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 89 items.
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Ferrel Tide Predictor
- Description
- In 1872, the British physicist William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) devised a machine to simulate mechanically the combination of periodic motions that produce tides. Inspired by this example, William Ferrel of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey designed a tide predictor and had it built by the Washington, D.C., firm of Fauth and Company. This elegant machine was more compact than that of Thomson, and gave maxima and minima rather than a continuous curve as output. It was designed in 1880, went into service in 1883 and remained in use until 1910. The success of Ferrel's tide predictor suggested the feasibility of replacing calculations performed by people with computation by machines.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1882
- used during
- 1883-1910
- maker
- Fauth & Co.
- designer
- Ferrel, William
- ID Number
- MA*315917
- catalog number
- 315917
- accession number
- 223203
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Group Examination Beta
- Description
- At the time of World War I, American psychologists hoped to extend intelligence testing from children to adults. They persuaded the U.S. Army to test its recruits in order to weed out those mentally unfit for duty overseas. Tests were given to groups of soldiers, with paper and pencil replacing the puzzles and other objects used in earlier tests . Over 1.6 million soldiers took the exams. This 1918 form of the test was called the Army Beta Examination. It was designed for illiterates and those who spoke no English. Instructions were given by pantomime. In the portion of the test shown, inductees were asked to draw the missing part of the pictures.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1918
- maker
- Office of the Surgeon General. Division of Psychology
- ID Number
- 1990.0334.02
- accession number
- 1990.0334
- catalog number
- 1990.0334.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Universal Magnetometer with Dip Circle
- Description
- This instrument is marked "D.T.M. C.I.W. N° 19." Designed and built by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1912, it incorporates an astronomical telescope and magnetometer for the determination of magnetic declination and horizontal intensity, and a dip circle with a Lloyd-Creak attachment for the determination of inclination and intensity. It is relatively light and easy to manipulate. It was used for a few years and then set aside when the universal magnetometer with earth inductor came into use.
- This magnetometer was probably transferred to the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey after the Carnegie Institution closed its geomagnetic program. The U.S. Geological Survey acquired it in 1973, when it took over the geomagnetic program of the federal government, and transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1982.
- Ref: J. A. Fleming, "Two New Types of Magnetometers Made by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington," Terrestrial Magnetism 16 (1911): 1-12.
- Carnegie Institution of Washington, Land Magnetic Observations, 1911-1913 (Washington, D.C., 1915), pp. 7-8.
- Date made
- 1912
- maker
- Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
- ID Number
- 1982.0671.03
- accession number
- 1982.0671
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Earth Inductor
- Description
- As scientists discovered that even the best dip circles gave unreliable results, they began using earth inductors to determine magnetic dip. In 1912, the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington developed a new earth inductor for use at sea. It has three key elements: an improved gimbal stand, a means for rotating the coil without disturbing the gimbal rings, and a sensitive galvanometer.
- This example is marked "D.T.M. C.I.W. E.I. N° 3." It is the third Carnegie marine earth inductor. When the Carnegie closed its program in terrestrial magnetism, it was lent to the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. The U.S. Geological Survey acquired it in 1973 when it took over the geomagnetic program of the federal government, and transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1982.
- Ref: J. A. Fleming, "Description of the C.I.W. Marine Earth
- Inductor," Terrestrial Magnetism 18 (1912): 39-45.
- C. W. Hewlett, "Report on the C.I.W. Marine Earth Inductor," Terrestrial Magnetism 18 (1912): 46-48.
- Date made
- 1912
- maker
- Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
- ID Number
- 1982.0671.05
- accession number
- 1982.0671
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Universal Magnetometer with Earth Inductor
- Description
- This instrument was designed and produced by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Unlike the Carnegie's original universal magnetometer, this one is equipped with an earth inductor to determine dip. It is marked "DEPARTMENT TERRESTRIAL MAGNETISM Carnegie Institution of Washington E.I. - M. No. 28." It was completed in 1914 and used in many locations around the world. The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey used it in South and Central America in the early 1940s. The U.S. Geological Survey acquired it in 1973, when that agency took charge of the federal program in geomagnetism, and transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1982.
- Ref: J. A. Fleming and J. A. Widner, "Description of the C.I.W. Combined Magnetometer and Earth Inductor," Terrestrial Magnetism 18 (1913): 105-110.
- Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. Land Magnetic Observations, 1911-1913 (Washington, D.C., 1915), pp. 9-12.
