Computers & Business Machines

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

Microscope

Description

Compound monocular with coarse and fine focus, tilting hinge, triple nosepiece, square stage, sub-stage mirror, and horseshoe base. The inscription reads “THE ‘DAVON’ SUPER MICROSCOPE / PATENT No. 10670 - 14 / F. DAVIDSON & CO. / LONDON, W. / 65A.”

Davidson boasted that “This apparatus combines in standardized and instantly interchangeable form the functions of the microscope, telescope, camera and projecting lantern for laboratory, educational and industrial purposes.”

Ref: F. Davidson & Co., The Davon Micro-Telescope and Super Microscope (London, 1914).

P. J. Risdon, “Microscope and Telescope Too,” Popular Science Monthly (May 1921): 60-61.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

ca 1920

maker

F. Davidson & Co.

ID Number

MG.308729.01

catalog number

308729.01

accession number

308729

Data Source

National Museum of American History

L. Lumley & Co. Gauger's Slide Rule

Description

This yew rule has straight brass ends and two slides, which fit between the three parts of the base. On one side, the top scale on the base (labeled A), the two scales on the upper slide (labeled E), the first scale in the middle of the base (labeled D), and the two scales on the second scale (labeled B and C) are identical logarithmic scales that run from 1 to 10 twice in the length of the rule. The second scale in the middle runs from 1 to 100 and is labeled SEG^T S^T (segments standing). The lowest scale on the base is labeled SEG^T L^Y (segments lying).

These scales are used with the slides to find the volume of the liquid in a cask that is not full, either when it is standing on its base or lying horizontally. The ImB and ImG points, for just over 2200 cubic inches in an imperial bushel and 277.42 cubic inches in an imperial gallon, are marked on the A scale. On the D scale, point 18.95 is marked IG for the diameter of a cylinder containing one imperial gallon; point 46.3 is marked MS, for the side of a square vessel that contains one solid bushel per inch of depth; and point 52.32 is marked MR, for the side of a square vessel that contains one malt bushel per inch of depth.

The reverse side of the rule has a scale on the base labeled A that runs logarithmically from 1 to 10. Both slides have identical scales (the one on the upper slide is labeled C) that run from over 80 (UNDER PROOF) down to 0 (PROOF) and then up to 70 (OVER PROOF). The middle of the base has a scale labeled B that runs logarithmically from 4 to 40 and a scale labeled C that runs logarithmically from 300 to 30. The bottom of the base has a scale, also labeled C, that runs logarithmically from 100 to 10. There is no indicator.

One edge of the instrument has a scale labeled SPH^D and a scale labeled 2^ND VARIETY. These scales are for determining the diameters of two different shapes of barrels. The other edge is marked: L. LUMLEY & C^O L^TD 1 AMERICA SQUARE LONDON. L. Lumley & Company, a distributor of packing cases and related materials for bottling, was in business in London from at least 1884 though 1929.

For slide rules with similar two-slide designs but different purposes, see MA.318478 and 1987.0693.01. For earlier gauger's rules, see MA.319510 and 1980.0588.04.

Reference: Ronald E. Manley, "Gauging," http://www.sliderules.info/a-to-z/gauging.htm.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1884-1929

maker

L. Lumley & Company Limited

ID Number

MA.320637

catalog number

320637

accession number

242721

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Capt. Field's Improved Hinged Parallel Rule Signed Henry Hughes & Son

Description

This 21" German silver hinged parallel rule has two knobs for positioning the instrument. Brass round pieces cover the screws securing the two hinges. The edges of the top blade are marked as a rectangular protractor, and the edges of the bottom blade are marked for nautical compass points.

The right end of the upper blade is marked: CAPT. FIELD'S IMP^D. The center of the lower blade is marked: U. S. C. & G. S. NO. H. 398. The left end has the firm's "HUSUN" logo for the London instrument maker H. Hughes & Son, with a sun above the letters and waves below the letters. A circle around the logo is marked: REGISTERED TRADE MARK (/) G^T BRITAIN.

Capt. William Andrew Field (about 1796–1871) of Britain added a protractor and compass scales to hinged parallel rules in 1854. This made it easier for ship navigators to move the rule without losing track of the ship's course. Henry Hughes & Son made marine and aeronautical navigational instruments in London from 1828 to 1947 and incorporated in 1903. According to the accession file, the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey acquired this rule on November 6, 1923, and last issued it on February 16, 1924. Compare to MA.309661 and MA.309663.

