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 19 items.
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Hemmi Simplex Slide Rule Retailed by Post (1446)
- Description
- Hemmi, a Japanese slide rule firm established in 1895, became notable after it began in 1912 to apply celluloid to bamboo, resulting in rules that did not shrink or expand like wooden rules. Hemmi also made rules for export, and it became the sole supplier of linear slide rules to the Frederick W. Post Company of Chicago by 1932. Post sold model 1446 between 1931 and 1949 for $1.50. The donor reported that this example was purchased in 1936 by Colonel Alfred J. Betcher (1887–1971), a regular officer in the U.S. Army. This date is consistent with the company logo on the case, which was in use in the 1930s, and with the lack of reference on the instrument to "Occupied Japan," as Hemmi rules were marked from 1946 to 1950. Hemmi products were not available in the United States during World War II.
- This one-sided bamboo rule is coated with white celluloid only on the front. There are A and D scales on the base. The D scale is marked at each end: Quot (/) +1; Prod (/) -1. The slide has B and C scales on one side and S, L, and T scales on the other side. The indicator is glass in a metal frame. The rule's backing is clear and silver celluloid. It contains a chart with fractions converted to decimal numbers, powers of П, relationships between scales C and D, and weights of metals.
- The center top of the base is marked in red: THE FREDERICK POST CO. NO. 1446. The center bottom of the base is marked in black: "SUN" (between two drawings of the sun); HEMMI; MADE IN JAPAN. The edge of the indicator is also engraved: SUN (between two drawings of the sun) HEMMI.
- The rule is stored in a rectangular black Fabrikoid case which is opened by removing the right end. This end is marked in white: POSTS (/) 1446. The back of the case is marked: MADE IN JAPAN. The rule came with a stapled leaflet of instructions, 1982.0386.03.
- References: Dieter von Jezierski, Slide Rules: A Journey Through Three Centuries, trans. Rodger Shepherd (Mendham, N.J.: Astragal Press, 2000), 79–82; International Slide Rule Museum, "Slide Rule Dates and Time-Lines," http://sliderulemuseum.com/SR_Dates.htm; Posts Dependable Drawing Materials, 18th ed. (Chicago: The Frederick Post Company, 1936), 174. Price lists for this catalog dated August 1937 and May 1940 show model 1446 on pages 11–12 and 27–28, respectively.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1931-1939
- maker
- SUN HEMMI JAPAN CF
- distributor
- Frederick Post Co.
- ID Number
- 1982.0386.02
- accession number
- 1982.0386
- catalog number
- 1982.0386.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Instruction Manual for Pickett & Eckel Log Log Trig Slide Rule
- Description
- The citation information for this small 32-page booklet is: Maurice L. Hartung, How to Use the 300 Log Log Trig Pocket Slide Rule (Chicago: Pickett & Eckel, Inc., 1949). It provides general information on how to use slide rules, including the arithmetical operations, locating the decimal point, combining multiplication and division, using the folded scales, calculating roots, trigonometry, and vectors.
- Model 300 was a six-inch, pocket-sized duplex slide rule and is not presently represented in the Smithsonian collections, although 1999.0096.01 is a ten-inch log log trig rule. Hartung was a University of Chicago professor who helped Pickett & Eckel market their products to schools and who wrote several instruction manuals for the company's slide rules. See 1979.0601.02.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1949
- maker
- Hartung, Maurice L.
- ID Number
- 1979.0601.03
- accession number
- 1979.0601
- catalog number
- 1979.0601.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Instruction Manual for Pickett & Eckel Deci Log Log Slide Rule
- Description
- This 32-page booklet was received with 1979.0601.02. Its citation information is: Maurice L. Hartung, How to Use the Deci Log Log Slide Rule (Chicago: Pickett & Eckel, Inc., 1947). Hartung, a University of Chicago professor and consultant to Pickett & Eckel, provided a basic overview of mathematical operations on the slide rule. He then explained placing the decimal point; the inverted scales; scales for squares and cubes, logarithms, and trigonometry; and solving problems using multiple scales. He next described the log log scales in a section that has several diagrams of slide rules.
- A pink paper sheet on caring for the slide rule is inside the booklet. A previous owner has written in a few corrections, including an updated population of the United States of 175 million in 1957.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1947
- maker
- Pickett Industries
- author
- Hartung, Maurice L.
- ID Number
- 1979.0601.04
- accession number
- 1979.0601
- catalog number
- 1979.0601.04
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Instruction Manual for Pickett 101-C Circular Slide Rule
- Description
- This 24-page booklet was received with 1981.0922.12. Its citation information is: Maurice L. Hartung, Dial Rule Circular Slide Rule: Your Model No. 101-C Instruction Manual (Chicago & Alhambra, Calif.: Pickett & Eckel, Inc., 1957). The back is marked: PRINTED IN U.S.A.; FORM M-18. The Pickett logo on the front cover was used between 1958 and 1962.
- The manual provides instructions and processes for the C and CI scales, multiplication, division, combined operations, the A and Af scales (for square roots), logarithms and adding fractions, the LL scale, the DS and DT scales (for drill sizes and double depth of threads), the M scale (for metric conversions), and the S, ST, and T scales (for trigonometry). There are 24 problems and answers on the back page.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1958
- publisher
- Pickett Industries
- author
- Hartung, Maurice L.
