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.

Resource Type: Pamphlets

Pamphlet, A.G.C.T. Scores of Army Personnel Grouped by Occupation

In September of 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared a limited national emergency in the United States, increasing the size of the Army and the National Guard.
Description
In September of 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared a limited national emergency in the United States, increasing the size of the Army and the National Guard. The Adjutant General’s Office consulted with several psychologists about developing tests to sort the new personnel. By the end of 1940, the War Shipping Administration had published this General Classification Test 1a. Three more editions of what came to be called the Army General Classification Test (AGCT) followed. This pamphlet by Naomi Stewart (b. 1918) describes scores on the AGCT as related to the occupation of test takers. It was published in 1947.
Naomi Stewart received her undergraduate degree from Long Island University and her M.S. and Ph.D. from Purdue University. After working for the Personnel Research Section of the Adjutant Generals Office during World War II, she worked for the Educational Testing Service and held a variety of consulting and academic appointments.
For related materials, see 1989.0710.29 and 1989.0710.61.
References:
James H. Capshew, Psychologists on the March: Science, Practice and Professional Identity in America, 1929-1969, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999, pp. 99-104.
American Psychological Association, 1962 Directory, ed. James Q. Holsopple, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1962, p. 702.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1947
maker
Stewart, Naomi
ID Number
1989.0710.60
catalog number
1989.0710.60
accession number
1989.0710

Pamphlet, The Meier Art Tests I. Art Judgment Examiner's Manual

Norman Charles Meier (1893-1967) obtained his undergraduate degree and M.A. from the University of Chicago and his PhD, in 1926, from the University of Iowa. He taught at the University of Iowa from 1922 until his retirement in 1964. Working under the direction of Carl E.
Description
Norman Charles Meier (1893-1967) obtained his undergraduate degree and M.A. from the University of Chicago and his PhD, in 1926, from the University of Iowa. He taught at the University of Iowa from 1922 until his retirement in 1964. Working under the direction of Carl E. Seashore, Meier prepared the Meier-Seashore Art Judgment Test, which was first published in 1929. This is the examiner’s manual for a 1942 version of the test, which by then was entitled The Meier Art Tests I. Art Judgment. The record sheet for the test, published in 1940, is 1989.0710.30. Both were published by the Bureau of Educational Research and Service of the University of Iowa.
For a general discussion of testing at the University of Iowa, with references, see 1990.0034.086.
References:
American Psychological Association, 1962 Directory, ed. James Q. Holsopple, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1962, p.484.
Clark, Gilbert, Zimmerman, Enid, and M. Zurmuehlen, Understanding Art Testing: Past Influences, Norman C. Meier's Contributions, Present Concerns, and Future Possibilities, Reston, Va.: National Art Education Association, 1987.
Meier, N. C., Aesthetic Judgment as a Measure of Art Talent, PhD. Dissertation, University of Iowa, 1926.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1942
maker
Meier, Norman C.
University of Iowa. Bureau of Educational Research and Service
ID Number
1989.0710.33
catalog number
1989.0710.33
accession number
1989.0710

Pamphlet, Practice Exercises in Reading. Manual of Directions

Arthur I. Gates (1890-1972) obtained his Bachelor of Law (1914) and his M.A. (1915) from the University of California at Berkeley and his PhD. from Columbia University (1917).
Description
Arthur I. Gates (1890-1972) obtained his Bachelor of Law (1914) and his M.A. (1915) from the University of California at Berkeley and his PhD. from Columbia University (1917). He spent the rest of his career on the faculty of Teachers College at Columbia, putting special emphasis on the study of reading and language arts. Teachers College published his tests. Gates not only was the author of reading tests at several levels but of textbooks and basal readers. This manual refers to practice exercises in reading developed by Gates in conjunction with the Illinois-born Barnard College graduate (1926) and writer Celeste Comegys Peardon (1898-1988). The directions were published in 1933. Gates, Peardon, and other authors would collaborate on an extensive series of readers published by Macmillan in 1939 that came to be known as the Macmillan Readers.
Compare 1990.0034.074, 1990.0034.075, 1990.0034.076, 1990.0034.077, 1990.0034.078, 1990.0034.079, 1990.0034.092, and 1990.0034.093.
References:
American Psychological Association, 1962 Directory, ed. James Q. Holsopple, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1962, p. 244.
“Celeste Comegrys Weds T. P. Pearson,” New York Times, June 5, 1926, p. 21.
“Deaths,” New York Times, January 23, 1989, p. D11. The notice reports that Peardon died December 29, 1988.
MacGinitie, Walter, “The Contribution of Arthur I. Gates,” Conference of the International Reading Association, St. Louis, 1981. This is online at a site known as yumpu.com, accessed April 20, 2020.
“The Work-Play Readers”, review by C.T. Gray, The Elementary School Journal, 1940, 40 #8, pp. 635-637.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1933
author
Peardon, Celeste Comegys
Gates, A. I.
maker
Columbia University. Teachers College
ID Number
1990.0034.093
catalog number
1990.0034.093
accession number
1990.0034

