre, Emilio
Seaborg, Glenn
ID Number
EM.N-09384
catalog number
N-09384
accession number
272669

Sr ISAAC NEWTON

In 1702, living in London and serving as Master of the Mint, Isaac Newton sat for Godfrey Kneller, the most famous and probably the most expensive portrait painter in London.
Description
In 1702, living in London and serving as Master of the Mint, Isaac Newton sat for Godfrey Kneller, the most famous and probably the most expensive portrait painter in London. For this portrait he wore a red banyan and a flowing wig.
This is one of many engraved copies of that image. The text at the bottom reads “Sr ISAAC NEWTON” and “G. Kneller pinxt” and “Wm. Sharp sculpt” and “G. Kearsley, No 46 Fleet Street.” Newton here looks to his left (rather than to his right as in the Kneller portrait). A laurel branch appears at one side and an oil lamp at the other. Below are figures of a globe, a large lens, a refracting telescope, books, papers, geometrical diagrams, and a woman who probably represents Urania, the muse of astronomy.
William Sharp (1749-1824) was an engraver in London. George Kearsley (fl. 1758-1791) was a publisher of books and prints. He was also responsible for The Copper Plate Magazine, “a monthly treasure for admirers of the imitative arts.” Our engraving appeared in the 1778 edition of that work.
Ref: Patricia Fara, Newton. The Making of Genius (New York, 2003).
Milo Keynes, ed., The Iconography of Sir Isaac Newton to 1800 (Woodbridge, 2005), p. 56.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1778
ID Number
1987.0076.01
catalog number
1987.0076.01
accession number
1987.0076

Birdsfoot Violet Preserved in Plastic

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
AG.A.7598
catalog number
A.7598
accession number
198812

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

Joe Pye Weed Preserved in Plastic

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
AG.A.7541
catalog number
A.7541
accession number
198812

Painting - Heptagon Stated By Seven Toothpicks (Between Parallels)

This whimsical painting is part of Crockett Johnson's exploration of ways to represent the sides and angles of a regular heptagon using line segments of equal length.
Description
This whimsical painting is part of Crockett Johnson's exploration of ways to represent the sides and angles of a regular heptagon using line segments of equal length. In its mathematics, it follows closely the construction from isosceles triangles within a rhombus used in the painting Heptagon from Ten Equal Lines (#104 in the series - 1979.1093.71). However, both the line segments shown and the appearance of the paintings are quite different.
Here three pairs of carefully selected equal lines at appropriate equal angles combine with a seventh line of equal length to give a construction of three sides and two angles of a regular heptagon. All but one of the endpoints of the lines lie on a parallelogram (the rhombus mentioned previously), hence the title. The segment of the heptagon is on the right side of the painting. In Crockett Johnson's figure for the work, the segment is lettered BCPE.
The painting, in oil or acrylic on masonite, is #106 in the series. It has a dark purple background. The pairs of line segments are in turquoise, green, and lavender, with the vertical one in white. This increases the drama of the painting, but obscures the heptagon. There is a wooden frame. The painting is signed on the back: HEPTAGON STATED BY (/) SEVEN TOOTHPICKS (/) (BETWEEN PARALLELS) (/) Crockett Johnson 1973.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1973
painter
Johnson, Crockett
ID Number
1979.1093.73
catalog number
1979.1093.73
accession number
1979.1093

Tobacco Leaf Cell Colonies

This object is a sample of tobacco leaf cell colonies that have been successfully genetically transformed using the biolistic gene gun prototype produced by John Sanford, Ed Wolf, and Nelson Allen at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Description (Brief)
This object is a sample of tobacco leaf cell colonies that have been successfully genetically transformed using the biolistic gene gun prototype produced by John Sanford, Ed Wolf, and Nelson Allen at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Biolistic gene guns are used to genetically transform plants by shooting microprojectiles (tiny bullets) covered in DNA into plant cells. The blue color of the cells is due to one of the genes that was inserted, the GUS reporter system. Cells in which the GUS gene was successfully taken in and utilized produced a blue chemical. The blue cells therefore represented the success of the genetic transformation via the biolistic process.
To learn more about biolistic gene guns, please see gene gun prototype II (object number 1991.0785.02) or gene gun prototype III (object number 1991.0785.01.1).
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1991.0785.03.7
catalog number
1991.0785.03.7
accession number
1991.0785

