Tone Variator, No. 5; 400-800 Vibrations
name: label: used at
content: Cornell University
label: maker
content: Max Kohl
notes: label: Description
content: The tone variator, a cylindrical brass resonator on a wooden base, produced a moderately pure tone. The frequency is controlled by moving the piston up or down. The inscription on this example reads “Max Kohl A.G. Chemnitz.” William Stern (1871-1938), a German-Jewish psychologist and philosopher, invented the form in 1897, and used it to study human sensitivity to changes in pitch.
label: Description
content: Ref: William Stern, <i>Autobiographical Essay</i> (Worcester, Ma., 1930), vol. 1.
label: Description
content: H. G. Bishop, “The Stern Variator,” <i>The American Journal of Psychology</i> 34 (1923): 150-151.
label: Description
content: Max Kohl, <i>Physical Apparatus</i> (Chemnitz, 191-), vol. 2, p. 446.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Germany: Saxony, Chemnitz
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Cornell University Department of Psychology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MG.300427.117
label: catalog number
content: 300427.117
label: accession number
content: 300427
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Variator
label: Other Terms
content: Variator; Diagnostic Medicine
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal, brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 35.5 cm x 19.2 cm x 14.5 cm; 14 in x 7 9/16 in x 5 11/16 in