Stereometry Made Easy, A Set of Geometric Models
date: label: date made
content: ca 1860
name: label: maker
content: A. N. Myers & Company
notes: label: Description
content: From the 16th through the 19th centuries, English-speaking mathematicians referred to the measurement of solid bodies as stereometry. This set of forty-odd models, made in London in the mid-19th century, assisted in teaching the subject. According to the maker, the solids also were well suited for use by art students.
label: Description
content: Included in the wooden box are a diagonal scale; three equal trapezoids, any two of which can be arranged to form a rectangle or a parallelogram; two equal triangles which together form a rectangle or a triangle; three equal quadrilaterals (with a fourth quadrilateral of the same size, they would form a square); and nine pieces that are lettered from a to i. Pieces a to c are equal oblique pyramids that can be arranged to form a cube. Pieces d to i are equal square pyramids which can be arranged to form a cube.
label: Description
content: The set also includes eight pieces of a cube root block. The smaller cube of the cube root block is not labeled, and three of the other pieces are mislabeled. Also included are six equal triangular prisms, one longer triangular prism, two additional cubes, a cylinder, a tetrahedron, an icosahedron, two rectangular parallelepipeds, one oblique parallelepiped, one taller square pyramid, two triangular pyramids, and an irregular tetrahedron.
label: Description
content: A discolored label on the lid of the box reads: STEREOMETRY (/) MADE EASY.
label: Description
content: An example of the set in the library of Princeton University also includes several lithographed cards and an instruction booklet, published in 1853. The <I>Catalogue of the Educational Division of the South Kensington Museum</I> indicates that the set was made by Myers and Company of London. This example came to the Smithsonian from the Physics Department of Queens College of London University. An 1877 advertisement of A. N. Myers & Co. indicates that by that date, a set of 44 geometrical models sold in three sizes. This would correspond to the smallest size. As the advertised set contained 44 surfaces, it seems likely that one object in this example (perhaps the diagonal scale) was not part of the original.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: <I>Catalogue of the Educational Division of the South Kensington Museum</I>, London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1876, p. 407.
label: Description
content: <I>Stereometry Made Easy: A Short Compendium of the Facts and Principles of that Instructive and Amusing Science: Intended as a Companion to the Collection of Solids</I>, London: Thompson and Davidson, 1853.
label: Description
content: “Educational and Amusing Publications of A. N. Myers & Co.,” <I>A Catalogue of Works of Natural Science, Art, General Literature, Medicine &c. Published by Hardwick & Bogue</I>, London, 1877, p. 1.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England, London
label: associated place
content: United Kingdom: England, London
topic: label: web subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Learning Arithmetic
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Arithmetic Teaching
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of King's College, University of London
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1990.0539.41
label: catalog number
content: 1990.0539.41
label: accession number
content: 1990.0539
label: catalog number
content: 323474
objectType: label: Object Name
content: geometric models
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (sticker on lid material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: average spatial: 5.7 cm x 21.6 cm x 19.1 cm; 2 1/4 in x 8 1/2 in x 7 17/32 in