- ID Number
- 1981.0922.13
- accession number
- 1981.0922
- catalog number
- 1981.0922.13
- 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
Directions for the Use of Hemmi Slide Rules
- Description
- This stapled ten-page leaflet arrived with 1982.0386.02. It is marked "Printed in Japan" and probably dates to the mid-1930s. It is titled, Short Directions for the Use of the "Hemmi's" Bamboo Slide Rules, and there are indications throughout the text that its author was not a native speaker of English.
- The leaflet explains what a slide rule is. There are sections for Hemmi Normal Slide Rules, the Electro Slide Rule with Log Log Scale, and the Improved Slide Rule. The leaflet also contains an illustration of reading graduations on the scales, an explanation of Hemmi's construction techniques, and various technical problems that could be solved with slide rules. ID number 1982.0386.02 resembles the slide rule illustrated on p. 1, although the drawing shows a ruler in inches on the top edge and depicts PATENT No 58115 as written on the indicator. The example in the collections lacks the ruler and the reference to what is presumably a Japanese patent.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1931-1939
- maker
- SUN HEMMI JAPAN CF
- ID Number
- 1982.0386.03
- accession number
- 1982.0386
- catalog number
- 1982.0386.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Pickett 120-T Student Simplex Slide Rule
- Description
- This ten-inch white plastic one-sided linear slide rule has a clear plastic indicator that goes all the way around the instrument. The posts holding the rule together are also white. The base has K, A, D, and L scales, with B, T, S, CI, and C scales on the slide. The left end of the slide is marked: PICKETT (/) NO. 120. The right end of the slide is engraved with the Pickett triangular logo used between 1958 and 1962. The bottom right corner of the base is marked: MADE IN U.S.A.
- The rule fits in a black imitation leather stitched sheath. Pickett advertised this "trig trainer" slide rule in the September 17, 1961, issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune. In later years, Pickett added the model name "Microline" to the model number. The company intended that students would learn fundamental operations with these rules and then graduate to its more complex aluminum rules. Compare the five-inch student rule, 1991.0445.02, and the ten-inch Microline duplex rule, 1989.0325.07.
- Mechanical engineer Edward L. Heller (1912–2007) donated this example to the Smithsonian. From 1956 to 1959, he worked as a nuclear project engineer for H. K. Ferguson Co. He was a technical manager for General Dynamics Corporation from 1959 to 1967. He married in 1946 and raised two children. Since the slide rule was probably purchased about 1960, Heller may have expected that his children would use it.
- References: American Men and Women of Science, 12th ed. (New York: J. Cattell Press, 1972), iii:2620; International Slide Rule Museum, "Pickett All-Metal Slide Rules," http://sliderulemuseum.com/SR_Dates.htm#Pickett.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1958-1962
- maker
- Pickett & Eckel, Incorporated
- ID Number
- 1984.1068.03
- accession number
- 1984.1068
- catalog number
- 1984.1068.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Keuffel & Esser 68-2047 Log Log Duplex Decitrig Manual and S14-5 Care Instructions
- Description
- ID number 1987.0085.01, a model 68–1210 Log Log Duplex Decitrig slide rule by Keuffel & Esser of New York, was received with these two paperback booklets. The citation information for the first booklet is: Lyman M. Kells, Willis F. Kern, and James R. Bland, K&E Slide Rule Manual: Log Log Duplex Decitrig, 4th ed. (New York: Keuffel & Esser Co., 1955). Kells, Kern, and Bland were all mathematics professors at the United States Naval Academy; they first prepared this manual in 1943. They designed the book for students to learn to operate slide rules on their own, without the aid of a teacher.
- The manual covers the following topics: multiplication and division; the proportion principle and combined operations; squares and square roots, cubes and cube roots; trigonometry; the log log scales; and logarithms and the slide rule. Included are exercises, answers, and a historical note (featuring K&E's contributions to the development of slide rules). The manual was previously K&E model number 4187S.
- The second pamphlet is small (4 X 3 inches) and titled: "How to Take Care of Your Slide Rule." It was copyrighted in 1944, 1949, 1958, and 1962. Users are to clean the slide rule only with a moistened cloth. Instructions are provided for adjusting and aligning the slide rule.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1955-1962
- author
- Kells, Lyman M.
- Kern, Willis F.
- Bland, James R.
- publisher
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- 1987.0085.02
- accession number
- 1987.0085
- catalog number
- 1987.0085.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
C-Thru Pocket Slide Rule
- Description
- This inexpensive five-inch white plastic rule has A and D scales on the front of the base; B, CI, and C scales on the front of the slide; and S, L, and T scales on the back of the base. The indicator is clear plastic. Underneath the slide is a table of equivalents and settings. The front of the slide also has a scale of six inches, divided to sixteenths of an inch, and a scale of 15.3 centimeters, divided to millimeters. The back of the slide has a table of decimal equivalents from 1/64 to 63/64. A brown imitation leather sheath is marked: POCKET SLIDE RULE MADE IN U.S.A. No. 27. For instructions, see 1988.0807.06. The postal code on the instructions indicates a date between 1943 and 1963. According to this sheet, the C-Thru Ruler Company of Hartford, Conn., made this rule. This firm, established in 1939 by teacher Jennie Zachs and acquired by Acme United Corporation in 2012, continues to make transparent drafting tools and drawing instruments.
- References: Brian Dowling, "Acme United Acquires Bloomfield's C-Thru Ruler," Hartford Courant, June 11, 2012; "About Us," C-Thru Ruler Company, http://www.cthruruler.com/.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1943-1963
- maker
- C-Thru Ruler Company
- ID Number
- 1988.0807.02
- accession number
- 1988.0807
- catalog number
- 1988.0807.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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