Computers & Business Machines

• 

  Gunter's Scale

  Description

  The top edge of one side of this 12-inch wooden rule has a scale of inches, divided to tenths of an inch and numbered by ones from 24 to 13, with a "1" visible at the right for the 12" mark. Underneath this scale are 10" and 9" (divided to 1/2") plotting scales with diagonal scales at each end. On the other side are unlabeled, partial scales for logarithms, logarithmic sines, logarithmic versines, logarithmic tangents, meridional lines, and equal parts. On the scale of equal parts, ten units are equivalent to 3 cm.

  This object appears to be a Gunter's scale that was cut in half. Compare to MA.319077, MA.318174, and MA.333945. The Smithsonian's Division of Ethnology received this rule in 1951 and believed it to be of American manufacture.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  ID Number

  MA.388991.01

  catalog number

  388991

  accession number

  182022

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Microscope

  Description

  This is a compound monocular with a black cuff that allows it to move vertically on a brass pole. It was owned by Richard Halsted Ward (1837-1917), a noted medical microscopist, or his son, Henry B. Ward, a pioneering parasitologist.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  mid 19th century

  ID Number

  MG.M-09728

  accession number

  174919

  catalog number

  M-09728

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Irregular Curve or French Curve

  Description

  This is one of eight flat wooden irregular curves contained in a box with museum number 1979.0992.01. It is stamped at the base with the number: 27. The curves are on the outside and within a single inner opening.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  ID Number

  1979.0992.03

  accession number

  1979.0992

  catalog number

  1979.0992.03

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Keuffel & Esser 4080-3 Log Log Trig Duplex Slide Rule

  Description

  This ten-inch double-sided mahogany rule is fully covered with white celluloid. On one side, there are L, LL1, DF, D, LL3, and LL2 scales on the base and CF, CIF, CI, and C scales on the slide. The top of the base is marked in red: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. N.Y.; PATS. RE.20,984 1,930,852 2,168,056 2,170,144 PAT. PEND.; MADE IN U.S.A. The right end of the slide is marked with the model number: < 4080-3 >. On the other side, there are LL0, LL00, A, D, DI, and K scales on the base and B, T, ST, and S scales on the slide. The left end of the slide and the front left corner of the base are marked with a serial number: 728903. The indicator is glass with plastic edges held together with metal screws. A piece is missing from the top edge; if it were whole, it would read: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. N.Y. The bottom edge is marked: PATENT 2,086,502.

  In images of the object, the slide is upside down.

  The rule fits into a sewn orange leather case. The flap is marked: K & E (/) LOG LOG DUPLEX (/) TRADE TRIG MARK (/) 4080-3S. The S refers to the sewed leather case. A paper table of equivalences was once attached to the case, but most of it has been torn away. The remaining portions resemble the charts on K&E simplex slide rules, such as 1984.1068.01. The back of the case has a metal ring, presumably to fit around a belt loop, and is marked: R. L. HUFFMAN.

  K&E used this combination of scales on this model from 1939 to 1947. The serial number on this example is consistent with a date earlier in this time frame. In 1947, it sold for $18.00. Included in the acquisition is a manual by William E. Breckenridge, The Log Log Duplex Slide Rule (1939). Compare this rule to 2007.0181.01.

  Robert L. Huffman owned this instrument. It seems likely that he used it as a college student. He received a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Minnesota in 1941. Huffman went on to work for Automatic Electric Company of Chicago and then, from 1945, for General Telephone Laboratories.

  References: Alfred W. Keuffel, "Slide Rule" (U.S. Patent RE20,984 reissued Janaury 24, 1939); Alfred W. Keuffel, "Slide Rule" (U.S. Patent 1,930,852 issued October 17, 1933); Adolf W. Keuffel, "Runner for Slide Rules" (U.S. Patent 2,086,502 issued July 6, 1937); Carl M. Bernegau, "Slide Rule" (U.S. Patent 2,168,056 issued August 1, 1939); Lyman M. Kells, Willis F. Kern, and James R. Bland, "Slide Rule" (U.S. Patent 2,170,144 issued August 22, 1939); Clark McCoy, "Collection of Pages from K&E Catalogs for the 4081-3 Family of Slide Rules: 4080-3 & 4081-3 Family Groups," http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/KEModels/ke4081-3family.htm; The Automatic Electric Technical Journal 1, no. 2 (July 1948): front matter.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1939-1947

  maker

  Keuffel & Esser Co.

