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 17 items.
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Fuller's Computing Telegraph Circular Slide Rule
- Description
- This square yellow cardboard instrument has circular discs that rotate about a metal pin. The edges of the instrument are bound in red morocco leather. The disc on one side, Fuller's Time Telegraph, is designed to rapidly compute intervals between dates on the calendar. It has linear scales for the 365 days of the year around the edge of the disc and on the surrounding circle on the frame. In addition to the name of the instrument and directions for finding the number of days and weeks between two dates, there is a copyright mark: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1845 by John E. Fuller in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the State of Massachusetts (/) Eng[rave]d by G. G. Smith, Boston.
- The disc on the other side, Palmer's Computing Scale, has logarithmic scales for area, distance, weight, and volume. The scales are marked with various equivalents, such as 5,280 feet to one mile. The surrounding circle on the frame has logarithmic scales for days, months, and costs per hundredweight. The center of the disc is marked: IMPROVED BY (/) FULLER. Near the top of the disc is marked: Use the inner circle for Dollars, Cents & Mills, (/) or Pounds, Shillings & Pence. Below the name of the instrument is a copyright mark: Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1843, by Aaron Palmer in the Clerks [sic]Office of the District Court of the State of Massachusetts (/) and by J. E. Fuller 1847. (/) Engraved by George G. Smith 186 Washington St. Boston. Above the name of the instrument is a second copyright mark: Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1847, by J. E. Fuller, In the Clerks [sic] office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York.
- The instrument fits in a folder with a dark green cover marked: FULLER'S (/) COMPUTING (/) TELEGRAPH. Inside the front cover is a 21-page booklet. The booklet, published in London, is titled: Fuller's Computing Telegraph: Multiplication and Division by one Single Process . . . To Which is Added Fuller's Complete and Perpetual Calendar. The booklet advertises the instrument's capabilities, explains how to solve various problems, and provides more detailed instructions. There are various tables for mechanics and engineers, including squares and cubes and the pressure of steam engines, and rules for solving problems of machines and of geometry. A circular statistical chart for the 35 states of the United States, separated into free and slave states, is also provided. Inside the back cover is a pictorial chart of 178 "mechanical movements," depicting gears and other machines carrying out rectilinear and circular motions. W. Nicholson prepared the chart, O. Pelton engraved it, and John E. Fuller published it.
- This instrument was one of the first circular slide rules sold in the United States. It was introduced by Aaron Palmer of Boston, who made a prototype in 1841, took out a copyright for a computing scale in 1843, and published an account of it in 1844. He exhibited both the original and a smaller version at the 18th American Institute Fair, held in New York, N.Y., in 1845. There it may have attracted the attention of John Emery Fuller (1799–1878). By 1846, Fuller had acquired rights to Palmer's instrument and published an account of his improvements. He also added the time telegraph, which he had copyrighted in 1845. Fuller copyrighted the revised form of Palmer's scale in 1847. He exhibited the slide rule at the Crystal Palace exhibition in London in 1851 and prepared an English version of the instrument.
- Bobby Feazel counted seven separate issues of the instrument, the four by Palmer listed above and three by Fuller (1847, 1848, 1871). The marks on this example correspond to the sixth issue, which was the English version and was manufactured between 1848 and 1871. The references in the instruction booklet to slave states and data from the 1860 Census suggest a date between 1861 and 1865.
