Computers & Business Machines
Imagine the loss, 100 years from now, if museums hadn't begun preserving the artifacts of the computer age. The last few decades offer proof positive of why museums must collect continuously—to document technological and social transformations already underway.
The museum's collections contain mainframes, minicomputers, microcomputers, and handheld devices. Computers range from the pioneering ENIAC to microcomputers like the Altair and the Apple I. A Cray2 supercomputer is part of the collections, along with one of the towers of IBM's Deep Blue, the computer that defeated reigning champion Garry Kasparov in a chess match in 1997. Computer components and peripherals, games, software, manuals, and other documents are part of the collections. Some of the instruments of business include adding machines, calculators, typewriters, dictating machines, fax machines, cash registers, and photocopiers
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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
-
Keuffel & Esser 4090-3 Log Log Trig Duplex Slide Rule
- Description
- This ten-inch mahogany duplex slide rule is coated all around with white celluloid and held together with L-shaped metal end pieces. The front of the base has LL0, A, T, S2, and S1 scales, with B, K, and CI scales on the slide. The LL0 scale is a log log scale of decimal quantities. The A and B scales are identical, divided logarithmically from 1 to 10 twice in the length of the scale in the usual manner. The K scale is also divided logarithmically, but three times in the length of the scale, for use in finding cubes and cube roots. The CI scale is divided logarithmically from 1 to 10 the length of the scale, going in the opposite direction from the A and K scales. The T scale is a scale of tangents and cotangents, doubly numbered with angles given in degrees and minutes. The S1 and S2 scales are scales of sines and cosines, doubly numbered. The top of the base is marked in red: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO.N.Y.; PAT. APRIL 1.'24 OTHER PAT. PENDING; MADE IN U.S.A. The left end of the slide and the front of the rule are marked with a serial number: 448333.
- The back of the base has L, LL1, DF, D, LL3, and LL2 scales, with CF, CIF, and C scales on the slide. The right end of the slide is marked in red: < 4090-3 >. A glass indicator has white plastic edges held together with metal screws. One edge is marked: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO.N.Y. The other is marked: PATENTED AUG.17.15. (/) OTHER PAT. PENDING.
- Keuffel & Esser advertised model 4090-3 from 1933 to 1936. However, the combination of scales on this example was only issued in 1933, when the rule sold for $10.00. The serial number is consistent with this date. In 1937, model 4090-3 was replaced by model 4080-3.
- References: Adolf W. Keuffel, "Log Log Duplex Slide Rule" (U.S. Patent 1,488,686 issued April 1, 1924); K&E Slide Rules and Calculating Instruments (New York, 1933), 10–11; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 38th ed. (New York, 1936), 316–317; Dieter von Jezierski, Slide Rules: A Journey Through Three Centuries, trans. Rodger Shepherd (Mendham, N.J.: Astragal Press, 2000), 71–75; Clark McCoy, ed., "Collection of Pages from K&E Catalogs for the 4090-3 & 4091-3 Family of Slide Rules," http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/KEModels/ke4091-3family.htm.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1933
- maker
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- MA.318479
- accession number
- 235479
- catalog number
- 318479
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Prism Binoculars
- Description
- This is an aluminum instrument with black finish. The barrels are covered with black leather. The objective lenses are 30 mm diameter. The eye end of the left prism housing is marked “MILITARY STEREO / 6 X 30” and “5409-1942.” That on the right is marked “BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO. / ROCHESTER, N.Y. U.S.A.” and “DALE BROWN.” Each eyepiece can be focused, and each has a diopter scale. The case is brown leather. A tag in the accession file indicates that this instrument was in the U.S. Naval Observatory repair shop in 1944.
- Dale Brown (1893-1960) served with the 145th Infantry, U.S. Army, during World War I, and received a Croix de Guerre from the French government.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1940
- maker
- Bausch & Lomb
- ID Number
- 1980.0879.01
- catalog number
- 1980.0879.01
- accession number
- 1980.0879
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Monroe Model KA Calculating Machine
- Description
- This full-keyboard, electric, non-printing modified stepped drum calculating machine has a steel frame painted black, with rounded corners. The metal plate under the keyboard is painted green. The six columns of plastic keys are colored black or white according to the place value of the digit represented. A red clearance key is at the bottom of each column. Rods between the rows of keys serve as decimal markers. They are unpainted on one side and painted the same green as the plate under the keyboard on the other.
