McFarlane's Calculating Cylinder
date: label: date made
content: ca 1833
notes: label: Description
content: This calculating device consists of a wooden cylinder divided into three rotating sections, each covered with varnished paper printed in several scales. The monetary scales are in pounds sterling. A mark on the object reads: McFARLANE’S (/) CALCULATING CYLINDER (/) GLASGOW. Each end of the cylinder has a threaded wooden cap.
label: Description
content: James McFarlane (whose name is sometimes spelled MacFarlane), a former teacher at the Mercantile Academy in Glasgow, Scotland, invented this calculating cylinder in about 1833. He designed it to solve a number of arithmetic problems including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, reduction, proportion, practice, interest, and for common and decimal fractions. His primary interest was in simplifying the labor-intensive task of creating exercises for students. His device could propose and answer questions at the same time. Testimonials listed in the third edition of his “Rules, Directions, and Examples Illustrating the Use of MACFARLANE’S Calculating Cylinder,” praise the device as being of great use to teachers, students, and families.
label: Description
content: Sources:
label: Description
content: https://books.google.com/books/about/Rules_Directions_and_Examples_Illustrati.html?id=lcmvAQAACAAJ
label: Description
content: (last accessed 2019-03-20)
label: Description
content: David J. Bryden, "McFarlane's Calculating Cylinder, by James Macfarlane, Scottish, c, 1835," <I>Materials for the History of Science</I>, Cambridge: Whipple Museum of the History of Science, 2022, pp. 96-97.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: Scotland
topic: label: Subject
content: Education
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Science & Mathematics
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2019.0029.01
label: accession number
content: 2019.0029
label: catalog number
content: 2019.0029.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: calculating cylinder
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 6 cm x 16 cm x 6 cm; 2 3/8 in x 6 5/16 in x 2 3/8 in