Object Details
maker
Kern & Co.
Description
This German silver semicircular protractor bears the distinctive italic engraved numbers of Kern & Co. of Aarau, Switzerland. It is graduated by quarter-degrees and marked by tens from 10 to 170 both from left to right and from right to left. There are no other marks. The lower edge of the protractor is beveled, with a groove at the origin point.
Ruth E. Crownfield, the widow of Albert C. Crownfield Jr., a mechanical engineer from Mohawk, N.Y., donated this protractor in 1978. The instrument is quite tarnished and scratched, suggesting Crownfield used it frequently. Similar protractors cost $3.50 in the first decade of the 20th century and $4.50 in 1936.
See also ID numbers MA.247966 and 1977.0460.02.
References: “(Product No.) 1248,” Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co. (New York, 1909), 172; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co. (New York, 1936), 201.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Ruth E. Crownfield
date made
early 20th century
ID Number
1978.2291.01
accession number
1978.2291
catalog number
336875
Object Name
protractor
Physical Description
german silver (overall material)
Measurements
overall: .2 cm x 15.6 cm x 7.9 cm; 3/32 in x 6 5/32 in x 3 1/8 in
place made
Switzerland: Aargau, Aarau
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Science & Mathematics
Protractors
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Protractor
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_904460