  ID Number

  1992.0437.01

  catalog number

  1992.0437.01

  accession number

  1992.0437

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Geometric Model by A. Harry Wheeler, Spherical Angle and Its Measure

  Description

  The angle between two great circles on a sphere is defined to be equal to the angle between the lines tangent to the circles at their point of intersection. This cut and folded tan paper model of a sphere shows two intersecting great circles and tangents to them. It is among the models Wheeler dubbed collapsible.

  A mark on the model reads: Spherical Angle (/) and its (/) Measure (/) A. Harry Wheeler (/) 1916. Another mark reads: A. Harry Wheeler (/) 1916.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1916

  maker

  Wheeler, Albert Harry

  ID Number

  MA.304723.156

  accession number

  304723

  catalog number

  304723.156

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Remington Rand 93 Adding Machine

  Description

  Like many religious organizations, Christ Congregational Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, used an adding machine to track its finances.

  This ten-key printing electric adding machine has a black plastic case and a metal base. It has a block of nine white number keys with a 0 bar below. Subtract and repeat keys are to the right of the number keys, and a total bar is to the right of these. Left of the number keys are non-add and subtotal keys and a correction bar. A place indicator is above the keyboard and a printing mechanism, carriage, and motor behind it. A hinged door opens to give access to the black ribbon. Color-coded dots above the paper tape serve as place markers and a serrated edge assists in tearing the tape. The printing mechanism has room for further digit fonts. One may enter numbers of up to seven digits and print results of up to eight digits. A cord extends from the back of the machine. There are four rubber feet. When the machine prints, decimal points are not indicated.

  The machine is marked above the keyboard: REMINGTON RAND. It is marked on the right side: MODEL NO 93 (/) ADDING BOOKKEEPING * CALCULATING MACHINES (/) MADE IN U.S.A. The serial number on the base is 93-710565.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1949

  maker

  Remington Rand

  ID Number

  1987.0687.01

  maker number

  93-710565

  accession number

  1987.0687

  catalog number

  1987.0687.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Splining Set by Keuffel & Esser Company

  Description

  A splining set was used to draw curves by adjusting the weights or "ducks" holding flexible splines. This case contains four painted lead weights, six wooden splines, and three plastic splines. The splines are narrow, flat rods, with a groove along one edge. The wooden ones are 12", 24", 30", 36" (two), and 48" long. These are marked:

  12" - KEUFFEL&ESSER N.Y. 12

  24" - KEUFFEL&ESSER N.Y. 24

  30" - KEUFFEL&ESSER N.Y. 30

  36" - KEUFFEL&ESSER N.Y. 36 (one of the 36” curves is in two pieces)

  48" - KEUFFEL&ESSER N.Y. 48

  There is a space for an 18" wooden spline, but no spline.

  The black plastic splines are marked as follows:

  27 1/2" no mark

  21 1/4" KEUFFEL & ESSER N.Y. 30

  12 5/8" KEUFFEL

  These plastic splines are notched along the grooved edge. They are stored in 18", 24" and 30" slots. There are empty slots for 12" and 42" plastic splines. One duck is missing the finger that would fit into a groove of a spline.

  Keuffel & Esser Company was selling splines and weights by 1890 and splining sets by 1906. Sets with plastic rather than hard rubber splines sold from 1909. By 1927, Keuffel & Esser did not offer a cased set of splines. Hence the rough date of 1915 assigned to this splining set.

  George A. Beiser, the donor of this splining set, used splines while working at Bell Aircraft during World War II. He was designing aircraft canopies (the plastic hoods over pilot compartments). After the war, Beiser toured American universities, explain what he had done at Bell aircraft and seen on European travels. He bought this splining kit at an estate sale and used it in these demonstrations (he didn’t use it during World War II).

  References:

  Accession file.

  Keuffel & Esser Company, Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, New York, 1890, p. 137, 151. This catalog included splines in pear wood and hard rubber as well as weights in iron and lead. It did not include plastic splines or a cased instrument. The discussion of splines and weights was the same in the 1892 catalog (even to the page numbers). Catalog numbers were 1835 (hard rubber splines), 2185 (pear wood splines), 2186 (lead weights) and 2187 (iron weights).

  Keuffel & Esser Company, Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, New York, 1906, p. 215, 223, 242. Splines in hard rubber, pear wood, and Xylonite. No splining sets.

  Keuffel & Esser Company, Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, New York, 1909, p. 209, 226. Catalog offers black Xylonite splines in seven sizes (#1859B) and pear wood splines in seven sizes (#2185). Weights available in lead (#2186 and 2186-1) and iron (#2187). Set of splines and spline weights in wooden box includes four of the lighter lead weights, six Xylonite splines (12, 18, 24, 30, 36, and 42 inches), and six wooden splines (12, 18, 24, 30, 36, and 48 inches).