- A column to the right of the number keys has three keys. One clears the entire keyboard. The other two are set to determine whether or not the keyboard clears after each calculation. Above these are plastic bars which may be depressed for electric addition or subtraction. The machine also operates using a removable crank that fits on the right side and rotates clockwise for addition and counterclockwise for subtraction.
- In back of the keyboard is a carriage that has a row of 12 numeral dials for recording results and a row of six numeral dials behind these, which serve as a revolution register. The revolution register has no carry. Two thin metal rods between the windows for these registers carry decimal markers. The carriage shift lever is at the front of the machine. To the right of the result register is a knob for lifting the carriage. On the right side of the carriage is the zeroing crank for dials on it. The machine has four rubber feet. The motor is attached to the left side of the machine and has an on-off switch. It has a fraying electrical cord attached. The on-off switch for the bell is on the back left of the keyboard.
- A mark on the center back of the machine reads: MONROE (/) Calculating Machine Company (/) New York, U.S.A. A mark on the left bottom edge of the carriage and on the right side of the machine under the carriage gives the serial number A20317. The machine is from after 1924 and before 1939. In the later years, it was known as the KA-120.
- Reference:
- J. H. McCarthy, The Business Machines and Equipment Digest, 1928, pp. 9-29 to 9-33.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1930
- maker
- Monroe Calculating Machine Company
- ID Number
- MA.323614
- catalog number
- 323614
- maker number
- A20312
- accession number
- 250163
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Pamphlet, Operation Principles of Mechanical Addition Subtraction and Multiplication
- Description
- This illustrated pamphlet describes the operation of manual and electrically operated versions of the Underwood Sundstrand printing adding machine. Addition, subtraction, and multiplication by repeated addition are described. The manual is intended for use in private, public, and parochial schools.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1934
- ID Number
- 1979.3074.25
- catalog number
- 1979.3074.25
- nonaccession number
- 1979.3074
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Keuffel & Esser 4051 Simplex Slide Rule
- Description
- This 20-inch one-sided slide rule is made of wood with white celluloid scales and a frameless glass indicator with plastic supports. The base has A and D scales, and there are B and C scales on one side of the slide with S, L, and T scales on the other side. The A and B scales are divided logarithmically from 1 to 10 twice, the C and D scales from 1 to 10 once. The S scale gives angles in degrees and minutes, running from 0 to 90 degrees. The sine of an angle on the S scale is read off the A scale. The T scale gives angles running from 0 to 45 degrees. The tangent of these angles is read off the D scale, assuming that the endpoints of the scales are aligned. The L scale runs from 0 to 1, in such a way that if a number is read off the D scale, the mantissa of the logarithm to the base 10 of that number is indicated on the L scale, assuming that the endpoints of the scales are aligned.
- A scale of 50 centimeters divided to millimeters is on the front edge, and a scale of 20 inches divided to 1/16-inch is on the other, beveled edge. A table of equivalents and slide rule settings is glued to the back of the rule. The table is marked: EQUIVALENTS AND ABBREVIATIONS FROM U. S. BUREAU OF STANDARDS CIRCULAR NO. 47; KEUFFEL & ESSER CO., NEW YORK. On the back of the rule is written in marker: E. + M. LAB (1). The back is also marked: A.C.P.L. 1132 (/) 23-4-B.
- The top of the base is marked in red: PAT. JUNE 5, 1900; KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. N.Y.; MADE IN U.S.A. The slide is marked: AMHERST COLLEGE ACPL 1132. The right end of the slide is marked in red: < 4051 >. The back of the slide and the left end of the centimeter scale are marked with a serial number: 127849. The supports for the indicator are marked: PATENT 2,086,502 and KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. N.Y.
- Keuffel & Esser first advertised the model 4051 Mannheim slide rule in 1900 and stopped selling it between 1936 and 1939. The serial number suggests a date around 1925, but the patent date on the indicator suggests that part was made in 1938. The indicator may thus be a replacement part. The rule was used in the electricity & magnetism laboratory of the Amherst College physics department.
