Object Details
maker
Baker, Richard P.
Description
The nineteenth century saw a remarkable expansion of knowledge of electricity, including study of the magnetism associated with wires carrying electrical currents. One who wrote on the subject was the German teacher Hermann Grassmann (1809-1877). This is a representation of a current element after the ideas of Grassmann. The model is part of a collection of surfaces prepared by Richard P. Baker, a mathematician at the University of Iowa.
This particular example of the model was on loan from Baker for exhibition at MIT from 1939 until the mid-1950s. It, along with the other models in accession 211257, came to the Smithsonian from MIT in 1956.
References:
Grassmann, H., “Neue Theorie der Electrodynamik,” Annalen der Physik und Chemie, 1845, vol. 140, pp. 1-18.
Baker, R.P., Mathematical Models, Iowa City, 1931, p. 18.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Frances E. Baker
date made
ca 1906-1935
ID Number
MA.211257.049
accession number
211257
catalog number
211257.049
Object Name
geometric model
Physical Description
metal (overall material)
red (overall color)
black (overall color)
soldered (overall production method/technique)
Measurements
average spatial: .1 cm x 15.6 cm x 15.6 cm; 1/32 in x 6 5/32 in x 6 5/32 in
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Science & Mathematics
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_1083014