Object Details
patentee
Young, Samuel S.
maker
Young, Samuel S.
Description
This wooden patent model for an adder has a frame that holds seven strips of wood. Each strip has 19 holes on it. The ten right holes are numbered from 0 to 9. The nine remaining holes are unnumbered, but the wood is colored green. To the sides of each strip, the numbers 1 to 9 are written on the frame. The left part of the strip is covered by an upper piece on the frame.
Samuel S. Young of Eaton, Ohio, took out three patents for computing devices. This is the patent model for the first. The later ones were a rule for calculating interest, patented September 2, 1851 (U.S. patent 8323), and an arithmetical proof rule, patented October 26, 1858 (U.S. patent 21921).
The U.S. Census for 1850 indicates that S. S.Young of Eaton, Ohio, was 40 years old that year, and living with his wife and two children. His occupation is given as “gardener.” Apparently by 1860 he had moved to the nearby town of Washington and is listed as a “horticulturalist” by profession.
References: Samuel S. Young, Calculating-Machine, U.S. Patent, No. 6602, issued July 24, 1849.
Robert Otnes, “Sliding Bar Calculators,” ETCetera, #11, June, 1990, p. 6.
P. Kidwell, “Adders Made and Used in the United States,” Rittenhouse, May, 1994, p. 80.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1849
ID Number
MA.252680
catalog number
252680
accession number
49064
Object Name
adder
Object Type
Patent Model
Physical Description
wood (overall material)
Measurements
overall: .7 cm x 9.8 cm x 15.6 cm; 9/32 in x 3 27/32 in x 6 5/32 in
place made
United States: Ohio, Eaton
place patented
United States: Ohio, Eaton
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Adder
Science & Mathematics
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_690815