Pamphlet, Multiply and Divide on an Original-Odhner

This illustrated instruction manual describes carrying out the four arithmetic processes on an Odhner calculating machine. Inside the cover are two pieces of paper.
Description
This illustrated instruction manual describes carrying out the four arithmetic processes on an Odhner calculating machine. Inside the cover are two pieces of paper. One is entitled "Brief of how to work this," the other "DIVIDE." The instructions were received with a machine with catalog number 1991.0183.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1967-08
maker
Aktiebolaget Original Odhner
ID Number
1991.0183.02
accession number
1991.0183
catalog number
1991.0183.02

Instructions for Pickett Student Slide Rules

Maurice L. Hartung, associate professor of the teaching of mathematics at the University of Chicago, wrote this sixteen-page pamphlet, How to Use Basic Slide Rules in 3 Easy Steps for Pickett & Eckel, a slide rule manufacturer established in Chicago in the late 1940s.
Description
Maurice L. Hartung, associate professor of the teaching of mathematics at the University of Chicago, wrote this sixteen-page pamphlet, How to Use Basic Slide Rules in 3 Easy Steps for Pickett & Eckel, a slide rule manufacturer established in Chicago in the late 1940s. Hartung advocated for the adoption of Pickett slide rules in schools, and he wrote several instruction manuals that the company reprinted and distributed through the 1960s.
The pamphlet uses drawings of slide rules and numerous "call-out" text boxes to explain how students could use the instrument's C and D scales to multiply and divide. The second part of the pamphlet explains the CI scale ("I" stands for "inverse"), provides instructions for finding squares and square roots with the A and B scales, and discusses the role of the K scale in finding cubes and cube roots. The third and final section of the pamphlet addresses logarithmic and trigonometric functions, which were found with the L, S, and T scales.
This copy was packaged with 1991.0445.02; of the scales explained in the instructions, this instrument lacked only the S and T scales for sines and tangents. If sold separately, the booklet would have cost 35 cents. The back of the pamphlet is marked: Pickett Inc.; Chicago 5 • SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA. It is also marked: Form M-20. The location and name of the company suggest the pamphlet was printed after 1964.
Reference: International Slide Rule Museum, "Pickett All-Metal Slide Rules," http://sliderulemuseum.com/SR_Dates.htm#Pickett. This site provides a scan of another copy of this pamphlet, http://sliderulemuseum.com/Manuals/M52_Pickett_HowToUseSR_3EasySteps_FormM-20.pdf.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1964
publisher
Pickett Industries
author
Hartung, Maurice L.
ID Number
1991.0445.02.01
accession number
1991.0445
catalog number
1991.0445.02.01

Reader's Digest Brochure, Living With Metrics

In 1978, in order to assist Americans adjusting to the introduction of the metric system, the editors of the magazine Reader’s Digest in Pleasantville, New York, published this 48-page illustrated paper pamphlet for consumers.
Description
In 1978, in order to assist Americans adjusting to the introduction of the metric system, the editors of the magazine Reader’s Digest in Pleasantville, New York, published this 48-page illustrated paper pamphlet for consumers. It describes the interrelationships among metric units and ways to estimate them.
Further discussion considers the role of metric units in grocery shopping and cooking, home design and care, meteorology, sports, gardening, health care, and transportation.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1978
ID Number
1989.3123.03
nonaccession number
1989.3123
catalog number
1989.3123.03