- References: Aaron Palmer, A Key to the Endless, Self-computing Scale, Showing Its Application to the Different Rules of Arithmetic, &c. (Boston: Smith & Palmer, 1844); Scientific American 1, no. 8 (October 16, 1845): 3; "The Eighteenth Annual Fair of the American Institute," American Whig Review 2, no. 5 (November 1845): 538–542, on 541; John E. Fuller, Improvement to Palmer's Endless Self-computing Scale and Key: Adapting It to the Different Professions . . . and Also to Colleges, Academies and Schools, With a Time Telegraph, Making, by Uniting the Two, a Computing Telegraph (New York, 1846; new ed., New York, 1851); "Fuller's Computing Telegraph," The Public Ledger, St. John's, Newfoundland, August 11, 1857, 2; Florian Cajori, "Aaron Palmer's Computing Scale" and "John E. Fuller's Circular Slide Rules," Colorado College Publication: Engineering Series 1 (1909): 111–122; Bobby Feazel, "Palmer's Computing Scale," Journal of the Oughtred Society 3, no. 1 (1994): 9–17; 4, no. 1 (1995): 5–8.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1861-1865
- maker
- George Philip and Son
- ID Number
- 1987.0284.01
- catalog number
- 1987.0284.01
- accession number
- 1987.0284
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Instructions for Otis King's Pocket Calculator
- Description
- This trifold pamphlet reprints the text found in 1987.0788.06, except for the section on [Pounds] Sterling Calculations, which is omitted. The columns of text are also laid out slightly differently, so that the page length is shortened from eight pages to six. These instructions accompanied 1989.3049.02. See also 1989.3049.04.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1965-1968
- maker
- Carbic Limited
- ID Number
- 1989.3049.03
- nonaccession number
- 1989.3054
- catalog number
- 1989.3054.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Cooper 100-Inch Slide Rule
- Description
- This instrument consists of a wooden base to which a flat rectangular scale printed on white celluloid is attached. The scale is divided logarithmically and arranged in 20 parallel lines. Each line is about five inches long. A wooden frame slides backward and forward over the base. Within this frame is a second frame, which has a clear celluloid window. Four index marks are drawn on the window. A loose metal wedge with a pin attached serves as a pointer, and it may be placed at any point on the window. The scales are marked: THE COOPER 100 INCH SLIDE RULE (/) PATENTED.
- The feet of the base are lined with green felt. The instrument fits in a leather-covered cardboard box that is lined with white felt. A sticker inside the lid reads: WILLIAM DUBILIER (/) 72 Esplanade (/) NEW ROCHELLE, N. Y. There is also a note that reads: TELEPHONE, PARK 1081. (/) WIRELESS CALL, 5AU. (/) 94, ADDISON ROAD (/) KENSINGTON, W. 14. (/) 24/12/22 (/) To W. D. (/) With very best wishes for (/) Xmas and the New Year. (/) W.v.P.
- William Dubilier (1888–1969), the donor of this instrument, was an American electrical engineer and inventor who received this instrument from a friend in Great Britain in 1922. By 1923, W. F. Stanley & Co. made this rule and stamped the outer frame with its mark. Although the rule worked well for multiplication and percentage problems, it was difficult to set the rule accurately for more complex calculations. At the relatively high price of £4, the instrument probably never sold widely. No patents for the device have been found. For the instruction manual, see MA*259739.01.
- References: Werner H. Rudowski, "The Cooper 100-inch Slide Rule: An Update," Slide Rule Gazette 8 (Autumn 2007): 25–27; Peter M. Hopp, Slide Rules: Their History, Models, and Makers (Mendham, N.J.: Astragal Press, 1999), 116; "William Dubilier, Inventor, Is Dead," New York Times (July 27, 1969), 65; accession file.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1922
- maker
- Stanley, William Ford
- ID Number
- MA*326237
- catalog number
- 326237
- accession number
- 259739
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Four-Sided Gauger's Slide Rule by Cooke
- Description
- This is a twelve-inch, four-sided boxwood slide rule used in England for measuring and taxing barrels of liquid. Each of the four slides has a brass guide at one end, and the various special points on the rules are marked with inset brass pegs. On one side, the base has a D scale, logarithmically divided from 1 to 3.2 and from 3.2 to 10. Point 18.789 is marked G, the circular gauge point, for determining the mean diameter of a barrel. Point 46.3 is marked MS, for the side of a square vessel that contains a solid bushel per inch of depth, and point 52.32 is marked MR, for the side of a square vessel that contains a malt bushel per inch of depth. The slide has two identical B scales, logarithmically divided from 1 to 10. Point 277.42 is marked G for the imperial gallon.