- References: Adolf W. Keuffel, "Runner for Slide Rules" (U.S. Patent 2,086,502 issued July 6, 1937); Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 30th ed. (New York, 1900–1901), 294; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 38th ed. (New York, 1936), 311; Clark McCoy, "Collection of Pages from K&E Catalogs for the 4041 Family," http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/KEModels/ke4041family.htm; Ed Chamberlain, "Estimating K&E Slide Rule Dates," 27 December 2000, http://www.sphere.bc.ca/test/ke/320-k+e_date2.jpg.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1925-1938
- maker
- Keuffel & Esser Company
- ID Number
- 1999.0254.01
- catalog number
- 1999.0254.01
- maker number
- 127849
- accession number
- 1999.0254
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Keuffel & Esser N4088-5 Polyphase Duplex Slide Rule
- Description
- This 20-inch mahogany duplex slide rule is coated with white celluloid and held together with L-shaped metal end pieces. The front of the base has DF and D scales, with CF, CIF, and C scales on the slide. The right end of the slide is marked in red: < N4088-5 >. The bottom of the base is marked in red: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. N.Y.; PAT. JUNE 5. '00 DEC. 22. '08; MADE IN U.S.A. Between the second and third of these marks is scratched: BS37884C.
- The back of the base has K, A, D, and L scales, with B, S, T, and CI scales on the slide. The left end of the slide and the front of the rule are marked with a serial number: 235867. A glass indicator has plastic edges held together with metal screws. One edge is marked: K&E.CO.N.Y. (/) PAT.8.17.15. The rule is in a green cardboard box that also contains a paper slip of instructions for adjusting the rule. The back of the slip has a table of equivalents and abbreviations from U.S. Bureau of Standards Circular No. 47. Compare to the tables pasted on the back of slide rules such as 1984.1068.01, MA.321780, and 1987.1084.01. Keuffel & Esser of New York manufactured and sold model N4088-5 from 1936 to 1938 for $22.00.
- The physicist Philip Krupen (1915–2001) gave this slide rule to the Smithsonian in 1986. He earned a BS from Brooklyn College in 1935, worked on the development of the proximity fuse during and after World War II, received an MS in physics from The George Washington University, and spent a total of 38 years working for the U.S. government before he retired in 1973.
- References: Willie L. E. Keuffel, "Slide-Rule" (U.S. Patent 651,142 issued June 5, 1900); Willie L. E. Keuffel, "Slide-Rule" (U.S. Patent 907,373 issued December 22, 1908); Willie L. E. Keuffel, "Slide-Rule Runner" (U.S. Patent 1,150,771 issued August 17, 1915); Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 38th ed. (New York, 1936), 314–315; "Price List of K&E Slide Rules," (July 1, 1938), 1; Dieter von Jezierski, Slide Rules: A Journey Through Three Centuries, trans. Rodger Shepherd (Mendham, N.J.: Astragal Press, 2000), 71–75; "Philip Krupen," The Washington Post, February 23, 2001, B07.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1936-1938
- maker
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- 1986.0790.02
- accession number
- 1986.0790
- catalog number
- 1986.0790.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
D-K Statistical Slide Rule
- Description
- This is one of several slide rules designed for use in psychology. It has a white plastic envelope that holds a paper slide. The upper part of the envelope has scales labeled A (a 23-centimeter ruler, divided to millimeters), N (number of cases), PE (probable error, running from 1 to 10), sigma (running from 1 sigma to 10 sigma), and c (probability that an event happened by chance). The top part of the slide has scales labeled r (running from 0.97 down to 0.00, divided logarithmically) and B (logarithmically divided from 0.05 to 0.20).
- The lower part of the envelope has scales labeled sigma (standard deviation) and D (a standard slide rule logarithmic scale for multiplication, running from 10 to 140). The lower part of the slide has scales labeled sigma1.2, sigmaM (standard error of measurement), and C (divided logarithmically and running from 10 to 140). The center of the slide has the line graph r1/2 /III to r1I. The back of the envelope has five more line graphs.
