Mathematics
On Display
Six inch Brass sector 1720-1753 signed T Heath Fecit, decorated on hinge and legs with floral patterns. Sectors were used from the end of the 16th century until the mid 19th century to perform calculations involving proportion. They were inscribed w
6 figure engine counter by Schaeffer and Budenberg of Manchester, 1888. The counter could be used to count revolutions of a piece of mechanism or reciprocating actions.
Single surface models made by Alan Bennett in Bedford, 1995. Four small Klein bottles (left to right): i) one loop relating to the single-twist Mobius strip, ii) two loop relating to the three-twist Mobius strip, iii) three loops relating to the five
Little Professor' calculator, children's working educational toy / game, 1980. Electronic calculators were now low cost available items which could be targetted at children and those with straightforward requirements. This example was exhibited in th
Electronic Pocket Calculator by Isot, model Elka 101, c1976. Before the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, Bulgaria hasd one of the largest electronics industries in Eastern Europe. However in the 1970s they had to import the integrated circuits to co
The Sinclair Executive Electronic Pocket Calculator (cutaway for exhibition) was the first electronic pocket calculator that could really fit into a pocket. Clive Sinclair (b. 1940) was able to achieve this by reducing the power input demanded by the
A single surface glass vessel made by Alan Bennett in Bedford, 1995. Its form is a variation on the Klein bottle with an inlet passing through the vessel which when cut forms a pair of single-twist Mobius strips. A Klein bottle is a surface which has
Nine inch brass sector, by Adams; engraved "Improv'd and made by Geo. Adams, Mathm. Inst. Maker to His Royal Highness, George Prince of Wales, London", in fishskin case. Sectors were used in calculations involving proportion. They contain logarithmic
Brass French sector by Canivet, Paris, 1751-1774. French sectors are less complicated than English sectors. They are also used for calculations involving proportions of length, area and volume.The lines radiate from the centre of the hinge.
Callipers, used for artillery purposes, French, 17th century. Callipers were used to measure the diameter of cannon balls and the bores of cannons. This example also containd scales for artillery calculations