Osborn's Mechanical Paradox
date: label: date made
content: 1900
name: label: maker
content: F. C. Osborn Company
label: maker
content: F. C. Osborn Company
notes: label: Description
content: This brass device, made in the size of a paperweight for exhibition purposes, includes a hollow round base with gearing around the top inside edge, a cover for the base which contains a long shaft at the center and three identical piles of three rings on top, each pile linked to a small gear on the underside. Each of these small gears links to the gearing on the edge of the base. Three knobs around the edge of the cover allow one to rotate it. Six metal rings that differ in height and radius fit on the cover onto different spots (the innermost fits the flat top of the cover, the other five various spots on the piles). Rotating the cover causes the rings to rotate in differing directions at differing speeds.
label: Description
content: A metal plaque glued to the side of the base reads: OSBORN’S (/) MECHANICAL PARADOX (/) MODEL BY F.C. OSBORN CO. (/) DETROIT, MICH.
label: Description
content: According to an article in <I>Scientific American</I>, Francis C. Osborn of Detroit invented the mechanical paradox in 1890.
label: Description
content: Osborn is also remembered as the spouse of Laura Freele Osborn (1866-1955), a suffragette, a longstanding member of the Detroit School Board, and the first woman to hold elective office in Detroit.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: “Invention New and Interesting: A Department Devoted to Pioneer Work in the Arts,” <I>Scientific American</I>, December 9, 1916, vol. 115, p. 533.
label: Description
content: Accession file 1980.0580.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Michigan, Detroit
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Mechanics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Laura Osborn
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1980.0580.01
label: catalog number
content: 1980.0580.01
label: accession number
content: 1980.0580
objectType: label: Object Name
content: mechanical paradox
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 11.5 cm x 9 cm x 9 cm; 4 17/32 in x 3 17/32 in x 3 17/32 in