Object Details
maker
Darling, Brown & Sharpe
Description
This nickel-plated steel instrument is crimped in the middle so that the scales along both edges are angled, giving the object the appearance of a triangle and bringing the scale closer to the draftsman's work. Both edges have scales dividing one inch into 48 parts and scales divided to one inch and numbered by ones from 0 to 11. One edge is marked: D.B.&S. PROV. R.I. Pt. Aug. 3. 80.
Darling, Brown & Sharpe of Providence, R.I., marketed this rule to draftsmen and architects for making scale drawings in which 1" = 1'. For more information on the history of this rule, see 1977.0460.06, which is the same instrument with a scale of 3" = 1'. For another drafting tool designed by Samuel Darling, see 1990.0317.02. This example was owned by the renowned American designer of steam engines, Erasmus Darwin Leavitt Jr. (1836–1916), and donated by his granddaughter, Margaret van D. Rice.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Margaret van D. Rice
date made
1880–1892
ID Number
1977.0460.07
accession number
1977.0460
catalog number
336078
Object Name
scale rule
rule, triangular
Physical Description
steel (overall material)
nickel (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 1.2 cm x 31.2 cm x 2.3 cm; 15/32 in x 12 9/32 in x 29/32 in
place made
United States: Rhode Island, Providence
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Science & Mathematics
Scale Rules
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Drafting, Engineering
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_904521