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 1400 items.
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Felsenthal FAE-15 Stadia Computer Circular Slide Rule
- Description
- This white plastic circular slide rule consists of a disc riveted to a square backing. The backing has a logarithmic scale of readings of a stadia rod used with a transit telescope, in feet. The disc has two logarithmic scales of angles. The first scale gives the difference in elevation of the transit and the stadia rod, in feet. It represents multiplying the stadia reading by 1/2 sin 2A, where A is the vertical angle of the transit telescope. The second scale finds the horizontal distance of the rod in feet and represents multiplying the stadia reading by the square of cos A. There is no indicator.
- The instrument is marked on the front: STADIA COMPUTER. The interior of the disc has DIRECTIONS FOR USE and a table providing the quantity to be added when a constant is used in measuring stadia. On the back, the rule is marked: 6675-664-4676 (/) CONTRACT NO. DSA 700-68-M-AF86 (/) FELSENTHAL INSTRUMENTS CO. (/) CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (/) 22040 (/) MFR'S PART NO. FAE-15. It has a blue plastic case with snaps and a holder for a label. This object was donated with a second, duplicate Felsenthal stadia computer, which was assigned the same catalog number.
- The instrument resembles Cox's Stadia Computer (see 1987.0221.01 and 1987.0221.02). Donor Ben Rau dated the object to 1968, which is consistent with the form of the company name on the instrument. For Felsenthal company history, see 1977.1141.01 and 1977.1141.02.
- References: Deborah J. Warner, “Browse by Maker: Felsenthal,” National Museum of American History Physical Sciences Collection: Navigation , http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/navigation/maker.cfm?makerid=173; accession file.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1968
- maker
- Felsenthal Instrument Co.
- ID Number
- 1977.1141.41
- catalog number
- 336425
- accession number
- 1977.1141
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Range Correction Chart, Felsenthal FAS-3
- Description
- This white plastic chart was designed for the U.S. Army Signal Corps. It is a nomogram for finding the range correction in yards of a weapon, by lining up the meteorological correction as a percentage of the range and the range.
- On the left is a scale marked “Range Correction in Yds.” On the right is a scale marked “Percentage Meteorological Correction” and on the diagonal between the two is a scale marked “Range in Yds.” According to a label received with the object and stored in the accession file, the object was made in 1945.
- The meteorological correction is found from the temperature and wind speed using a related chart called a “sound velocity corrector” (for an example, see 1977.1141.42) .
- A mark on the object reads: Range Correction Chart PT-63/TSS-1.
- For an explanation of the mathematical theory of this kind of nomogram, see Lipka. For a similar device used for another purpose, see 1985.0636.01.
- References:
- Joseph Lipka, Graphical and Mechanical Computation. Part I. Alignment Charts, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1921, pp. 65–
- 67.
- Accession file.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1945
- author
- G. Felsenthal & Sons
- ID Number
- 1977.1141.43
- catalog number
- 336427
- accession number
- 1977.1141
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Hemmi Duplex Slide Rule Retailed by Post (Versalog 1460)
- Description
- The Frederick Post Company, a 20th-century manufacturer and retailer of scientific instruments based in Chicago, did not make its own slide rules. From 1932, its exclusive supplier of linear slide rules was Hemmi, a Japanese firm. Hemmi was known for using a large-diameter variety of bamboo grown in Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. Company founder Jiro Hemmi (1878–1953) patented this innovation in several nations, including the United States in 1920.
- While Post usually sold standard Hemmi models, around 1951 Hemmi created two ten-inch slide rules solely for Post, which sold in the United States as the model 1450 Versatrig and model 1460 Versalog. The Versalog was especially popular, selling several hundred thousand copies.
- This example is bamboo, coated on all sides (except the ends) with white celluloid. The rule is held together with metal posts, one of which is engraved on the front: Wm. Krutz. The glass indicator has a metal frame with plastic sides. One side is marked: HEMMI JAPAN. The other side bears a Post logo in red, which has largely been rubbed away. The red Post logo and the serial number 015836 appear on the right front of the slide. The serial number indicates the rule was manufactured in 1959. This is confirmed by the date code JI on the bottom edge of the rule, which corresponds to a manufacturing date of September 1959.