Diffraction Grating

This is one of the earliest gratings made by Lewis M. Rutherfurd, and one of three that the pioneer astrophysicist, Henry Draper, acquired in the fall of 1872. The glass plate measures 2 inches square; the grating surface is 31/32 inches wide; the grooves are 13/16 inches long.
Description
This is one of the earliest gratings made by Lewis M. Rutherfurd, and one of three that the pioneer astrophysicist, Henry Draper, acquired in the fall of 1872. The glass plate measures 2 inches square; the grating surface is 31/32 inches wide; the grooves are 13/16 inches long. The plate is marked "6480 per inch 90 L. M. Rutherfurd."
Ref: Henry Draper, "On Diffraction Spectrum Photography," American Journal of Science 6 (1873): 401-409.
D. J. Warner, "Lewis M. Rutherfurd: Pioneer Astronomical Photographer and Spectroscopist," Technology and Culture 12 (1971): 190-216.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1872
maker
Rutherfurd, Lewis Morris
ID Number
PH.334274
accession number
304826
catalog number
334274

Painting - Squared Lunes (Hippocrates Of Chios)

Classical Greek mathematicians were able to square all convex polygons. That is, given any polygon, they could produce a square of equal area in a finite number of steps using only a compass and a straight edge. Figures with curved sides proved more difficult.
Description
Classical Greek mathematicians were able to square all convex polygons. That is, given any polygon, they could produce a square of equal area in a finite number of steps using only a compass and a straight edge. Figures with curved sides proved more difficult. However, as this painting suggests, the mathematician Hippocrates of Chios (5th century BC) squared a lune, a figure bounded by arcs of two circle with different radii (lunes resemble quarter moons, hence the name). Finding the area of a lune in terms of a square might seem more difficult than squaring a circle, but the latter problem would prove intractable.
The painting follows annotated figures in Evans G. Valens's The Number of Things (1964), p.103, which was part of Crockett Johnson's mathematical library. It corresponds to an early diagram in Valens's discussion of squaring the circle. According to Valens, Hippocrates began by arguing that the areas of similar segments of different circles are in the same ratio as the squares of their bases. Suppose an isosceles right triangle is inscribed in a semicircle of diameter c. Construct smaller semicircles of diameter a and b on the sides of the inscribed triangle. As the square of a plus the square of b equals the square of c, the area of the two smaller semicircles equals that of the large one. The proof goes on to consider the area of the two crescents and the triangle.
Although Valens called the crescent moon shape a crescent, Crockett Johnson used the term lune. This probably indicates that he also read Herbert Westren Turnball “The Great Mathematicians” in The World of Mathematics, edited by James R. Newman (1956), where the term lune is used. Also, on page page 91 of Turnball’s article there is a diagram on which the painting could have been based.
In this version of Squared Lunes Crockett Johnson uses brown, black, red, and white against a gray background. This oil painting is #67 in the series, and the first in the series with the title "Squared Lunes." It was completed in 1968 and is signed: CJ68. It is inscribed on the back: SQUARED LUNES (/) (HIIPPOCRATES OF CHIOS) (/) Crockett Johnson 1968. A related painting is #68 (1979.1093.43).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968
referenced
Hippocrates of Chios
painter
Johnson, Crockett
ID Number
1979.1093.42
accession number
1979.1093
catalog number
1979.1093.42

Miniature Autonomous Robotic Vehicle (MARV)

In 1996 researchers at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M., developed tiny robots to investigate the miniaturization of mechanical systems.
Description
In 1996 researchers at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M., developed tiny robots to investigate the miniaturization of mechanical systems. They sought to demonstrate the feasibility and learn the limitations of using commercially available components to assemble tiny autonomous mobile vehicles. About one cubic inch in volume, MARV housed all necessary power, sensors, computers and controls on board. It was the first robot of its kind made at Sandia and among the smallest autonomous vehicles anywhere.
On a custom track, the four-wheeled MARV detects and then follows a buried wire carrying a fixed radiofrequency (a 96 kHz signal). To accomplish this, the robot employs two Sandia-designed sensors to measure the relative strength of the radio signal. Based on the signal, the on-board computer decides where to move and directs two drive motors to steer toward the signal. Approximately 300 lines of computer code control the vehicle.
MARV’s main developers were Barry Spletzer, Thomas Weber, Jon Bryan, and Michael Martinez.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1996
ID Number
2011.0073.03
accession number
2011.0073
catalog number
2011.0073.03

Specimen holder for spectroscope

This specimen holder is part of the Société Genevoise spectroscope from Bowdoin College.Currently not on view
Description
This specimen holder is part of the Société Genevoise spectroscope from Bowdoin College.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1992.0477.07.06
catalog number
1992.0477.07.06
accession number
1992.0477

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