Object Details
- Braun, Anton
- Description
- This small brass rule has two linear scales, one labeled "4" that is divided to quarter-units and numbered by ones from 30 to zero, and one labeled "3" that is divided to quarter-units and numbered by ones from 22 to zero. The units are 0.5 cm (7/32") and 0.7 cm (9/32") long, respectively. A brass peg is in the center of the rule, and a small round hole is on the right edge. These suggest the rule was designed to attach to other rules, although no such rules were received with the instrument.
- While the scales are in a 4:3 proportion to each other, the pre-metric units of measurement represented by either scale are not known. The length of the divided portion (15.6 cm or 6-3/16") is almost exactly half the length of the average fuss (31.4 cm or 12.36"), a traditional "foot" measure used in German-speaking areas of Central Europe.
- The top edge of the rule is marked: Antonius Braun Invenit et Fecit 1722. Anton Braun (1685–1728), a native of Swabia in southwest Germany, made instruments in Prague by 1720 and in Vienna by 1724. In 1727 he built a pinwheel calculator during a competition to become chief instrument maker for Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI.
- References: Herbert Arthur Klein, The Science of Measurement: A Historical Survey (reprint; New York: Dover, 1988), 63; Russ Rowlett, How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement, July 11, 2005, http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/index.html; Adler Planetarium, Webster Signature Database, http://historydb.adlerplanetarium.org/signatures/.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- 1722
- ID Number
- 1987.0606.01
- accession number
- 1987.0606
- catalog number
- 1987.0606.01
- Object Name
- rule
- scale rule
- Physical Description
- brass (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: .3 cm x 17 cm x 1.8 cm; 1/8 in x 6 11/16 in x 23/32 in
- place made
- Holy Roman Empire
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Mathematics
- Science & Mathematics
- Scale Rules
- Measuring & Mapping
- National Museum of American History
- Subject
- Mathematics
- Rule, Measuring
- Record ID
- nmah_905197
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a7-25ca-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