- Instructions are provided on the back of the slide and on a leaflet received with the rule. The lower left corner of the envelope is marked: Designed by Jack W. Dunlap and Albert K. Kurtz. The lower right corner is marked: Copyright 1933 by The Psychological Corporation. James McKeen Cattell, Robert Sessions Woodworth, and Edward Lee Thorndike founded the Psychological Corporation in New York City in 1921 to market psychological tests and educational materials. Jack W. Dunlap (1902–1977) and Albert Kenneth Kurtz (1904–1992) were academic psychologists interested in graphic computation charts. They copyrighted the D-K Statistical Slide Rule again in 1938, after which it was sold as a duplex wooden rule. After World War II, Dunlap went into industrial psychology.
- References: advertisement, Science 79, no. 2041 (February 9, 1934), back matter, 7; Library of Congress Copyright Office, Catalog of Copyright Entries: Part 1, Books, Group 2, Pamphlets, Etc., n.s. 31 (1935): 24; Jack W. Dunlap and Albert K. Kurtz, Handbook of Statistical Nomographs, Tables, and Formulas (Yonkers-on-Hudson, N.Y.: World Book Company, 1932); Albert K. Kurtz, "Obituary: Jack W. Dunlap," American Psychologist 34, no. 6 (June 1979): 538; J. McKeen Cattell, "The Psychological Corporation," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 110 (November 1923): 165–171.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1933
- publisher
- Psychological Corporation
- ID Number
- 1979.3074.04
- nonaccession number
- 1979.3074
- catalog number
- 1979.3074.04
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Game Pieces Once Owned by Olive C. Hazlett, Ching Gong Oriental Checkers
- Description
- This set of game pieces is for a game of Chinese checkers. A cardboard box divided into three sections holds fifteen red, fifteen yellow, and fifteen green wooden pieces. The box also holds a booklet of instructions.
- A mark on the lid of the box reads: Ching Gong (/) ORIENTAL CHECKERS (/) [. . .] SAML. GABRIEL SONS & COMPANY - NEW YORK MADE IN U. S. A. No. 99. The term "Ching Gong oriental checkers" was trademarked by Samuel Gabriel Sons & Company November 23, 1935.
- Another mark on the lid reads: O.C. Hazlett. This is the signature of the mathematician Olive C. Hazlett.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- after 1935
- maker
- Samuel Gabriel Sons & Company
- ID Number
- 2015.0027.11
- accession number
- 2015.0027
- catalog number
- 2015.0027.11
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Keuffel & Esser 4220 Amsler Style Polar Planimeter
- Description
- This tarnished German silver instrument has two arms pivoted at one end. One arm has a tracer point and index marks for four ratios: 1 square D. (centimeters or meters, perhaps), 15 square inches, 10 square inches, and 10 square chains. A screw assembly adjusts the length of the tracer arm. A support for the tracer point prevents it from tearing the paper. Two numbers are stamped underneath the arm: 31, which appears to overstamp the number 33, and 690.
- The other arm is jointed. A cylindrical weight may be placed in the end of that arm. Underneath the weight is marked: 35. The jointed part of the arm is marked: KEUFFEL & ESSER Co N.Y. Underneath the arm is stamped: 31. A carriage at the pivot holds a white plastic measuring wheel with vernier and a horizontal metal registering dial.
- A mahogany case has dark blue velvet lining the supports. A leather pouch holds the weight. A paper chart for adjusting the tracer arm is held in the lid by black plastic edges and brass screws. The columns are labeled: Proportion, Adjustement [sic] on tracer-arm, and Value of unit of the Vernier. "Sq. units" is handwritten above the first entry in the Proportion column (1:1,000). The vernier entry for proportion 1:4,000 has been changed from 100 to 160 square meters.
- Keuffel & Esser sold this planimeter as model 1102 from 1892 to 1901 and as model 4220 from 1901 to 1936. It sold for $28.00 in 1909 and for $45.50 in 1936. The serial number, 690, and lack of rectangular support for the joint in the weighted arm suggest that this example was made later than 1981.0348.01. Wesleyan University donated this planimeter to the Museum in 1984–1985 with a large collection of plaster and string mathematical models purchased in 1895 from the Darmstadt, Germany, firm of L. Brill.
- This instrument was received at the Smithsonian in 1985 or 1985.
