Nash Logoscope 82E, Nottingham, England, 1972-1975

Made:
1972-1975 in Nottingham
inventor:
Firmin Nash
Nash Logoscope 82E in case Nash Logoscope 82E in case Nash Logoscope 82E in case Nash Logoscope 82E in case Nash Logoscope 82E in case Nash Logoscope 82E in case

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Nash Logoscope 82E in case
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Nash Logoscope 82E in case
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Nash Logoscope 82E in case
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Nash Logoscope 82E in case
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Nash Logoscope 82E in case
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Nash Logoscope 82E in case
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Nash Logoscope 82E in case, an aid to differential diagnosis in 'slide-rule' form, developed by Dr Firmin Nash, manufactured by Medical Data Systems, Nottingham, England, 1972-1975

The logoscope aided ‘differential’ diagnosis in ’slide-rule’ form. It was designed by Dr Firmin Nash in the age before the personal computer. It attempted to be a diagnostic tool providing a broad, but accurate, list of possibilities for GPs to consider alongside their own diagnostic skills. Each plastic strip has a different symptom, for instance ‘swelling on the bone’ or ‘hiccups’, and is marked by a number of black lines. The GP collects the symptoms the patient has from the box and places them on the plastic slide rule. He or she then uses the magnifier to see where the lines match up and reads the diagnosis from the list on the left-hand side.

Personal computers became widely available by the time the logoscope reached final design, although they sold well in Japan. Devices such as this that ‘mechanise’ diagnosis have not usually caught on. As a museum object, it is a fascinating symbol of the tension between the art and the science of medicine. It is also an interesting precursor to the computer diagnosis aids which superseded it.

Details

Category:
Clinical Diagnosis
Object Number:
2004-252
Materials:
wood, plastic and metal
Measurements:
overall: 495 mm x 155 mm x 60 mm,
type:
logoscope
credit:
Trueman, Angela