  Keuffel & Esser Company, Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, New York, 1921, p. 153. Splines offered in black Xylonite (#1859 B) and wood (#2185). Lead weights offered in two weights (#2186 and #2186-1). Set of splines and spline weights in wooden box includes four of the lighter lead weights, five Xylonite splines (24, 30, 36, 42 and 48 inches), and three wooden splines (30, 48, and 60 inches).

  Keuffel & Esser Company, Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, New York, 1927, p. 227. No splining sets, splines only in Xylonite.

  Keuffel & Esser Company, Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, New York, 1936, p. 238. Splines offered only in Xylonite (#1934). Lead weights offered in two weights (#1936 and 1936-1, old #2186 and 2186-1). No splining sets.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1915

  maker

  Keuffel & Esser Co.

  ID Number

  1992.0346.01

  accession number

  1992.0346

  catalog number

  1992.0346.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Japanese Proportional Dividers

  Description

  These brass dividers have metal points, short at one end and longer at the other. The legs are slotted to allow a brass set screw to be placed at one of several positions on two proportional scales that are engraved on one of the legs. The scales are labeled with Japanese characters, but they are presumably for drawing lines and circles at different ratios.

  The Japanese Empire Department of Education displayed this instrument at the 1876 World's Fair, the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, in order to demonstrate its nation's modernity and progress. In fact, the Department of Education had just been established in 1870 to replace an Educational Board and assume a more active role in the management of primary, middle, and secondary schools. John Eaton, the U.S. Commissioner of Education, arranged for the transfer of the entire exhibit in which these dividers appeared to the Bureau of Education (then part of the Department of the Interior) for a planned museum. The museum closed in 1906 due to high maintenance costs, and much of the collection was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1910.

  Other educational mathematical objects exhibited by Japan in 1876 include MA.261301, MA.261305, and MA.261306.

  References: Michael Scott-Scott, Drawing Instruments (Aylesbury, England: Shire Publications Ltd., 1986), 14–15; Japan. Department of Education, An Outline History of Japanese Education: Prepared for the Philadelphia International Exhibition, 1876 (New York: D. Appleton, 1876), 121–122, 191–202; U.S. Centennial Commission, International Exhibition, 1876. Reports and Awards , ed. Francis A. Walker (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880), viii:143, 335; U.S. Bureau of Education, Annual Report of the Commissioner (1876), ccxi–ccxii.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  before 1876

  ID Number

  MA.261313

  accession number

  51116

  catalog number

  261313

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Painting -Hippias' Curve

  Description

  This painting is a construction of Crockett Johnson, relating to a curve attributed to the ancient Greek mathematician Hippias. This was one of the first curves, other than the straight line and the circle, to be studied by mathematicians. None of Hippias's original writings survive, and the curve is relatively little known today. Crockett Johnson may well have followed the description of the curve given by Petr Beckmann in his book The History of Pi (1970). Crockett Johnson's copy of Beckmann’s book has some light pencil marks on his illustration of the theorem on page 39 (see figure).

  Hippias envisioned a curve generated by two motions. In Crockett Johnson's own drawing, a line segment equal to OB is supposed to move uniformly leftward across the page, generating a series of equally spaced vertical line segments. OB also rotates uniformly about the point O, forming the circular arc BQA. The points of intersection of the vertical lines and the arc are points on Hippias's curve. Assuming that the radius OK has a length equal to the square root of pi, the square AOB (the surface of the painting) has area equal to pi. Moreover, the height of triangle ASO, OS, is √(4 / pi), so that the area of triangle ASO is 1.

  The painting has a gray border and a wood and metal frame. The sections of the square and of the regions under Hippias's curve are painted in various pastel shades, ordered after the order of a color wheel.

  This oil painting is #114 in the series. It is signed on the back: HIPPIAS' CURVE (/) SQUARE AREA = (/) TRIANGLE " = 1 = [ . .] (/) Crockett Johnson 1973.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1973

  referenced

  Hippias

  painter

  Johnson, Crockett

  ID Number

  1979.1093.76

  accession number

  1979.1093

  catalog number

  1979.1093.76

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Polyhedron Model by Michael Berman, Truncated Icosahedron

  Description

  The faces of the model are twelve regular pentagons and twenty regular hexagons.

