Gebr. Wichmann Mannheim Simplex Slide Rule
date: label: date made
content: before 1910
name: label: maker
content: Gebr. Wichmann
notes: label: Description
content: This five-inch, one-sided cardboard linear slide rule has a metal cursor in the double-chisel style. (Compare to MA.318477 and 1977.0370.01.) There are A and D scales on the base and B and C scales on the slide. The A and B scales are divided logarithmically from 1 to 10 twice. The C and D scales are divided logarithmically from 1 to 10 once. A figure holding a club is shown in the lower left corner. A dark brown case of coated paper is included.
label: Description
content: The figure on the slide rule was used by Gebr. Wichmann (Wichmann Brothers) in Berlin, a company founded in 1873. In materials, size, and scales, this instrument closely resembles model 466, shown in the 1910 catalog. However, the illustration in the catalog indicates that the maker's name, place of manufacture, model number, and price are printed on the front of the rule. This instrument does not have these marks, so it may have been made before 1910. The No. 466 slide rule sold for 0.75 marks and was one of the least expensive slide rules listed in the catalog. (Only model 469, with a C scale that began at pi, sold for the same price.)
label: Description
content: This instrument is signed on the back: W. F. Meggers. William F. Meggers (1888–1966) was a spectroscopist long associated with the U.S. National Bureau of Standards. He received his B.A. in physics from Ripon College in 1910, his M.A. in physics from the University of Wisconsin in 1916, and his Ph.D. in physics, mathematics, and astronomy from Johns Hopkins University in 1917. If he used this rule, it seems likely that he acquired it as a student. For a slide rule apparently acquired by Meggers in 1907 that was considerably more precise and more costly, see MA.335270.
label: Description
content: References: Gebr. Wichmann, <i>Anleitung zum Gebrauch des Rechenstabes</i> (Berlin, 1910), 21; "Dr. Meggers Dies at 78," <i>The NBS Standard</i> 11, no. 9 (December 1966): 2–3.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Germany: Berlin, Berlin
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: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MA.293320.2820
label: accession number
content: 293320
label: catalog number
content: 293320.2820
objectType: label: Object Name
content: calculating rule
label: Object Name
content: slide rule
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (cursor material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: .1 cm x 15.2 cm x 3.2 cm; 1/32 in x 5 31/32 in x 1 1/4 in