Science & Mathematics - Overview
The Museum's collections hold thousands of objects related to chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy, and other sciences. Instruments range from early American telescopes to lasers. Rare glassware and other artifacts from the laboratory of Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen, are among the scientific treasures here. A Gilbert chemistry set of about 1937 and other objects testify to the pleasures of amateur science. Artifacts also help illuminate the social and political history of biology and the roles of women and minorities in science.
The mathematics collection holds artifacts from slide rules and flash cards to code-breaking equipment. More than 1,000 models demonstrate some of the problems and principles of mathematics, and 80 abstract paintings by illustrator and cartoonist Crockett Johnson show his visual interpretations of mathematical theorems.
"Science & Mathematics - Overview" showing 7 items.
Post Instruction Manual for Versalog Slide Rule
- Description
- This is a later printing of 1978.0800.02. Its citation information is: E. I. Fiesenheiser, Versalog Slide Rule Instruction Manual, with R. A. Budenholzer and B. A. Fisher (Chicago: Frederick Post Company, 1963). The text appears not to have been revised since these three Illinois Institute of Technology engineering professors helped invent the Versalog slide rule and wrote instructions for using it in 1951. Marks inside the front cover indicate this copy was offered for sale in January 1969 for $1.00.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1963
- maker
- Frederick Post Co.
- ID Number
- 1980.0097.03
- accession number
- 1980.0097
- catalog number
- 1980.0097.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Pickett Manual for Dual Base Log Log Slide Rules
- Description
- Pickett, Inc., was a slide rule manufacturer that started in Chicago in 1943, shifted most of its operations to Alhambra, Calif., in 1946, and moved to Santa Barbara, Calif., in 1964. Maurice L. Hartung, a mathematics professor at the University of Chicago, wrote several instruction manuals for the company, including How to Use Dual Base Log Log Slide Rules. This 93-page booklet was intended for use with Pickett models 2, 3, and 4. It contains sections on the general operation of a slide rule, the use of scales for trigonometry and roots, elementary vector methods, the use of logarithmic scales, practice problems, hyperbolic functions, and circular functions. Hartung also showed how the double T scales could solve side-angle-side triangle problems in one step. Model 600 was advertised at the back of the manual, and instructions for caring for Pickett slide rules were provided inside the back cover.
- Although Hartung wrote the manual in 1947, this printing was made after the company moved to Santa Barbara in 1964. See the associated items, 1980.0097.01 and 1980.0097.06.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date copyrighted
- 1947
- date printed
- ca 1965
- author
- Hartung, Maurice L.
- printer
- Pickett Industries
- ID Number
- 1980.0097.05
- accession number
- 1980.0097
- catalog number
- 1980.0097.05
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Keuffel & Esser Instruction Manual for Polyphase Duplex Slide Rule
- Description
- This 92-page salmon-colored paperback book was received with 1981.0933.03. Its citation information is: William E. Breckenridge, The Polyphase Duplex Slide Rule: A Self Teaching Manual (New York: Keuffel & Esser Co., 1924). Breckenridge earned an A.M. in mathematics from Columbia University in New York City, was chair of the mathematics department at Stuyvesant High School around 1909–1910, served as an associate editor of The Mathematics Teacher from 1913 to 1928, and apparently also taught at Columbia.
- Breckenridge explains the basic features and operations of the slide rule, discusses the history and theory of slide rules, provides methods for solving "advanced problems," treats plane trigonometry, solves triangle problems, and provides "typical examples relating to various occupations," such as secretarial work, excavation, and retail. Finally, he shows how to set the slide rule to solve various mechanical formulas and lists tables of equivalents for the basic C and D scales. In chapter one, a previous reader, presumably the donor, William J. Ellenberger, has checked off the examples and filled in the answers to the problems. An advertisement for K&E's other specialty and general slide rules appears at the back of the book. This manual sold for 50 cents.
- A digitized copy of The Polyphase Duplex Slide Rule is available at http://sliderulemuseum.com/Manuals/M205_KE_PolyphaseDuplexSlideRule_4088-3_1924.pdf.
- Reference: Keuffel & Esser Co., Price List, Applying to General Catalogue, 36th ed. (New York, 1925), 44, 90.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1924
- author
- Breckenridge, William E.
- ID Number
- 1981.0933.04
- accession number
- 1981.0933
- catalog number
- 1981.0933.04
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Keuffel & Esser Instruction Manual for Mannheim and Polyphase Duplex Slide Rules
- Description
- This 72-page salmon-colored paperback book was received with 1981.0933.03 and 1981.0933.05. Its citation information is: William Cox, The Mannheim (Polyphase) and the Duplex (Polyphase-Duplex) Slide Rules Complete Manual (New York: Keuffel & Esser Co., 1920). It sold for 50 cents. William Cox helped introduce the Mannheim slide rule to the United States, invented the duplex slide rule, and served as a mathematical consultant to Keuffel & Esser Company of New York, thus launching that firm into pioneering the American manufacture of slide rules. He first wrote this manual in 1891 and revised it in 1917, adding instructions for K&E's Polyphase Duplex slide rule (model 4088-3).
