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.

Place: Chicago

Bruning 2090P Open Divided Scale

This white and orange plastic rule has scales for 1/2" and 1" to the foot along its top edge on the front side. Between these scales is a scale divided to 1/2", numbered from left to right by twos from 0 to 8, and numbered from right to left by ones from 0 to 4.
Description
This white and orange plastic rule has scales for 1/2" and 1" to the foot along its top edge on the front side. Between these scales is a scale divided to 1/2", numbered from left to right by twos from 0 to 8, and numbered from right to left by ones from 0 to 4. The bottom edge has scales for 1/8" and 1/4" to the foot. Between these scales is a scale divided to 1/8", numbered from left to right by fours from 0 to 44, and numbered from right to left by twos from 0 to 22. The top edge is marked: BRUNING 2090P. It is also marked: MADE IN U.S.A.
On the back, the top edge has scales for 3/8" and 3/4" to the foot. Between these scales is a scale divided to 3/8", numbered from left to right by twos from 0 to [1]2, and numbered from right to left by ones from 0 to 6. The bottom edge has scales for 1-1/2" and 3" to the foot. A brown leather sheath is marked: BRUNING.
Charles Bruning (1866–1931) was born in Denmark and immigrated to the United States. In Chicago during the 1890s, he became interested in the blue print business. In 1897, he set up his own blue printing company in Manhattan, which was incorporated as the New York Blue Print Paper Company in 1901. Around 1920 he purchased American Blue Print Company of Chicago, and the combined firms became known as the Charles Bruning Company, Inc.
By 1936, the firm was offering model 2090 in boxwood and with plastic edges over boxwood. It began to make the rule from molded plastic in 1948, but it did not give the rule model number 2090P until 1952, when the rule sold for $1.80. According to the donor, the instrument was used by her husband, the electrical engineer Robert H. Wieler (1923–1993). For other open divided or chain scales, see 1998.0032.08, 1981.0933.14, 1981.0933.15, and 1992.0433.04.
References: "Charles Bruning," New York Times (January 31, 1931), 14; Charles Bruning Company, Inc., General Catalog, 12th ed. (New York, 1936), 120; Charles Bruning Company, Inc., General Catalog, 14th ed. (New York, [1948]), 88; Charles Bruning Company, Inc., General Catalog, 15th ed. (Teterboro, N.J., and Chicago, 1952), 115; accession file.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1952
maker
Charles Bruning Company
ID Number
1998.0032.09
catalog number
1998.0032.09
accession number
1998.0332

Post 940 Beam Compass

This metal instrument has two I-shaped beams, one 13" long and one 7" long. Needle, pencil, and pen points are moved along a beam by rolling wheels at the top of the trammels.
Description
This metal instrument has two I-shaped beams, one 13" long and one 7" long. Needle, pencil, and pen points are moved along a beam by rolling wheels at the top of the trammels. The trammels are each marked with the logo for the Frederick Post Company that was in use from 1944 until 1970 and with the word ERA. A cardboard box covered with black imitation leather holds the objects. The box has two empty 2" slots. The end of the box has a red and white Post label with the model number 940. According to a Post catalog, purchasers could also choose beams as long as 26", 38", 50", 62", 74", 86", and 100".
Reference: Frederick W. Post Company, Dependable Drawing Materials, 19th ed. (Chicago, 1950), 61.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1944-1970
maker
Frederick Post Co.
ID Number
1990.0317.01
accession number
1990.0317
catalog number
1990.0317.01

