Keuffel & Esser N4088-5 Polyphase Duplex Slide Rule
date: label: date made
content: 1936-1938
name: label: maker
content: Keuffel & Esser Co.
notes: label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: 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); <i>Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co.</i>, 38th ed. (New York, 1936), 314–315; "Price List of K&E Slide Rules," (July 1, 1938), 1; Dieter von Jezierski, <i>Slide Rules: A Journey Through Three Centuries</i>, trans. Rodger Shepherd (Mendham, N.J.: Astragal Press, 2000), 71–75; "Philip Krupen," <i>The Washington Post</i>, February 23, 2001, B07.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Rule, Calculating
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Slide Rules
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Philip Krupen
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1986.0790.02
label: accession number
content: 1986.0790
label: catalog number
content: 1986.0790.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: slide rule
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: mahogany (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: cellluloid (laminate material)
label: Physical Description
content: glass (cursor material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (part material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (case material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 cm x 58.7 cm x 9 cm; 1 9/16 in x 23 1/8 in x 3 17/32 in