As of 1963, it was preserved in the University of Groningen. A board for the log-normal distribution (common in many natural processes, particularly biological ones), which uses isosceles triangles of varying widths to 'multiply' the distance the bead travels instead of fixed sizes steps which would 'sum', was constructed by Jacobus Kapteyn while studying and popularizing the statistics of the log-normal in order to help visualize it & demonstrate its plausibility. īoards can be constructed for other distributions by changing the shape of the pins or biasing them towards one direction, and even bimodal boards are possible. Another large-scale version is displayed in the lobby of Index Fund Advisors in Irvine, California. The Ford Museum machine was displayed at the IBM Pavilion during 1964-65 New York World's Fair, later appearing at Pacific Science Center in Seattle. and Beyond exhibits permanently on view at the Boston Museum of Science, the New York Hall of Science, or the Henry Ford Museum. Large-scale working models of this device created by Charles and Ray Eames can be seen in the Mathematica: A World of Numbers.

Overlaying Pascal's triangle onto the pins shows the number of different paths that can be taken to get to each bin. Eventually they are collected into bins at the bottom, where the height of bead columns accumulated in the bins approximate a bell curve. Beads are dropped from the top and, when the device is level, bounce either left or right as they hit the pegs. The Galton board consists of a vertical board with interleaved rows of pegs.