Pamphlet, Manual for the Calculating Machine Facit Model ESA-0

This manual was published by the Swedish firm of FACIT, Co. The Facit ESA-0 calculating machine was produced from 1952 to 1956.For an example of the machine, see 1996.0033.01.Currently not on view
Description
This manual was published by the Swedish firm of FACIT, Co. The Facit ESA-0 calculating machine was produced from 1952 to 1956.
For an example of the machine, see 1996.0033.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1952-1956
ID Number
1996.0033.02
catalog number
1996.0033.02
accession number
1996.0033

Pamphlet, How to Use Exponential Ln-L Scales

Maurice Hartung of the University of Chicago wrote this sixteen-page booklet to explain the use of natural log and logarithmic scales placed on Pickett's line of "dual-base" slide rules.
Description
Maurice Hartung of the University of Chicago wrote this sixteen-page booklet to explain the use of natural log and logarithmic scales placed on Pickett's line of "dual-base" slide rules. How to Use Dual Base Slide Rule Exponential Ln-L Scales was published in Santa Barbara, California. The logo and address on the cover were in use from 1964.
Pickett used these scales on several models represented in the Smithsonian collections, including 3, 4, 515, 600, and 1010. The rules depicted in the booklet are models 1011 and 4, similar to 2000.0203.01. Hartung explains how to find logarithms and natural logs (by reading the mantissa), powers of e and 10, logarithms of proper fractions, powers for negative exponents, and the characteristic. He explains how to place the decimal point and how to correct for the error introduced when the number 2.3 is used to estimate e. He then covers multiplication, division, logarithms of combined operations, powers of other bases, hyperbolic functions, and applied problems. According to the cover, this is a “Ln-L Scale Supplement.” The text closely resembles 1995.3023.04.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Hartung, Maurice L.
ID Number
1995.3023.05
nonaccession number
1995.3023
catalog number
1995.3023.05

Pamphlet, Personnel Classification Tests

This illustrated introductory U.S. Army Technical Manual from 1946 describes the use of personnel classification tests by the Army at that time. It describes measuring both the aptitude and the achievement of soldiers, the better to classify and train them.
Description
This illustrated introductory U.S. Army Technical Manual from 1946 describes the use of personnel classification tests by the Army at that time. It describes measuring both the aptitude and the achievement of soldiers, the better to classify and train them. Topics discussed include tests as scientific tools, test construction, test administration and scoring, test interpretation, tests at inductions centers, and testing used in selection and assignment.
References:
For a digital copy, see https://archive.org/details/TM12-260/mode/2up, accessed March 31, 2020. A digital copy of the version of this Technical Manual from 1942 was also online at this time.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1946
maker
U.S. War Department
ID Number
1990.0034.006
catalog number
1990.0034.006
accession number
1990.0034

Pickett Decimal-Keeper Slide Rule Instructions

This twelve-page booklet was received with 1995.0126.01. Titled "How To Use Decimal-Keeper Slide Rules," it is another of the instruction manuals Maurice L. Hartung wrote for Pickett & Eckel, Inc., a slide rule manufacturer based in Chicago and Alhambra, Calif.
Description
This twelve-page booklet was received with 1995.0126.01. Titled "How To Use Decimal-Keeper Slide Rules," it is another of the instruction manuals Maurice L. Hartung wrote for Pickett & Eckel, Inc., a slide rule manufacturer based in Chicago and Alhambra, Calif. Hartung explained how Pickett had reduced the scales on slide rules in the Decimal-Keeper line so that one ten-inch Decimal-Keeper became equivalent to twenty ordinary ten-inch linear slide rules. These reduced scales are the scales marked with asterisks on Decimal-Keeper slide rules.
There are also instructions for locating the proper section of the scale, carrying out division, computing trigonometric functions, calculating roots, finding logarithms, and adjusting and cleaning the slide rule. The booklet is undated. Separately, it sold for 50 cents and had model number M-17.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1960
maker
Pickett & Eckel, Incorporated
ID Number
1995.0126.04
accession number
1995.0126
catalog number
1995.0126.04

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