Smithsonian Institution

Letters between the Smithsonian Institution, L S Penrose, E S Pearson and others regarding an invention by Francis Galton to illustrate the principle of the law of error or dispersion. His device consisted of a box with a base divided into segments by pins, into which small metal balls could be dropped through a funnel. The box was located in the basement of UCL's statistics department. It was variously known as the "Quincunx", "Galton Box", "shot-machine" and "bean machine". The correspondence concerns a request for photographs by the Smithsonian so that they might create a replica for an exhibition. A photograph of an original drawing of the box, a purchase order and invoice are enclosed.

May-Sep 1961

10 letters plus 3 enclosures

The papers are available at UCL Special Collections and Archives subject to the usual conditions of access to Archives and Manuscripts material, after the completion of a Reader's Undertaking.

A digitised copy is held by the Wellcome Library as part of Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics.

The original material is held at UCL Special Collections. This catalogue is held by the Wellcome Library as part of Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics.