Fuller's spiral slide rule
Date: 1900
Inventory Number: 5134
Classification: Slide Rule
Subject:
Maker: W. F. Stanley & Company, Ltd. (1854 - 1999)
Maker: National Institute of Standards and Technology (founded 1901)
User: Pierce Hall, Harvard University (built 1901)
User: Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University (1946 - 2007)
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
Dimensions:
slide rule: 9 × 43 × 8.8 cm (3 9/16 × 16 15/16 × 3 7/16 in.)
case: 10.1 × 45.8 × 11.5 cm (4 × 18 1/16 × 4 1/2 in.)
Accessories: wood case with brass mounting bracket; paper ruler with metric equivalents
DescriptionThis spiral slide rule consists of three concentric cylinders. The outermost papier-maché cylinder is covered with the spiral slide rule scale. This cylinder is mounted on felt and smoothly slides over another cylinder within it.
This middle cyclinder is covered with paper printed with various mathematical and engineering tables. The cylinder is fixed to the wooden base and handle of the slide rule. The base supports a vertical brass index, which terminates in a point.
The innermost cylinder slides inside the middle cylinder, which is lined with thick felt. This cylinder is made of polished nickel-plated brass. The top of the cylinder is fixed to a wooden cap that funnels gracefully into an opening that enables one to look down the barrel of the cylinder. The wood cap carries the primary brass index for the slide rule. This brass index is graduated and has several notches.
The foot of the outermost cylinder and matching stop on the wooden base are both brass.
The handle of the slide rule has a brass socket into which one may insert a supporting rod that screws to a fitting on the proper right side of the instrument case. The support is made of red brass, as is the fitting plates at its end and on the case. The plates are shield shaped.
The case is fitted and felt lined. There is a lock, but the key is missing. A metric ruler and table of equivalents, printed on cardstock is stored in the case.
This middle cyclinder is covered with paper printed with various mathematical and engineering tables. The cylinder is fixed to the wooden base and handle of the slide rule. The base supports a vertical brass index, which terminates in a point.
The innermost cylinder slides inside the middle cylinder, which is lined with thick felt. This cylinder is made of polished nickel-plated brass. The top of the cylinder is fixed to a wooden cap that funnels gracefully into an opening that enables one to look down the barrel of the cylinder. The wood cap carries the primary brass index for the slide rule. This brass index is graduated and has several notches.
The foot of the outermost cylinder and matching stop on the wooden base are both brass.
The handle of the slide rule has a brass socket into which one may insert a supporting rod that screws to a fitting on the proper right side of the instrument case. The support is made of red brass, as is the fitting plates at its end and on the case. The plates are shield shaped.
The case is fitted and felt lined. There is a lock, but the key is missing. A metric ruler and table of equivalents, printed on cardstock is stored in the case.
Signedprinted at the end of the scale along the bottom of the outermost cylinder: ENTD. STATS. HALL. / STANLEY, Maker, LONDON
date stamped in brass index below serial number: 1900
printed in gold ink on olive green paper label inside lid of case: STANLEY, / GREAT TURNSTILE / LONDON / ENGLAND.
on paper ruler in case: DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE / BUREAU OF STANDARDS / S. W. STRATTON, Director / ... / LEGAL EQUIVALENT ADOPTED BY ACT OF CONGRESS, JULY 28, 1866
date stamped in brass index below serial number: 1900
printed in gold ink on olive green paper label inside lid of case: STANLEY, / GREAT TURNSTILE / LONDON / ENGLAND.
on paper ruler in case: DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE / BUREAU OF STANDARDS / S. W. STRATTON, Director / ... / LEGAL EQUIVALENT ADOPTED BY ACT OF CONGRESS, JULY 28, 1866
Inscribedserial number stamped on index: 1325
printed at the beginning of the scale on the outermost cylinder: FULLERS SPIRAL SLIDE RULE
stamped on case: A. E. KENNELLY
printed at the beginning of the scale on the outermost cylinder: FULLERS SPIRAL SLIDE RULE
stamped on case: A. E. KENNELLY
Historical AttributesThis Fuller's spiral slide rule dates from 1900 and was retrieved from the attic of Pierce Hall, which was the home of the engineering and applied sciences at Harvard. When Pierce Hall opened in 1901, this slide rule would have been spanking new equipment and the latest in precision computation.
Primary SourcesGeorge Fuller, A Calculating Slide Rule Equivalent to a Straight Slide Rule 83 Feet 4 Inches Long, or, a Circular Rule 13 Feet 3 Inches in Diameter (London: W. F. Stanley, 1897). [copy in the file of inv. 1989-1-0038]
Deitzgen Co. Cat. 1928. page 183.
Deitzgen Co. Cat. 1928. page 183.
ProvenanceAcquired from Pierce Hall attic, 5/20/61.