- The top edge of the rule is marked: CAT. NO. 1460; VERSALOG; FREDERICK POST CO.; HEMMI BAMBOO – JAPAN. The front of the base has LL0, LL/0, K, DF, D, R1, R2, AND L scales. The front of the slide bears CF, CIF, CI, and C scales. The LL/0, CIF, and CI scales are numbered in red. The back of the base has LL/1, LL/2, LL/3, D, LL3, LL2, AND LL1 scales. The back of the slide has T, Sec T and ST, Cos and S, and C scales. The LL/1, LL/2, LL/3, T, and Sec T scales are numbered in red. All the other scales are navy.
- The rule fits into a black Fabrikoid case with a leather flap (stamped POST). The case could be hung from the user's belt, and it is labeled: W. K. KRUTZ. The case is stored in a red, white, and black cardboard box, along with a guarantee from Post and a ruler-sized white plastic set of conversion tables, copyrighted in 1950 by the Eugene Dietzgen Co., another prominent slide rule manufacturer. The rule also arrived with an instruction booklet, 1978.0800.02.
- References: Jiro Hemmi, "Slide-Rule" (U.S. Patent 1,329,902 issued February 3, 1920); Walter Shawlee II, Ted Hume, and Paul Ross, "The Post Slide Rule Archive," Sphere Research Corporation, http://www.sphere.bc.ca/test/post.html; Bob Otnes, "Notes on Frederick Post Slide Rules," Journal of the Oughtred Society 7, no. 1 (1998): 7–10; Paul Ross and Ted Hume, "Slide Rules of the Frederick Post Company," Journal of the Oughtred Society 9, no. 2 (2000): 37–46; Ted Hume, "The Popular Post Versalog Slide Rule," Journal of the Oughtred Society 15, no. 1 (2006): 53–55; William Lise, "Japanese Slide Rules," 19 August 2004, accessed via Internet Archive Wayback Machine; E. I. Fiesenheiser, The Versalog Slide Rule: An Instruction Manual (Chicago: The Frederick Post Company, 1951).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1959
- maker
- SUN HEMMI JAPAN CF
- inventor
- Frederick Post Co.
- ID Number
- 1978.0800.01
- catalog number
- 336682
- accession number
- 1978.0800
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Japanese Artillery Simplex Slide Rule
- Description
- This ten-inch, one-sided Japanese brass linear slide rule has a (broken) glass indicator in a brass frame. On the top and bottom of the base and the top edge of one side of the slide are logarithmic scales that are identically marked and run from 10 to 10,000. These are labeled with a Japanese character that signifies kyori (distance). The lowest scale on this side of the slide is also logarithmic, but has 1/10 the values of the other 3 scales (except at the end, where it reads 800 instead of 1,000). This scale is for reading maps drawn to 1/6,400 scale.
- In the center of this side of the slide is a scale that runs from .01 to 45. It is labeled on the left with 1/16, for map reading conversions, and is labeled on the right with the character for seisetsu (tangent). The reverse side of the slide has two logarithmically divided scales, divided in the same way. One runs from 1 up to 1,600. The other runs from 3,199 down to 1,600. Both of these scales are labeled with the Japanese character for seigen (sine). The upper edge of the instrument is beveled and has a scale of 28 centimeters, divided to millimeters. The flat front of the instrument is also divided in a scale of equal parts. This scale runs from 1 to 138.
- The rule fits in a sturdy brown leather case with a buckle clasp. For a similar object, see "Japanese Gun Laying Slide Rule, 1920–1929" in the Powerhouse Museum, http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=384855. According to the donor, Robert L. Klinger, this instrument was recovered from an artillery dump at Asahigawa in Hokkaido, Japan in October of 1945. Klinger went on to work for the Smithsonian Institution.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- before 1945
- ID Number
- 1978.2289.01
- catalog number
- 1978.2289.01
- accession number
- 1978.2289
- catalog number
- 336874
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Pickett & Eckel Model 2 Deci Log Log Duplex Slide Rule
- Description
- This 10-inch duplex slide rule is made from a magnesium alloy coated with white celluloid. It has a flat glass indicator with metal sides and stainless steel end posts. One screw on the back bottom side is missing. The top side is engraved with a serial number: CO24920.
- The front of the rule has nine D scales, four also labeled 1/N, one also labeled Co, and four also labeled N. The two groups of four scales are extended and folded, so that for reading off logarithms, the rule is the equivalent of a rule 80" long. The slide has CF, CI, and C scales.