- References: Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 33rd ed. (New York, 1909), 319; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 38th ed. (New York, 1936), 336; Clark McCoy, "Collection of Pages from K&E Catalogs for the 4220 Family of Polar Planimeters," http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/PlanimeterModels/ke4220family.htm.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1901-1936
- distributor
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- maker
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- 1985.0112.218
- catalog number
- 1985.0112.218
- accession number
- 1985.0112
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Keuffel & Esser 4092-3 Log Log Duplex Slide Rule
- Description
- This ten-inch mahogany two-sided linear slide rule is coated with white celluloid and held together with L-shaped metal end pieces. On one side, the base has K, DF, D, and L scales, with CF, CIF, CI, and C scales on the slide. The right end of the slide is marked in red: < 4092-3 >. The bottom of the base is marked in red: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. N.Y.; PAT. JUNE 5. '00 DEC. 22. '08 APRIL 1 '24; MADE IN U.S.A. On the other side, the base has LL0, A, LL3, LL2, and LL1 scales, with B, S, T, and C scales on the slide. The left end of the slide and the front of the base are marked with a serial number: 373480.
- The indicator is frameless glass with plastic edges held together with metal screws. One edge is marked: K&E.CO.N.Y. (/) PAT.8.17.15. The rule fits in a brown leather case, which is marked on the front of the flap: 4092-3S. The top of the flap is marked: K & E (/) LOG LOG DUPLEX (/) SLIDE RULE. The names of several former owners of the rule are written on the case, including: Bill A.'s; Charles Potter; Theta Xi; Wm. Lund (/) 407 Delaware (/) Ave. (/) Bethlehem Penn.
- For information on the patents, see 322761, 318475, and 318479. Keuffel & Esser of New York introduced model 4092-3 in 1922 and in 1925 added a K scale to the rule and an N to the prefix of the model number. The prefix was dropped in 1936, but the indicator was replaced with a new version of K&E's frameless indicator. K&E stopped selling model 4092-3 in 1938, when it was priced with a leather case at $11.75. The serial number on this example is consistent with a manufacture date between 1936 and 1938, but the indicator is of the pre-1936 style. Compare to 1981.0933.01.
- References: K&E Slide Rules and Calculating Instruments (New York, 1922), 10–11; K&E Slide Rules and Calculating Instruments (New York, 1925), 10–11; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 38th ed. (New York, 1936), 318–319; Ed Chamberlain, "Estimating K&E Slide Rule Dates," 27 December 2000, http://www.sphere.bc.ca/test/ke/320-k+e_date2.jpg.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1936
- maker
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- 1984.1068.02
- catalog number
- 1984.1068.02
- accession number
- 1984.1068
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Pamphlet, K & E Log Log Duplex Vector Slide Rule No 4083
- Description
- This book explains the application of the plane and hyperbolic trigonometric scales in slide rule calculations using vectors. It was received with two Keuffel & Esser slide rules, neither of them a model 4083.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1939
- Maker
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- 1986.0790.09
- accession number
- 1986.0790
- catalog number
- 1986.0790.09
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Microscope
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1937
- maker
- Spencer Lens Company
- ID Number
- MG.315328.02.01
- catalog number
- 315328.02
- accession number
- 315328
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Microscope
- Description
- This is a wide field binocular dissecting instrument with very short tubes with Porro prisms, rack-and-pinion focus, square stage, and wooden box. The inscription on the eyepiece reads “BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO. / Rochester, N.Y. U.S.A. / 205170.” The triple drum nosepiece is inscribed with the B&L logo and “PAT. 3.1.1927.” The single nosepiece is inscribed “B. & L. O. CO.” The firm introduced the basic form in 1925. The serial number on this example indicates a date of around 1929.
- Ref: Bausch & Lomb ad in Transactions of the American Microscopical Society 44 (April 1925): iii.
- Bausch & Lomb, Microscopes, Microtomes, Colorimeters, Optical Measuring Instruments and Accessories (Rochester, N.Y., 1926), pp. 54-57.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1930
- ID Number
- 1980.0712.01
- catalog number
- 1980.0712.01
- accession number
- 1980.0712
- serial number
- 205170
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Microscope
- Description
- Small compound monocular with sub-stage mirror, and inscription on the base reading “New Gem Microscope / Bausch & Lomb.” The form, widely advertised in popular magazines in the 1930s, was said to be “so simple that a bright twelve year old can operate it.” The microscope now sits on a wooden base made in the Museum.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1930
- maker
- Bausch & Lomb
- ID Number
- MG.M-09797
- accession number
- 223721
- catalog number
- M-9797
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
IBM 001Card Punch
- Description
- For the first half of the 20th century, much data was entered into data processing machines using punched cards. This machine for punching such cards was manufactured by International Business Machines Corporation of New York.