- On the second side, the base has logarithmic scales that run from 1 to 8 and from 8 to 100. It is labeled SEGT ST (Segments Standing) at the top left and SS at the bottom right. The slide has two identical C scales, logarithmically divided from 1 to 9. This side was used to estimate the volume of a barrel that was standing vertically and partially filled. The back of the slide lists gauge points, divisors, and factors for circles for malt and for gall (another substance used in making alcoholic beverages) in circular and square containers.
- On the third side, the base has an A scale, logarithmically divided from 1 to 10, and an MD (Malt Depth) scale that runs logarithmically in the opposite direction from somewhat less than 3 to 20. Point 2219 is marked B, for the number of cubic inches in a bushel under the imperial system of measurement, and point 277.42 is marked G, for the imperial gallon. The slide has two identical C scales, logarithmically divided from 1 to 9. The back of the slide has a scale of inches, a scale labeled SPH[EROI]D, and a scale labeled 2D VAR[IETY]. These scales are for determining the diameters of two different shapes of barrels. Underneath the slide is marked: COOK. MAKER TO THE HONBLE BOARD OF EXCISE. LATE WELLINGTON CROWN COURT SOHO LONDON NO 2950.
- On the fourth side, the base has logarithmic scales that run from 0 to 4 and from 4 to 100. It is labeled SEGT LY (Segments Lying) at the top left and SL at the bottom right. The slide has two identical B scales, logarithmically divided from 1 to 9. Underneath the slide, points 3.9 and 99 are connected by a line marked with H.
- The use of the Imperial system of units dates this slide rule to after 1824. It is of the style developed by Thomas Everard in 1683 and, at 12 inches, represents one of the two standard "pocket" sizes (the other was 9"). Laban Cook(e) succeeded Alexander Wellington (d. 1825) as a Maker to the English Board of Excise and remained in business until 1834. Compare to the older rule for gauging and ullage (the amount a container is lacking to be full), MA*319510.
- References: D. Baxandall, Catalogue of the Collections in the Science Museum: Mathematics I. Calculating Machines and Instruments (London, 1926), 42; Colin Barnes, "The Customs and Excise Gauging Slide Rule," Journal of the Oughtred Society 4, no. 2 (1995): 53–57; Peter M. Hopp, Slide Rules: Their History, Models, and Makers (Mendham, N.J.: Astragal Press, 1999), 72, 245; Gloria Clifton, Dictionary of British Scientific Instrument Makers (London: National Maritime Museum, 1995), 64.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1825-1834
- maker
- Cook, Laban
- Cook
- ID Number
- 1980.0588.04
- catalog number
- 1980.0588.04
- accession number
- 1980.0588
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Otis King's Pocket Calculator Model L Cylindrical Slide Rule
- Description
- This six-inch cylindrical slide rule consists of a chromium-plated holder, a metal cylinder that slides into the holder, and a black metal tube that fits around and slides up and down on the cylinder. The telescoping rule is ten inches long when extended and equivalent to a rectangular slide rule 66 feet in length. Two short white lines on the tube and a black mark on the chrome cap at the end of the cylinder serve as the indicator. A paper spiral logarithmic scale is attached to the top half of the holder. A second, linear and logarithmic, paper scale is attached to the cylinder. The logarithmic scales are used to multiply and divide, and the linear scale is used to find logarithms.
- At the top of the cylinder is printed: PATENT No 183723. At the bottom of the cylinder is printed: OTIS KING'S POCKET CALCULATOR; SCALE No 430. The top of the scale on the holder is printed: SCALE No 429; COPYRIGHT. The bottom is printed: OTIS KING'S PATENT No 183723. The end of the holder is engraved: MADE IN (/) Y9481 (/) ENGLAND.
- Otis Carter Formby King invented this form of slide rule in 1921, and Carbic Limited of London, England, manufactured it until 1972. The serial number, Y9481, suggests a date about 1965–1969 for this example. A collector of computing devices donated it to the Smithsonian.
- See also 1987.0788.01 and 1989.3049.02. For documentation, see 1981.0922.10 and 1981.0922.11.