Pickett Trig Slide Rule Instruction Manual

This 64-page booklet was received with 1993.0559.01. Its citation information is: Maurice L. Hartung, How to Use . . . Trig Slide Rules (Chicago: Pickett & Eckel Inc., 1960). It sold separately for fifty cents.
Description
This 64-page booklet was received with 1993.0559.01. Its citation information is: Maurice L. Hartung, How to Use . . . Trig Slide Rules (Chicago: Pickett & Eckel Inc., 1960). It sold separately for fifty cents. Hartung was the University of Chicago professor who was closely associated with Pickett & Eckel in the company's early years and who wrote several instruction manuals for the firm's slide rules.
The booklet discusses slide rule operation, use of certain special scales, applications of trigonometry, and the principles underlying slide rules. Hartung focused on the operations of the instrument rather than on mathematical theory. There are problem sets at the end of each section, with answers in the back of the manual, and a few sets of "practical" (word) problems. Another copy of the booklet is scanned at http://sliderulemuseum.com/Manuals/M104_Pickett_HowToUseTrig_1960.pdf.
Reference: "Maurice Leslie Hartung," Mathematics Genealogy Project, http://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=7964. Hartung received a life achievement award from the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics in 1977, http://ictm.org/ictmawards/lifeachievement.html.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1960
publisher
Pickett Industries
author
Hartung, Maurice L.
ID Number
1993.0559.01.01
accession number
1993.0559
catalog number
1993.0559.01.01

Instruction Manual for Dietzgen 1771 Redirule Slide Rule

This sixteen-page booklet lists no author or date. Its drawing of a slide rule corresponds to 1993.0357.02, with which it was received.
Description
This sixteen-page booklet lists no author or date. Its drawing of a slide rule corresponds to 1993.0357.02, with which it was received. The instructions explain how to: read the scales; multiply; place the decimal point; divide; combine multiplication and division; solve proportion problems; read the CI scale; compute squares and square roots and cubes and cube roots; solve problems in trigonometry; and work with logarithms.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1941-1972
maker
Eugene Dietzgen Company
ID Number
1993.0357.02.01
accession number
1993.0357
catalog number
1993.0357.02.01

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

Psychological Test, Form Board, Healy Pictorial Completion Test I

This test is in a black, cloth-covered paper box. It consists of a picture of a country scene painted on paper and munted on plywood with a cloth backing. There are ten square holes in the picture.
Description
This test is in a black, cloth-covered paper box. It consists of a picture of a country scene painted on paper and munted on plywood with a cloth backing. There are ten square holes in the picture. In addition, there are fifty square wooden pieces, each with a portion of a picture on top, that fit into the holes. These pieces are stored in a wooden rack that fits in the bottom of the box. The rack has four indentations to hold the pieces.
A manual accompanying the test by William Healy isentitled: Manual for Pictorial Completion Test I, Cat. No. 46251, Chicago: C.H. Stoelting. This is a reprint of a 1914 article by Healy. This test is a later version (differing, at least, in its box) of a test described in; C.H. Stoelting, Apparatus, Tests and Supplies, 1936, p. 157.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
C. H. Stoelting Company
ID Number
1990.0570.02
accession number
1990.0570
catalog number
1990.0570.02

Victor Tallymaster Mark V Adding Machine

This ten-key printing electric adding machine has a mustard-yellow plastic frame, with yellow plastic keys and a front handle.
Description
This ten-key printing electric adding machine has a mustard-yellow plastic frame, with yellow plastic keys and a front handle. In addition to a block of nine number keys with a 0 bar below, it has a bar on the right, a place indicator above the keyboard, and two levers above this. The printing mechanism and motor are at the back. One can enter numbers of up to seven digits and print out eight-digit results. There is no paper tape installed, although a separate paper tape was received with this machine and 1991.0791.01. A white electric cord extends from the back of the machine. The top half of the case may be removed by releasing levers on each side.
The machine is marked above the keyboard: Tallymaster (/) MARK V (/) BY VICTOR. The bottom of the machine is marked: MOD. 57 57 50 (/) SER. 3283-303.
The machine was purchased by the donor for his collection. According to Darby, Victor introduced the Tallymaster as “a small, ten-key decorator-designed series of machine priced at a level that would make sense to husband and wife harassed by mounting home paperwork.”
Reference:
E. Darby, It All Adds Up: The Growth of Victor Comptometer Corporation, Victor Comptometer Corporation, 1968, p. 172.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1970
maker
Victor Comptometer Corporation
ID Number
1991.0791.02
maker number
3283-303
accession number
1991.0791
catalog number
1991.0791.02

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.