Rule Signed Antonius Braun
date: label: date made
content: 1722
name: label: maker
content: Braun, Anton
notes: label: Description
content: This small brass rule has two linear scales, one labeled "4" that is divided to quarter-units and numbered by ones from 30 to zero, and one labeled "3" that is divided to quarter-units and numbered by ones from 22 to zero. The units are 0.5 cm (7/32") and 0.7 cm (9/32") long, respectively. A brass peg is in the center of the rule, and a small round hole is on the right edge. These suggest the rule was designed to attach to other rules, although no such rules were received with the instrument.
label: Description
content: While the scales are in a 4:3 proportion to each other, the pre-metric units of measurement represented by either scale are not known. The length of the divided portion (15.6 cm or 6-3/16") is almost exactly half the length of the average fuss (31.4 cm or 12.36"), a traditional "foot" measure used in German-speaking areas of Central Europe.
label: Description
content: The top edge of the rule is marked: Antonius Braun Invenit et Fecit 1722. Anton Braun (1685–1728), a native of Swabia in southwest Germany, made instruments in Prague by 1720 and in Vienna by 1724. In 1727 he built a pinwheel calculator during a competition to become chief instrument maker for Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI.
label: Description
content: References: Herbert Arthur Klein, <i>The Science of Measurement: A Historical Survey</i> (reprint; New York: Dover, 1988), 63; Russ Rowlett, <i>How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement</i>, July 11, 2005, http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/index.html; Adler Planetarium, <i>Webster Signature Database</i>, http://historydb.adlerplanetarium.org/signatures/.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Holy Roman Empire
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Rule, Measuring
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Scale Rules
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content: Measuring & Mapping
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1987.0606.01
label: accession number
content: 1987.0606
label: catalog number
content: 1987.0606.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: rule
label: Object Name
content: scale rule
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: .3 cm x 17 cm x 1.8 cm; 1/8 in x 6 11/16 in x 23/32 in