- The slide has several markings above the scales. The first marking reads: INTERNATIONAL (/) COPYRIGHT 1947 (/) U.S.A. COPYRIGHT 1947 (/) R. C. PICKETT, A. F. ECKEL (/) CHICAGO, U.S.A. Second, there is a table for Digits or Zero for Sine and Tangent and a table for the number of digits in a result found on the C scale. Third, a logo inside an oval reads: DECI• (/) LOG LOG (/) Trade Mark. Fourth is another table for whether a result has zeroes or digits in results for squares, cubes, and roots. The fifth marking reads: THE NUMBER OF ZEROS IS (/) ONE LESS THAN THE ABSO- (/) LUTE VALUE OF THE NEGA- (/) TIVE CHARACTERISTIC. (/) EXAMPLE: 10-5 = .00001. The sixth marking reads: THE NUMBER OF DIGITS IS (/) ONE GREATER THAN THE (/) POSITIVE CHARACTERISTIC. (/) EXAMPLE: 105 = 100,000. Finally, a mark at the right end of the slide reads: PATENTS PENDING (/) MADE IN U.S.A. (/) PICKETT & ECKEL, INC. (/) CHICAGO 3, U.S.A. (/) MODEL 2.
- The back of the rule has three cube root scales, an L scale, a D scale, and two square root scales. The scales for roots are folded, so that the rule is the equivalent of 60" in length for cube roots and 20" in length for square roots. The slide has two T scales and ST, S, CI, and C scales. The left side of the slide is marked: INTERNATIONAL (/) COPYRIGHT 1945 (/) U.S.A. COPYRIGHT 1945 (/) R.C. PICKETT, A. F. ECKEL (/) CHICAGO, U.S.A.
- Arthur Frederick Eckel (1894–1960) and Roswell Colvert Pickett (1892–1969) partnered in Chicago in 1943 to manufacture slide rules. By 1946, they had transitioned from paper slide rules to magnesium, and Pickett established a branch of the company in Alhambra, Calif. In 1947, Maurice L. Hartung, a University of Chicago professor who helped Pickett & Eckel market their products to schools, described the Model 2 in How to Use the Deci-Log Log Slide Rule (Chicago: Pickett & Eckel, 1947). A copy of this pamphlet is 1979.0601.04. Eckel received four of the patents mentioned as "pending" on the object in 1948 and 1949. He left the company around that time, and his name was removed from slide rules by 1950. Thus, this example was probably made between 1946 and 1950.
- Indeed, the donor, Frank M. Graves, reported that he used this rule as a college student. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Syracuse University in 1949.
- The rule fits in a brown leather case marked on the flap with "Pickett" in script over a triangular logo. A belt loop on the back of the case is marked: SADDLE (/) LEATHER. The logo was used by the company from 1950 to 1958, so the case may be a replacement. The style of the belt loop, though, differs from the ring construction depicted in Pickett's 1953 catalog. In 1953, Model 2 and its case sold for $21.35.
- References: Arthur F. Eckel, "Decimal Point Locator for Slide Rules" (U.S. Patent 2,446,696 issued August 10, 1948), "Calculator and Decimal Point Locator (U.S. Patent 2,466,883 issued April 12, 1949), "Slide Rule," (U.S. Patent 2,466,983 issued April 12, 1949), "Interchangeable Scale for Slide Rules" (U.S. Patent 2,491,650 issued December 20, 1949); Pickett All-Metal Slide Rules and "Retail Price List-Catalog," (Chicago: Pickett & Eckel, February 1, 1953); International Slide Rule Museum, "Pickett All-Metal Slide Rules," http://sliderulemuseum.com/SR_Dates.htm#Pickett; Accession File.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1946-1950
- maker
- Pickett & Eckel, Incorporated
- ID Number
- 1979.0601.02
- catalog number
- 1979.0601.02
- accession number
- 1979.0601
- 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
Macbeth Daylighting Circular Slide Chart
- Description
- In the first half of the 20th century, electric lighting became commonplace in American stores, factories, and homes. Firms such as Macbeth Daylighting Company of New York City and Corning Glassware of Corning, N.Y., developed special glass filters that transmitted incandescent light with optical properties similar to those of natural light. Macbeth distributed this white paper circular slide chart, which allowed the user to compare the efficiency and color temperature of Macbeth Whiterlite filters and Corning Daylite filters.