- References: Peter M. Hopp, Slide Rules: Their History, Models, and Makers (Mendham, N.J.: Astragal Press, 1999), 274, 281; Otis Carter Formby King, "Calculating Apparatus," (U.S. Patent 1,645,009 issued October 11, 1927); Richard F. Lyon, "Dating of the Otis King: An Alternative Theory Developed Through Use of the Internet," Journal of the Oughtred Society 7, no. 1 (1998): 33–38; Dick Lyon, "Otis King's Patent Calculator," http://www.svpal.org/~dickel/OK/OtisKing.html.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1965-1968
- maker
- Carbic Limited
- ID Number
- 1981.0922.09
- catalog number
- 1981.0922.09
- accession number
- 1981.0922
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Advertising Pamphlet for Otis King's Pocket Calculator
- Description
- The cover of this eight-page pamphlet is blue and black. It reads: HOW THE (/) OTIS KING (/) SPIRAL (/) SLIDE RULE (/) SAVES TIME (/) AND MISTAKES (/) IN ALL (/) CALCULATIONS (/) SIMPLE (/) QUICK (/) ACCURATE. The text describes the features and advantages of the Otis King cylindrical slide rule. Drawings demonstrate the three steps required to make calculations with the instrument. The pamphlet also lists 13 sample problems the Otis King Pocket Calculator could solve, 37 companies that were major customers of the rule, and 50 professions that usefully employed the rule. The back page carries five anonymous testimonials.
- This pamphlet arrived with 1981.0922.09 and 1981.0922.11. It is exactly the same as 1989.3049.04, except that it is not stamped with information about where the rule was purchased.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1965-1970
- maker
- Carbic Limited
- ID Number
- 1981.0922.10
- accession number
- 1981.0922
- catalog number
- 1981.0922.10
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Instructions for Otis King's Pocket Calculator
- Description
- This 16-page pamphlet was printed on light green paper by Carbic Limited, the London manufacturer of the cylindrical slide rule invented by Otis King. It is titled: The Otis King Calculator: Instructions for Use. This form of pamphlet is typically found with King Calculators manufactured later than those that sold with Carbic's eight-page pamphlet. (See 1987.0788.06.) Thus, it was printed no earlier than the late 1960s. This pamphlet did, though, appear before the pound sterling was decimalized in 1971.
- An introduction to the instrument has been added, and explanations have been expanded for multiplication and division, logarithms, and understanding the scales. The further examples are nearly identical to those in the earlier form of instructions. The explanations of how to use the logarithmic capabilities of Model L are the same except that the word "unity" has been replaced by the number 1. Discussions of compound roots and approximation have been added, and the explanation of finding the decimal point is expanded.
- Reference: Dick Lyon, "Otis King's Patent Calculator," http://www.svpal.org/~dickel/OK/OtisKing.html.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1965-1970
- maker
- Carbic Limited
- ID Number
- 1981.0922.11
- accession number
- 1981.0922
- catalog number
- 1981.0922.11
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Otis King's Pocket Calculator Model L Cylindrical Slide Rule
- Description
- This six-inch cylindrical slide rule consists of a chromium-plated holder, a metal cylinder that slides into the holder, and a black metal tube that fits around and slides up and down on the cylinder. The rule is ten inches long when extended and equivalent to a linear slide rule 66 feet in length. Two short white lines on the tube and a black mark on the chrome cap at the end of the cylinder serve as the indicator. A paper spiral logarithmic scale is attached to the top half of the holder. A second, linear and logarithmic, paper scale is attached to the cylinder. The logarithmic scales are used to multiply and divide, and the linear scale is used to find logarithms.
- The end of the cylinder is engraved: MADE IN (/) ENGLAND. At the top of the cylinder is printed: PATENT No 183723. At the bottom of the cylinder is printed: OTIS KING'S POCKET CALCULATOR; SCALE No 430. The top of the scale on the holder is printed: SCALE No 429; COPYRIGHT. The bottom is printed: OTIS KING'S PATENT No 183723. The end of the holder is machine engraved: T/0503. Engraved by hand (and upside-down to the serial number) is: C73.