- This key-driven, manual punch has 14 black keys. Twelve are for the 12 rows on a punch card. These are labeled from 0 to 9, X, and blank. Another key moves the card one space to the left and the last releases it. Keys are fed in from the right. A portion of a punch card attached in back of the machine has a pointer attached to it which allows one to determine the column of the card one is punching. The device is set up for 80-column cards and punches rectangular holes. A cylindrical protrusion extends from the back of the machine.
- A metal tag attached to the front of the object reads: PROPERTY OF (/) INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. (/) 001-12036-JH (/) ENDICOTT, NEW YORK, U.S.A. A mark stamped into the back of the card bed reads: 01 202.Two rods are marked at the front below the punching position: 202.
- IBM cards with rectangular holes and 80 columns were introduced in 1928. Cards with 12 rows of holes date from the early 1930s.
- Reference:
- E. W. Pugh, Building IBM: Shaping an Industry and Its Technology, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995, pp. 48–49.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- after 1930
- maker
- International Business Machines Corporation
- ID Number
- MA.333894
- accession number
- 304350
- catalog number
- 333894
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Mathematical Table, The Macmillan Table Slide Rule
- Description
- John Perry Ballantine (1896–1970), a mathematician on the faculty of the University of Washington, published this set of tables in 1931 as an inexpensive alternative to the slide rule. The paper instrument includes two 8-1/2” x 11” (22.3 cm. x 28 cm) cards which have printed tables on both sides. These are for multiplication, finding powers of numbers, sines, and tangents. Four narrower tables are placed next to these. Two of these are for multiplication, one for division and one for square root. Each of the wider tables has 20 columns of numbers in 100 rows. The narrower ones have ten columns of numbers in ten rows. Tables are based on antilogarithms to base 10. A leaflet of instructions and a paper dust cover are included.
- This example was the property of Oscar W. Richards of the Osborn Zoological Laboratory of Yale University. It is marked with his stamp. A mark on the corner reads: THE MACMILLAN (/) TABLE SLIDE RULE. Another mark there reads: New York (/) THE MACMILLAN COMPANY (/) 1931.
- Ballantine was born in Rahuri, India, the son of a medical missionary and a teacher. He graduated from Harvard in 1918 and then taught briefly at the University of Maine, Pennsylvania State College, and the University of Michigan. He attended graduate school at the University of Chicago, where he met and married fellow graduate student and mathematician Constance Rummons. They both received doctorates from Chicago in 1923. J. P. Ballantine then spent three years teaching at Columbia University before joining the faculty of the University of Washington in 1926. He stayed there, except for a stint in American military schools, until his retirement in 1966.
- Ballantine’s slide rule was reviewed in the Journal of the American Statistical Association, the American Mathematical Monthly, and the British educational journal Mathematical Gazette. It cost only fifty cents, but, as reviewers pointed out, was less portable and less durable than a conventional slide rule. No second edition was required.
- Ballantine did not limit his interest in technical improvement to classroom devices. In 1932, he applied for a patent relating to electric power meters, receiving it in 1935. In 1938, he published the textbook Essentials of Engineering Mathematics. Neither of these projects was particularly influential.
- References:
- Advertisement, The American Mathematical Monthly, 38 (May 1931), unnumbered page.
- E. J. Atkinson, “The Macmillan Table Slide Rule,” reviewed in The Mathematical Gazette, 16 (May 1932), pp. 140–141.
- Dorothy C. Bacon, “The Macmillan Table Slide Rule,” reviewed in Journal of the American Statistical Association, 26 (Sept 1931), p 373–374.
- J. P. Ballantine, “Multiple-rate Power Metering,” U.S. Patent #2000736, May 7, 1935.
- R. E. Gilman, “The Macmillan Table Slide rule,” reviewed in The American Mathematical Monthly, 39 (May 1932), pp. 295–296.