  For further information about Berman's models of regular-faced convex polyhedra, see 1978.1065.01.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1970

  maker

  Berman, Martin

  ID Number

  1978.1065.011

  accession number

  1978.1065

  catalog number

  1978.1065.011

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Diskette with Text for September 11 Witness Story Web Page

  Description

  This 3 1/2" diskette contains the text used for the September 11 Witness Story page on the NMAH website.

  Web designer David McOwen, a member of the New Media Office at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, used these materials when designing sections of the NMAH website.

  The entire Smithsonian website is preserved by the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  2002

  ID Number

  2017.3148.03

  nonaccession number

  2017.3148

  catalog number

  2017.3148.03

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Geometric Model by A. Harry Wheeler, One-Sided Polyhedron

  Description

  This pink cut and glued plastic model is in the general shape of a regular octahedron with a triangular pyramid cut out of each side. Two face of pyramids cut out of adjacent faces are coplanar. A paper tag on the model reads: M 25. Another mark reads: 666.

  Compare MA.304723.386 and MA.304723.389

  Location

  Currently not on view

  maker

  Wheeler, Albert Harry

  ID Number

  MA.304723.389

  accession number

  304723

  catalog number

  304723.389

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Two Gears from the Bush Diferential Analyzer

  Description

  These two steel spiral gears both have a brass cylinder down the middle. There are holes in the cylinders for a shaft. Dimensions are of each gear. First mark on one cylinder, written in pencil, reads: 300.

  Parts of the Bush differential analyzer surviving at the Smithsonian have museum numbers MA.314824 and 1983.3002.01 through 1983.3002.89.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1930

  maker

  Bush, Vannevar

  ID Number

  1983.3002.68

  nonaccession number

  1983.3002

  catalog number

  1983.3002.68

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Rule Advertising the Twentieth Anniversary of Personal TEX, Inc.

  Description

  This clear plastic giveaway advertises the twentieth anniversary of Personal TEX, Inc., "the integrated LATEX Envitonment." It has a scale of 8 inches divided to 32ds of an inch along the bottom, a scale of 20.5 centimeters divided to millimeters along the top, a scale of inches divided to tenths of an inch along the middle, and a scale of picas/points above this.

  The rule was collected at the Joint Mathematics Meeting of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America in January 2015.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  2015

  distributor

  Personal TeX, Inc.

  maker

  Personal TeX, Inc.

  ID Number

  2015.3169.02

  nonaccession number

  2015.3129

  catalog number

  2015.3169.02

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Safe-T 45749 Compass

  Description

  This translucent light orange plastic instrument is wedge-shaped, with a rotating white plastic disc set inside the wide end of the wedge. One long edge of the wedge has a scale of four inches, divided to 16ths of an inch. The other edge has a scale of ten centimeters, divided to millimeters. These edges each have a row of 33 small circular holes. The holes are marked for the radius of various circles, from 1" to 5". To draw a large circle, a pencil is placed in the desired hole and the instrument is rotated while the user holds the disc.

  Two rows of four small holes are on the disc; one row is straight and one is bowed. The disc also has a small hole at its center. To draw a small circle of up to 1-5/8" diameter, a pencil is placed in the desired hole and used to rotate the disc, while the wedge is held in place. Five larger circles are around the edge of the disc. The wedge is marked: SAFE-T (/) COMPASS® (/) LaGrange, IL 60535-0692 (/) #45761 Pat. #4,353,166. It is also marked: π = 3.1416 (/) A = πr² (/) C = πd.

  Instructions are on white cardboard received with the instrument. According to a company catalog (1998.0033.04), model number 45759 sold for $1.19 around 1998. The design of the disc is covered by a patent received by John S. Kettlestrings of Wheaton, Ill., in 1982.

  Safe-T Products, Inc., of La Grange, Ill., was established in 1992 and specialized in drawing instruments that were safe for children. In 2006, the company became a subsidiary of A. Daigger & Company and its name changed to Classroom Products Warehouse. Kettlestrings (b. about 1933) is an inventor, designer, and entrepreneur who was associated with Tool-Less Hanger Corporation of Everson, Wash., in 2011.

  References: SAFE-T Products, Inc., Innovative Safe Drawing and Measuring Instruments, about 1998; John S. Kettlestrings, "Toy-Like Instrument for Drawing Circles" (U.S. Patent 4,353,166 issued October 12, 1982); Company Overview of Safe-T Classroom Products, Inc.," Bloomberg BusinessWeek, http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=27794340; "About Us," Classroom Products Warehouse, http://www.classroomprdcts.com/.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1998

  maker

  Safe-T Products, Inc.

