Object Details
- James L. Robertson & Sons
- Description
- This chrome-plated instrument has a 5" pole arm with a small cylindrical weight at the end. The 7" tracer arm is adjustable and has an L-shaped tracer point, so that the point is offset from the arm. The measuring wheel is chrome and the vernier is brass. The instrument has no registering dial. A point extending from the carriage holding the measuring wheel allows the user to turn the planimeter vertically and use the other end of the tracer point. Compare to 1981.0301.01.
- Most of the leather has flaked off of the wooden case, which has green fabric on the bottom. The case is lined with burgundy velvet. The instrument resembles the Robertson-Amsler planimeter shown in Hawkins's Indicator Catechism (New York, 1903), 132. A worn instruction card (MA.302380.01) received with the object in 1972 describes it as an "averaging planimeter," which is how Robertson advertised the instrument in 1897.
- Hine & Robertson of New York City made steam-engine indicators and sold planimeters from the 1880s to 1897. The firm was then renamed James L. Robertson & Sons and remained in operation until at least 1910. This device is smaller than the Hine-Robertson planimeter described by Olaus Henrici.
- The instrument was received at the Museum in 1972.
- References: Advertisement for Robertson-Thompson Indicator, Power 17, no. 2 (February 1897): 25; John Walter, "More Information," The Engine Indicator, Canadian Museum of Making, http://www.archivingindustry.com/Indicator/sourceinfo.htm; Olaus Henrici, "On Planimeters," in Report of the Sixty-fourth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (London, 1894), 515–516; "Hine and Robertson's Planimeter," The Electrician 26 (February 6, 1891): 432.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of R. J. Russell
- ca 1900
- ID Number
- MA.333766
- accession number
- 302380
- catalog number
- 333766
- Object Name
- planimeter
- Physical Description
- metal (overall material)
- wood (overall material)
- leather (overall material)
- cloth (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 3.7 cm x 20 cm x 5.5 cm; 1 15/32 in x 7 7/8 in x 2 5/32 in
- place made
- United States: New York, New York City
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Mathematics
- Planimeters
- Science & Mathematics
- National Museum of American History
- Subject
- Mathematics
- Engineering
- Record ID
- nmah_1132190
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a9-b4fe-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