- U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Magnetic Observations in the American Republics 1941-44 (Washington, D.C., 1946), p. 16.
- Date made
- 1914
- maker
- Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
- ID Number
- 1982.0671.07
- accession number
- 1982.0671
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Magnetometer
- Description
- Theodolite magnetometers were designed for observations in the field, and so are relatively light, compact, of simple construction, and easily handled. Their tri-leg base can hold either the magnetometer or the theodolite that is used for astronomical alignment. The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey designed this particular form in the early 1890s, basing it on the instrument that the Survey had been using since the early 1880s but adding several new features. One is the octagonal shape of the collimating magnets. Another is the black velvet screen that connects the telescope with the suspension box: this cuts off stray light,and eliminates the problems caused by the glass window in the earlier form.
- This example is marked "C. & G. S. NO. 18." The Survey produced it in 1892-1893 and made it available for L.A. Bauer's magnetic survey of Maryland at the end of the century. The base—marked "Bausch, Lomb, Saegmuller Co., ROCHESTER, N.Y. 2690"—must be a replacement, made after the formation of that firm in 1905.
- The U.S. Geological Survey acquired this magnetometer in 1973 when it assumed control of the geomagnetic program of the federal government, and it transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1982.
- Ref: Edwin Smith, "Notes on Some Instruments Recently Made in the Instrument Division of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Office," Report of the Superintendent of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey for the Year 1894, Appendix No. 8, p. 275.
- L. A. Bauer, Maryland Geological Survey (Baltimore, 1897), p. 433.
- Date made
- 1892-1893
- maker
- U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
- ID Number
- 1982.0671.08
- accession number
- 1982.0671
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Magnetometer
- Description
- This theodolite magnetometer is based on the design that the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey developed in 1892-1893. It is similar in many ways to the instrument that the Survey had been using since the early 1880s, but with several new features. One is the octagonal shape of the collimating magnets. Another is the black velvet screen that connects the telescope with the suspension box: this cuts off stray light and eliminates the problems that had been caused by the glass window in the earlier form. It is marked "FAUTH & CO. WASHN D.C. 941" and "T.M.C.I. 1." The serial number suggests that it was made around 1895.
This instrument belonged to the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Internal records indicate that D.T.M. purchased it from Kolesch & Co. in New York in 1906 (for $175), sent it to Bausch, Lomb, Saegmuller Co. for repairs (another $120), and kept it in service until 1919.
Ref: Edwin Smith, "Notes on Some Instruments Recently Made in the Instrument Division of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Office," Annual
- Report of the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey for 1894, Appendix No. 8.
- Date made
- ca 1895
- maker
- Fauth
- Fauth & Co.
- ID Number
- 1983.0039.04
- accession number
- 1983.0039
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Metric Conversion Card
- Description
- In the 1970s, after metric units of measure had been adopted in Canada and Great Britain, some people in the United States advocated adoption of the metric system. The National Bureau of Standards of the U. S. Department of Commerce prepared this white plastic reference card to assist those wishing to use the unfamiliar units of measure. One side gave approximate conversion factors for computing metric measures from customary measures of length, area, mass and volume. This side also has a scale eight centimeters long divided to millimeters, and a chart with temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit along the top and temperatures in degrees centigrade along the bottom.
- The other side of the card gives factors for converting from metric to common measures of length, area, mass, volume, and temperature. There also is a scale three inches long divided to 1/16th of an inch.
- The card was a gift of machinist George A. Norton, a longtime employee of the National Museum of American History.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1972
- maker
- U.S. Department of Commerce. National Bureau of Standards
- ID Number
- 1990.3231.02
- catalog number
- 1990.3231.02
- nonaccession number
- 1990.3231
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Sample of Plutonium-239
- 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.
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
The Little Adding Wonder
- Description
- This notched band adder has a wooden framework. Six paper bands move in six columns, showing the result in six windows. A paper sheet glued to the front has numerals and the name of the device, as well as cutouts to create the columns. A sheet glued to the back gives instructions. The columns widen at the top for carrying in addition and at the bottom for borrowing in subtraction. The object came to the Smithsonian from the collection of Felt and Tarrant Manufacturing Company. The date assigned is quite arbitrary.
- Reference: P. Kidwell, “Adders Made and Used in the United States,” Rittenhouse, 1994, 8:78-96.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1925
- distributor
- Adding Wonder Manufacturers
- maker
- Adding Wonder Manufacturers
- ID Number
- MA*323626
- catalog number
- 323626
- accession number
- 250163
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center