  ID Number

  1998.0033.03

  catalog number

  1998.0033.03

  accession number

  1998.0033

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Geometric Model by A. Harry Wheeler, Great Circles on a Sphere

  Description

  This cut and fit tan paper model shows three perpendicular rings of equal size, representing great circles on a sphere.

  Compare MA.304723.178, MA.304723.598, MA.304723.672, MA.304723.721, MA.304723.722, and MA.304723.724.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  maker

  Wheeler, Albert Harry

  ID Number

  MA.304723.672

  accession number

  304723

  catalog number

  304723.672

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  "Woulfes Chemical Apparatus"

  Description

  This engraving was prepared for the fourth volume of the Encyclopaedia Londinensis (1810). It is marked “Plate VI” and “Woulfes Chemical Apparatus” and “Heny Lascelles delt” and “J. Pass Sculpt” and “London, Published as the Act directs, Feby 5, 1801. By J. Wilkes.”

  Peter Woulfe (1727-1803) was an Irish chemist and mineralogist who in 1767 described a bottle suitable for distillation. By the end of the century it was widely known as Woulfe’s apparatus.

  John Wilkes (1750-1810) was a London printer and bookseller whose 24-volume Encyclopaedia Londoniensis was published between about 1801 and 1828.

  Ref: Peter Woulfe, “Experiments on the Distillation of Acids, Volatile Alkalies, &c., Shewing How They May Be Condensed Without Loss, and How Thereby We May Avoid Disagreeable and Noxious Fumes,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 57 (1767): 517-536.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1810

  ID Number

  PH.329198

  accession number

  280069

  catalog number

  329198

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Carrel flask

  Description (Brief)

  From the 1920s through the 1950s biologists and medical researchers made a concerted effort to solve the problem of tissue culture—how to raise and maintain cells for scientific research. Part of the challenge was to create a home outside the body in which cells could survive.

  Early methods of cell culture relied on the hanging-drop technique, in which tissue grew in a plasma clot suspended from a glass slide. The hanging-drop technique, however, posed several problems: cells in a clot were difficult to view under the microscope, cultures could not grow to a large size, and specimens were prone to contamination.

  To address these issues, surgeon Alexis Carrel (1873–1944) of the Rockefeller Institute developed a new vessel for tissue culture, which came to bear his name. The Carrel flask featured an angled neck to prevent airborne particles from falling into the flask when it was open. Technicians could also sterilized the neck with a flame both before and after adding or removing nutrient broth.

  The flask’s round flat base and in some cases, the use of thin, optically optimized glass facilitated the viewing of specimens under a microscope without removing them from their vessel.

  This object was used in Dr. Wilton Earle’s (1902–1964) laboratory at the National Cancer Institute. Earle joined NCI in 1937 and served as head of its Tissue Culture Section from 1946 to 1964. He and his researchers were pioneers in the use of tissue culture for cancer research.

  Sources:

  Carrel, Alexis. “Tissue Culture and Cell Physiology.” Physiological Reviews 4, no. 1 (1924): 1–20.

  Landecker, Hannah. Culturing Life: How Cells Became Technologies. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2007.

  National Museum of American History Accession Files 1991.0071 & 1997.0139

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1930s-1950s

  ID Number

  1991.0071.16

  catalog number

  1991.0071.16

  accession number

  1991.0071

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Geometric Model by A. Harry Wheeler, Eight-Pointed Pentagonal Dodecahedron

  Description

  This tiny cut and glued tan paper model is an eight-pointed star with twelve irregular pentagons as faces.

  Compare 1979.0102.340, MA.304723.006, MA.304723.167, and MA.304723.656.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1934 06 25

  maker

  Wheeler, Albert Harry

  ID Number

  MA.304723.656

  accession number

  304723

  catalog number

  304723.656

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Keuffel & Esser Directions for Polar Planimeters

  Description

  This 16-page booklet has a salmon paper cover and was received with MA.317925.02. Its citation information is: Directions for the Use, Care and Adjustment of Polar Planimeters (New York: Keuffel & Esser Co., n.d.). Model 4211 is discussed on pages 4–5.

  Compare the booklet to the version scanned by Clark McCoy, http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/KEManuals/Planimeter_Polar/Planimeter_Polar.htm. According to the model numbers included, that booklet was printed between 1925 and 1927, while this booklet was printed between 1930 and 1936.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1930-1936

  publisher

  Keuffel & Esser Co.

  ID Number

  MA.317925.03

  accession number

  317925

  catalog number

  317925.03

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

Pages