U.S. Army Radiation Dose Calculator (A-Bomb Nuclear Yield Circular Slide Rule) Set in Pouch (The Dockers' Museum, object nr. 63)
Object, 11,8 x 11,8 cm.
Materials: paper
Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp.
U.S. Army Radiation Dose Calculator (A-Bomb Nuclear Yield Circular Slide Rule) Set in Pouch [title given by Allan Sekula], unknown manufacturer, plastic and mixed materials, 1950s, pouch: 12 x 12 cm, two round caculators: Ø 11,9 cm each, one explation card: 11, 4 x 11,4 cm. Purchased by Allan Sekula through eBay on 13 July 2010. [Allan Sekula – The Dockers' Museum, 2010-2013, object nr. 63]
American army cold war era radiation gage that you could dial in. It is like a kind of slide rule; based upon the size of the mushroom cloud you could gage what the radiation exposure would be at different distances. It was obviously a field calculator for radiation in the absence of Geiger counters and actual precise measuring devices. A tank commander or a field lieutenant could use this kind of proof gage. Sekula managed to find both an American army and a Soviet army gage.