Keuffel & Esser 20" Desk Slide Rule
date: label: date made
content: ca 1935
name: label: maker
content: Keuffel & Esser Co.
notes: label: Description
content: This Keuffel & Esser Co. desk slide rule, a model N4096 with 20-inch scales, is a simplified slide rule for computing multiplication, division, proportion, and percentages. According to the 1936 Keuffel & Esser catalog, this rule was designed for “the Merchant, Importer, Exporter, Accountant, Manager, Mechanic, Forman and others.”
label: Description
content: The rule is made of mahogany overlaid with a shatterproof synthetic material, while the indicator is made of glass with metal edges. The center rail has a nickel-plated knob to allow one-handed operation. The rule is supported on two heavy legs, which are angled so that the rule is raised and tilted for easy operating and viewing. Rubber pads on the leg bottoms prevent the rule from shifting.
label: Description
content: When the original owner of this slide rule, a mechanical engineer from Chicago, Illinois, died in 1975, his widow discarded many of his professional items. The donor’s mother, who lived in the same apartment building, retrieved this slide rule for inclusion in his collection of small scientific instruments.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: “Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co.,” 38th Edition, 1936.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: collected in
content: United States: Illinois, Chicago
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Ralph R. Miller
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2019.0255.01
label: accession number
content: 2019.0255
label: catalog number
content: 2019.0255.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: slide rule
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: mahogany (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: shatterproof synthetic material (overall, scales material)
label: Physical Description
content: glass (overall, indicator material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall, indicator material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall, legs material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 5.7 cm x 54 cm x 8 cm; 2 1/4 in x 21 1/4 in x 3 5/32 in