Object Details
maker
Max Kohl
Description
This tone variator, which consists of a cylindrical brass resonator on a wooden base, produced a moderately pure tone. The frequency is controlled by moving the piston up or down. The inscription reads “Max Kohl Chemnitz / D.R.G.M. 189710”. William Stern (1871-1938), a German-Jewish psychologist and philosopher, invented the form in 1897 and used it to study human sensitivity to changes in pitch. He fled to the United States in 1933. The D.R.G.M. patent number dates from around 1906, the same time that Max Kohl, in Chemnitz, began making instruments of this sort.
Ref: William Stern, Autobiographical Essay (Worcester, Ma., 1930), vol. 1.
H. G. Bishop, “The Stern Variator,” The American Journal of Psychology 34 (1923): 150-151.
Max Kohl, Physical Apparatus (Chemnitz, 191-), vol. 2, p. 446.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Cornell University Department of Psychology
date made
around 1907
ca 1907
ID Number
MG.300427.114
catalog number
300427.114
accession number
300427
Object Name
Variator
Other Terms
Variator; Diagnostic Medicine
Physical Description
metal (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 62.4 cm x 25 cm x 20.2 cm; 24 9/16 in x 9 13/16 in x 7 15/16 in
Place Made
Germany: Saxony, Chemnitz
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Medicine
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Science & Scientific Instruments
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_733886