- The instrument is stored in a rectangular black cardboard box. A label on one end reads: Otis King's (/) Calculator (/) Model "L" (/) No. T0503. The slide rule arrived with instructions, 1987.0788.06, and an advertising flyer, 1987.0788.07. See also 1989.3049.02 and 1981.0922.09.
- Otis Carter Formby King (b. 1876) of Coventry, England, received a British patent (183,723) for this instrument on August 31, 1922, and in 1923 he received patents 207,762 and 207,856 for improvements to the slide rule. From London, King filed a U.S. patent application, which he assigned to Carbic Limited, the London manufacturer of the slide rule, when that patent was granted in 1927. With co-inventor Bruce Hamer Leeson, King received U.S. Patent 1,820,354 for an "electrical remote control system" on August 25, 1931.
- The serial number indicates that this example of Otis King's calculator was manufactured around 1960 to 1962. Howard Irving Chapelle (1901–1975), a naval architect, maritime historian, and curator of what was then the National Museum of History and Technology, donated it to the Smithsonian around 1969 to 1970.
- References: Peter M. Hopp, Slide Rules: Their History, Models, and Makers (Mendham, N.J.: Astragal Press, 1999), 274, 281; Otis Carter Formby King, "Calculating Apparatus," (U.S. Patent 1,645,009 issued October 11, 1927); Richard F. Lyon, "Dating of the Otis King: An Alternative Theory Developed Through Use of the Internet," Journal of the Oughtred Society 7, no. 1 (1998): 33–38; Dick Lyon, "Otis King's Patent Calculator," http://www.svpal.org/~dickel/OK/OtisKing.html.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1960-1962
- maker
- Carbic Limited
- ID Number
- 1987.0788.01
- catalog number
- 1987.0788.01
- accession number
- 1987.0788
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Instructions for Otis King's Pocket Calculator
- Description
- This pamphlet folds out to eight pages and was printed on light green paper by Carbic Limited, the British manufacturer of Otis King's Pocket Calculator, a cylindrical slide rule. Carbic's address on the pamphlet—171, Seymour Place, London, W.I.—is scratched out and reprinted as 54, Dundonald Road, London, S.W.19. Dundonald Road was the last known location for Carbic, and the company was there by 1959. The calculator was available by mail order in 1960 for 62s. 6d. (roughly $175.00).
- The pamphlet provides details of the scales on the Model K (which performed multiplication and division) and the Model L (which also provided readings of logarithms for determining roots and powers). The examples also include problems of proportion, percentages, constant factors, and calculations in pounds sterling (before decimalization of British currency). The last three pages provide instructions for operating the instrument.
- See also 1987.0788.01 and 1987.0788.07.
- Reference: "Finding the Answer is Simplicity Itself," advertisement for the Otis King Pocket Calculator, The New Scientist 5, no. 121 (March 12, 1959): 548 and 8, no. 213 (December 15, 1960): 1568.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1960-1962
- maker
- Carbic Limited
- ID Number
- 1987.0788.06
- accession number
- 1987.0788
- catalog number
- 1987.0788.06
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Advertisement for Otis King's Pocket Calculator
- Description
- This flyer, printed in blue ink on white paper, is titled: Simplify any Calculation with an Otis King. The text identifies potential users and describes the functions of this cylindrical slide rule. The back of the flyer lists six sample problems the Otis King Pocket Calculator could solve. It is stamped with the address of an English dealer of scientific instruments: H. T. POCKETT. (/) 25. NELSON ROAD. (/) GREENWICH. S.E.10. The price is listed as 47s. 6d. postpaid.
- The flyer arrived with 1987.0788.01 and probably dates to the same period, from about 1960 to 1962. See also 1987.0788.06.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1960-1962
- maker
- Carbic Limited
- ID Number
- 1987.0788.07
- accession number
- 1987.0788
- catalog number
- 1987.0788.07
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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