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Gilson Midget Circular Slide Rule

National Museum of American History

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Object Details

Gilson Slide Rule Company
Description
This circular calculating rule is made of an aluminum disc 4-1/4" in diameter. The disc has a white plastic coating on both sides. There are two green transparent plastic indicators on the front and one indicator on the back. A metal screw and two supports hold the instrument together. The scales and markings are exactly like those on 1998.0119.01. A green synthetic leather case is marked in ink inside the flap: MATLACK.
The scales are also similar to those on 1979.0816.01, the Binary Slide Rule of Gilson Slide Rule Company of Stuart, Fla. Gilson manufactured slide rules under U.S. patent 1,404,019, issued to Clair A. Gilson for a "Mechanical Calculating Device" on January 17, 1922. The company was known for not putting its name on its products, which were resold by several American dealers of mathematical instruments.
The donor, Dr. Albert S. Matlack, purchased this object around 1942, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Virginia. He also used it as a research chemist at the Hercules Research Center in Wilmington, Del.
Reference: Accession file.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Albert S. Matlack
ca 1942
ID Number
1989.0032.01
catalog number
1989.0032.01
accession number
1989.0032
Object Name
calculating rule
slide rule
Physical Description
plastic (cursor material)
cloth (case material)
aluminum (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 12 cm x 12 cm x .5 cm; 4 23/32 in x 4 23/32 in x 3/16 in
place made
United States: Florida, Stuart
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Science & Mathematics
Slide Rules
National Museum of American History
subject
Rule, Calculating
Mathematics
Record ID
nmah_1127934
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746aa-a183-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

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Slide rule - gilson slide rule - Rule with Case View
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