Signedface, top center: Slide-Chart by PERRYGRAF, Maywood, Ill.
face, top center: Harvard / Project / Physics [Harvard Project Physics trademark]
FunctionFor solving multiplication and division problems.
To multiply, the user rotates the disc such that the inner arrow points to the value of the multiplicand on the outer scale. Then, holding the disc in place, he rotates the clear indicator until the hairline is over the value of the multiplier on the inner scale. The coincident value on the outer scale is the product.
To divide, the user first rotates the clear indicator such that the hairline is over the value of the dividend on the outer scale. Then, holding the indicator in place, he rotates the disc until the value of the divisor on the inner scale also coincides with the hairline. The number on the outer scale to which the inner arrow points is the quotient.
Note: The Harvard Project Physics was a physics curriculum intended for use in high schools. See related works for more information.
Historical AttributesThis apparatus was designed to be used with Project Physics, a national physics curriculum developed in the 1960s. Project Physics materials included teaching aids, apparatus for student experiments, and books.
The Project Physics Course grew out of a Harvard University initiative to teach all students physics, not just those who would go on to careers in science. The course aimed to be a "humanistically oriented" introduction to "science at its best."
Damon Engineering produced and marketed most of the Project Physics laboratory equipment in coordination with the curricular work of Harvard physics professor Gerald Holton, California high school science teacher F. James Rutherford, and Harvard Graduate School of Education professor Fletcher G. Watson.
In the early days of the Project, other companies such as Perrygraf contributed.
Primary SourcesThe Project Physics Collection of course books is archived online here.
Linda J. Greenhouse, "Gerald Holton: The Discovery That Scientists Are Also Philosophers Should Not Depend On Accidents," The Harvard Crimson, December 12, 1966; found online here.
ProvenanceGerald Holton, Physics Department, Harvard University, 1991.