- A notice inside the front cover explained how K&E had updated the Mannheim line (models 4031–4056) since Cox first wrote the manual. Cox thoroughly described the characteristics, operations, and scales of Mannheim and Polyphase (which was especially useful for problems involving powers or roots) slide rules. He provided a lengthy table of equivalents for the base scales, C and D, as well as methods for working out mechanical and other formulas. He then went through a similar discussion for the eight-inch Duplex rule (model 4065) and for the ten-inch Polyphase-Duplex rule (model 4088). A supplement by J. M. Willard of the State College of Pennsylvania addressed the solution of problems in plane trigonometry. Finally, there are advertisements for K&E's general and specialty slide rules, the frameless indicator patented in 1915, a magnifier, and surveying equipment.
- References: William Cox, "Engineer's Slide-Rule" (U.S. Patent 460,930 issued October 6, 1891); Florian Cajori, A History of the Logarithmic Slide Rule and Allied Instruments (New York: Engineering News Publishing Company, 1909); Dieter von Jezierski, Slide Rules: A Journey Through Three Centuries, trans. Rodger Shepherd (Mendham, N.J.: Astragal Press, 2000), 14, 35; Clark McCoy, ed., "K&E Slide Rule Manuals," http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/KEManuals/manuals.htm.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1920
- author
- Cox, William
- ID Number
- 1981.0933.06
- accession number
- 1981.0933
- catalog number
- 1981.0933.06
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
The Kidjel Ratio System Instruction Manual
- Description
- The citation information for this spiral-bound book is: Maurice Kidjel, The Kidjel Ratio System 5.333/1 (Honolulu, 1962). It was received with an example of Kidjel's Cali-Pro proportional dividers (MA*333876), and a warranty card for the Cali-Pro is inside the front cover of the book. After a biographical note, Kidjel provided supposed solutions to the three classic construction problems of Greek antiquity (trisecting the angle, squaring the circle, and doubling the cube).
- Although the Cali-Pro was not needed for these attempted solutions, in part two of the book Kidjel explained how to make these and other, more standard, solutions with the device. Next, he discussed how his ratio applied to the human body. Finally, he explained how to use the Cali-Pro in various fields of industrial design, such as architecture and publishing. A brief biography of Kidjel's business partner, Kenneth W. K. Young, is found inside the back cover. The back cover reproduces a portion of then-U.S. Representative Daniel Inouye's remarks about the Kidjel ratio system, read into the Congressional Record of the 86th Congress.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1962
- author
- Kidjel, Maurice
- Young, Kenneth W. K.
- ID Number
- MA*304213.03
- accession number
- 1973.304213
- catalog number
- 304213.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
The Effects of Nuclear Weapons
- Description
- The citation information for this paperback book is: Samuel Glasstone, ed., The Effects of Nuclear Weapons, rev. ed., a special report prepared at the request of the Department of Defense and published by the Atomic Energy Commission (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1962).
- In order to anticipate the physical damage and personal injuries that would result from a nuclear attack, and thus to encourage emergency responders and public officials to prepare themselves, numerous federal agencies joined together in 1957 to release information about the energy released in a nuclear explosion. An updated report was completed in 1962. Chemist and technical writer Samuel Glasstone (1897–1986) guided both efforts, as well as a third revision (with Philip J. Dolan) that appeared in 1977.
- The 1962 edition has a pocket at the back for a Nuclear Bomb Effects Computer, a circular slide rule that allowed users to make computations of blast effects, given various combinations of conditions based on data from the book. The pocket in this copy has an instruction sheet but not the instrument, which sold separately for $1.00 in addition to the book's price of $3.00. See 1990.0688.01 for a computer received from another source.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1962
- maker
- Glasstone, Samuel
- ID Number
- 2005.3113.01
- nonaccession number
- 2005.3113
- catalog number
- 2005.3113.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Lithograph of "Indian Antiquities" pottery artifacts
- Description
- P.S. Duval and Company (c.1840s–1858) of Philadelphia printed this lithograph of “Indian Antiquities,” depicting South American woodenware, from an original sketch by John M. Stanley (1814–1872) of Detroit (1834–1840, 1864–1872) and Washington, D.C. (1850-1860). The illustration was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate X in the “Indian remains” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere, written by Thomas Ewbank (1792–1870).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1855
- original artist
- Wallis, O. J.
- Dreser, William
- Herbst, Francis
- graphic artist
- Sinclair, Thomas
- Dougal, William H.
- Duval, Peter S.
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- Stanley, John Mix
- Siebert, Selmar
- author
- Cassin, John
- Ewbank, Thomas
- Baird, Spencer Fullerton
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2007.0204.01
- accession number
- 2007.0204
- catalog number
- 2007.0204.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center