- J. Green and J. LaDuke, Pioneering Women in American Mathematics: the Pre-1940 PhD’s, Providence: American Mathematical Society, 2009, pp. 131–132.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1931
- maker
- MacMillan
- ID Number
- 1979.3074.08
- nonaccession number
- 1979.3074
- catalog number
- 1979.3074.08
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Keuffel & Esser 4088-3 Polyphase Duplex Slide Rule
- Description
- This ten-inch mahogany duplex linear slide rule is coated with white celluloid and held together with L-shaped metal end pieces. The front of the base has DF and D scales, with CF, CIF, and C scales on the slide. The right end of the slide is marked in red: < 4088-3 >. The bottom of the base is marked in red: PAT. JUNE 5. '00 DEC.22.'08 KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. N.Y. MADE IN U.S.A. The back of the base has K, A, D, and L scales, with B, S, T, and CI scales on the slide. A serial number is at the left end of the slide: 207989. A different serial number is on the front edge: 206079. The indicator is the second generation of Keuffel & Esser's "frameless" glass style, with white plastic edges and metal screws. One edge is marked: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. The other edge is marked: PATENT 2,086,502.
- K&E sold model 4088-3 from 1913 to 1939. From 1913 to 1936, the patent dates were indicated as they are on this instrument. Beginning in 1936, the number of a 1933 patent is shown on drawings of the instrument in K&E catalogs. The B scale was added to the slide in 1922. Both serial numbers are consistent with manufacturing dates in the late 1920s. This style of indicator was introduced in 1936 and patented in 1937. The different serial numbers and the discrepancy in dating between the rule and the indicator suggest that this example consists of components mixed from three slide rules. Compare to MA.318476, MA.321778, and 1981.0933.03. For instructions, see 1981.0933.04 and 1981.0933.06.
- References: Adolf W. Keuffel, "Runner for Slide Rules" (U.S. Patent 2,086,502 issued July 6, 1937); Keuffel & Esser Co., Slide Rules and Calculating Instruments (New York, 1922), 8–9; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 38th ed. (New York, 1936), 314–315; Ed Chamberlain, "Estimating K&E Slide Rule Dates," 27 December 2000, http://www.sphere.bc.ca/test/ke/320-k+e_date2.jpg; Clark McCoy, ed., "Collection of Pages from K&E Catalogs for the 4088 Family of Slide Rules," http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/KEModels/ke4088-3family.htm.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1920s-1930s
- maker
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- MA.318480
- accession number
- 235479
- catalog number
- 318480
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Microscope
- Description
- This low-power binocular is a Spencer Model 56 with coarse and fine focus, rotating triple nosepiece (only one objective survives), large rectangular stage, and wooden box. The inscription reads “SPENCER / BUFFALO / USA / 121744.” The serial number indicates a date of 1933. A S.I. tag on the arm reads 31968.
- The Spencer Lens Co., in 1929, described their New Universal Binocular Microscopes No. 55 and No. 56 as “exceptionally large instruments” that met “in a most satisfactory way the demand for a large stage.” Each was equipped with Spencer’s new “Multiple Revolving Nosepiece” in which was dust-proof, and so arranged that the objectives could be easily removed and replaced with others.
- Ref: Spencer Lens Co., Catalog of the More Popular Spencer Microscopes, Microtomes and Accessories (Buffalo, N.Y., 1929), pp. 30-31.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1933
- maker
- Spencer Lens Company
- ID Number
- MG.M-11419
- accession number
- 260035
- catalog number
- M-11419
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Carrel-Lindbergh Perfusion Pump
- Description
- This perfusion pump was invented by aviator Charles Lindbergh and Dr. Alexis Carrel, recipient of the 1912 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine for his work in vascular surgery.
- The glass pump was used to preserve animal organs outside the body, by pushing "artificial blood" through the pump and into the organ by way of a tube connected to the organ's artery keeping the organ alive for weeks. The Lindbergh-Carrel perfusion pump led to the development of the heart-lung machine and the feasibility of stopping the heart for open-heart surgery.
- date made
- ca 1935
- inventor
- Lindbergh, Charles A.
- maker
- Hopf, Otto
- ID Number
- MG.M-12299
- catalog number
- M-12299
- accession number
- 279576
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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