References: "Field's Parallel Rule," The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle 23, no. 5 (May 1854): 280; Peggy A. Kidwell, "American Parallel Rules: Invention on the Fringes of Industry," Rittenhouse 10, no. 39 (1996): 90–96; National Maritime Museum, "Captain Field's Improved Parallel Rule," Object ID NAV0602, http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/42814.html; Science Museum Group, "Henry Hughes and Son Limited," Collections Online – People, http://collectionsonline.nmsi.ac.uk/detail.php?type=related&kv=58792&t=people.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1923

maker

H. Hughes & Son, Ltd.

ID Number

MA.309662

catalog number

309662

accession number

106954

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Instruction Manual for Cooper 100-Inch Slide Rule

Description

This undated 16-page booklet was received with MA.326237. It is titled, The 'Cooper' 100-inch Slide Rule (Patented). Designed for Use in Calculations Involving Multiplication, Division, Proportion, Percentages, Powers, Roots, Logarithms, etc. etc. The description of the calculator claims it reads to four decimal places. Instructions for currency conversion are also provided. Partial tables of decimal equivalents appear as an advertisement for The Instanter Decimal Tables, published by Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. of London.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

before 1923

ID Number

MA.259739.01

accession number

259739

catalog number

259739.01

Data Source

National Museum of American History

J. J. Hicks Pilot Balloon Slide Rule

Description

This wooden instrument is faced on both sides with white celluloid that is attached with brass screws instead of glue. On one side are 20-inch scales: cosine and sine scales on the upper part of the base, two identical logarithmic scales (in three cycles) labeled TIME SCALE on the slide, and a tangent scale on the lower part of the base. The slide is in two pieces, so the second Time Scale may be removed and adjusted relative to the first Time Scale with the aid of a brass thumbscrew.

Three glass indicators are in three-sided brass frames, two on the upper part of the base and one on the lower part of the base. The top of the base is marked: J. HICKS (/) LONDON. It is also marked: PILOT BALLOON SLIDE RULE MO (O is superimposed on M) 505. MO is an abbreviation for Meteorological Office, and 505 may be a serial number. An inventory sticker on the back reads: DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (/) US. The inventory number has been cut away. The instrument fits in a wooden case covered with black leather and lined on one side with purple satin.

In the 20th century, the Meteorological Office of Great Britain used pilot balloon slide rules to convert azimuth and elevation readings (taken with theodolites during the ascent of a pilot balloon) into data on wind velocity and direction. James Joseph Hicks (1825–1916), who began supplying instruments to the Office in 1869, made the first pilot balloon slide rule in 1915 from a design by Francis John Welsh Whipple, the Superintendent of Instruments.

After Hicks died, W. F. Stanley & Co. took over manufacture of this rule, called the Mark I, but retained the Hicks name. Additional labels were placed on the scales, such as "Azimuth." By 1927, A. G. Thornton Ltd. and other firms were making the Mark II, which had one slide and four indicators. Production of the Mark I may have continued until 1938.

The U.S. Weather Bureau was a part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture until 1940, when it was transferred to the U.S. Department of Commerce. This instrument apparently was not adopted by American meteorologists, since the Bureau used the Keuffel & Esser polyphase duplex slide rule to convert observations. For examples of that type of slide rule, see MA.318476, MA.321778, and 1981.0933.03. For an American theodolite used to observe pilot balloons, see PH.308184.

References: Martin Brenner, "Pilot Balloon Slide Rules," http://www.csulb.edu/~mbrenner/slide.htm; Malcolm Walker, History of the Meteorological Office (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), 220; W. R. Gregg et al., Instructions for Aerological Observers, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Weather Bureau (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1921), 78; Deborah J. Warner, "Altitude and Azimuth Instrument," National Museum of American History Physical Sciences Collection: Surveying and Geodesy , http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/surveying/object.cfm?recordnumber=747475.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1915-1927

inventor

Hicks, J. J.

maker

Stanley, William Ford

ID Number

MA.315905

catalog number

315905

accession number

222974

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Gang Punch Made by the British Tabulating Machine Company

Description

In the 1880s American engineer Herman Hollerith devised a system to compile statistical information by entering data on individuals onto punched cards, allowing holes in the cards to admit wires and complete electrical circuits, and using electric counters to accumulate totals.

Hollerith devised this kind of punch, which he called a gang punch, to punch data that was common to several cards. For data on a census, this might be the enumeration district. For payroll applications, it would be the date of payday.

In 1904 a British firm organized to lease Hollerith machines in Britain and much of the rest of the wold. A subcontractor manufactured punch cards. From the 1920s. the British Tabulating Machine Company manufactured punch card equipment itself. This gang punch is one of its products.

This punch has a 12x10 array of holes.The rows of holes are labeled Y, X, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Six metal cylinders fit into the holes for punching, with a manually operated press to push them down. Cards are fed and removed by hand, from right to left. On the left is a metal plate with zigzag rows of holes on its top front and top back edge. These may be used to indicate the position of the card before punching.

A tag on the right side of the punch under the card bed reads: THE (/) BRITISH TABULATING MACHINE Co (/) VICTORIA HOUSE, SOUTHHAMPTON ROW, LONDON, W.C.1 (/) GREAT BRITAIN AND U. S. A. - BRITISH BUILT. A stamp on the press reads: 5390.

References:

M. Campbell-Kelly, ICL: A Business and Technical History, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989.

H. Hollerith, "Quick Setting Press," U. S. Patent 1,193,390, August 1, 1916. The machine shown in this patent has levers for setting the pins. This is not true with this object.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1920s

maker

British Tabulating Machine Company

ID Number

MA.320563

accession number

241402

catalog number

320563

Data Source

National Museum of American History