- The device is marked: MACBETH DAYLIGHTING CO., Inc. (/) 227–239 West 17th Street (/) New York. It probably dates from between 1920 and 1950. A tan paper envelope is also marked with the company's address.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1920-1950
- maker
- Macbeth-Evans Glass Company
- ID Number
- 1979.3074.01
- nonaccession number
- 1979.3074
- catalog number
- 1979.3074.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Cenco Gas Volume Reduction Circular Slide Rule
- Description
- This yellow paper circular rule consists of two discs, one with a protruding tab for rotating the disc, held together with a metal grommet. The device reduces the observed volume of a gas to the corresponding volume under standard conditions (0°C, 760 mm pressure). Scales for temperatures from 10 degrees to 35 degrees centigrade and for pressures from 700 to 790 mm run along the lower edge of the rule. Setting the device for an observed temperature and pressure reveals a volume factor and the logarithm of the volume factor in the lower interior of the instrument. The factor is multiplied by the observed volume on the scale along the upper edge of the instrument to arrive at the reduced volume.
- The instrument is marked: CentralScientificCo. (/) CENCO (/) CHICAGO U.S.A. (/) GAS VOLUME REDUCTION CHART. It is also marked: Copyrighted 1921, by Central Scientific Co. An advertisement for the "new rotary CENCO hyvac pump," available from Central Scientific's Bulletin No. 92, appears on the back of the device. For another instrument made by Central Scientific Co., see 1982.0147.02.
- The front of the instrument indicates that Prof. E. M. Jones of Adrian College in Adrian, Mich., proposed its design. Jones also wrote "Laboratory Versus Recitation," School Science and Mathematics 8 (1923): 749–759. In 1920, he was appointed to the city of Adrian's first water board.
- Reference: "Adrian H2O: Over One Hundred Years," http://www.ci.adrian.mi.us/Services/Utilities/History.aspx.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- after 1921
- maker
- Central Scientific Company
- ID Number
- 1979.3074.02
- nonaccession number
- 1979.3074
- catalog number
- 1979.3074.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Perrygraf Ohm's Law Calculator Slide Rule for Ohmite
- Description
- This rectangular yellow, orange, black, and white rule consists of a paper envelope holding a paper slide, held together with metal rivets. The Ohmite Manufacturing Company of Chicago commissioned it from the Perrygraf (or Perry Graf) Corporation of Maywood, Ill.
- Lester E. Perry (1901–1991), a machinery inspector in Cook County, Ill., founded Perrygraf in 1934. He and his associates, including his relative Oscar Perry, designed and manufactured special-purpose "slide charts." By 1960, the firm had a branch in California and a plant in Puerto Rico. In 1968 the firm was sold to Nashua Corporation, and operations in Illinois ceased. Some former employees started their own slide chart companies. James E. Johnson, the former plant manager, established American Slide Chart in 1971. This Wheaton, Ill., firm became sufficiently successful to purchase Perrygraf in 1988. Another former Perrygraf employee and engineer established Datalizer Slide Charts of Addison, Ill. Both American Slide Chart/Perrygraf and Datalizer Slide Charts remain in business as of 2012.
- The Ohmite Manufacturing Company, established in 1925, sold rheostats, fixed resistors, and adjustable resistors. Its Ohm's Law Calculator had scales that allowed the user to find ohms, volts, amperes, and watts, given any two of those measures. It also had a chart for finding the stock number of desired parts. This example was copyrighted in 1941 and sold for ten cents. The name of the donor is stamped on both sides. An electronic version of the calculator may be found on the company's website.
- References: George Melloan, "Pocket Slide Charts Aid Engineers, Help Sell Steel, Lipstick," Wall Street Journal, September 4, 1953, 1; Display Ad, Los Angeles Times, November 8, 1960, 22; "About Perrygraf," http://www.quinndesign.com/profweb/perrygraf/; "About Us," American Slide Chart/Perrygraf, http://www.americanslidechart.com/aboutus.html; "Slide Chart Specialists," Datalizer Slide Charts, http://www.datalizer.com/about-us/; "Ohmite History," http://www.ohmite.com/history.php.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1941
- maker
- Perry Graf Corporation
- ID Number
- 1979.3074.03
- nonaccession number
- 1979.3074
- catalog number
- 1979.3074.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center