Energy & Power

The Museum's collections on energy and power illuminate the role of fire, steam, wind, water, electricity, and the atom in the nation's history. The artifacts include wood-burning stoves, water turbines, and windmills, as well as steam, gas, and diesel engines. Oil-exploration and coal-mining equipment form part of these collections, along with a computer that controlled a power plant and even bubble chambers—a tool of physicists to study protons, electrons, and other charged particles.

A special strength of the collections lies in objects related to the history of electrical power, including generators, batteries, cables, transformers, and early photovoltaic cells. A group of Thomas Edison's earliest light bulbs are a precious treasure. Hundreds of other objects represent the innumerable uses of electricity, from streetlights and railway signals to microwave ovens and satellite equipment.

This panel was made in 1960 during tests of solar cells for Project Mariner spacecraft. Batteries were cheap but too heavy and short-lived to use on spacecraft going to other planets in the solar system.
Description (Brief)
This panel was made in 1960 during tests of solar cells for Project Mariner spacecraft. Batteries were cheap but too heavy and short-lived to use on spacecraft going to other planets in the solar system. Early solar cells were very expensive but lightweight and could produce power for years. After half a century this panel still produces direct current electricity; about .5 milliamps at 2.5 volts. There are no clouds in space to block the sun but sunlight is not very powerful. The further away from the sun a spacecraft is, the less sunlight is available for use. Only in the 2010s did engineers increase solar cell efficiency enough to allow solar powered missions to reach the orbit of Jupiter.
date made
ca 1961
ID Number
2016.0070.24
accession number
2016.0070
catalog number
2016.0070.24
A lamp with Baltimore Gas & Electric anniversary wrapper. Mailed to customers as part of a load-building program.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
A lamp with Baltimore Gas & Electric anniversary wrapper. Mailed to customers as part of a load-building program.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1966
1966
maker
Westinghouse Electric Corp.
ID Number
1997.0387.19
accession number
1997.0387
catalog number
1997.0387.19
Laboratory discharge lamp designed to emit the spectrum of the element rubidium.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Laboratory discharge lamp designed to emit the spectrum of the element rubidium.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1960
maker
Osram
ID Number
2001.0033.05
accession number
2001.0033
catalog number
2001.0033.05
Experimental lamp made to test the effects of mercury-iodide fill gas in an arc lamp.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Experimental lamp made to test the effects of mercury-iodide fill gas in an arc lamp.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1962
maker
Fridrich, Elmer G.
ID Number
1996.0147.08
accession number
1996.0147
catalog number
1996.0147.08
Prototype fluorescent lamp with internal structure. The glass rod inside the lamp allows for higher current levels.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Prototype fluorescent lamp with internal structure. The glass rod inside the lamp allows for higher current levels.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1965
maker
Westinghouse Electric Corporation
ID Number
2001.0084.12
accession number
2001.0084
catalog number
2001.0084.12
Experimental arc-lamp with welded foil leads and test leads attached.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Experimental arc-lamp with welded foil leads and test leads attached.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1965
maker
Fridrich, Elmer G.
ID Number
1996.0147.73
accession number
1996.0147
catalog number
1996.0147.73
"Sterilamp" ultraviolet lamp with mercury. A lamp used for generating ozone as an air freshener.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
"Sterilamp" ultraviolet lamp with mercury. A lamp used for generating ozone as an air freshener.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1960
maker
Westinghouse Electric Corporation
ID Number
2001.0084.11
accession number
2001.0084
catalog number
2001.0084.11
Krypton-filled "Super Bulb". Adding krypton gas to an incandescent lamp slightly boosts energy efficiency.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Krypton-filled "Super Bulb". Adding krypton gas to an incandescent lamp slightly boosts energy efficiency.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1968
1968-10
maker
Westinghouse Electric Corp.
ID Number
1997.0389.51
accession number
1997.0389
catalog number
1997.0389.51
Group of five arc lamp pre-pinches in various states of assembly and one lead fragment.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Group of five arc lamp pre-pinches in various states of assembly and one lead fragment.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1965
maker
Fridrich, Elmer G.
ID Number
1996.3042.94
nonaccession number
1996.3042
catalog number
1996.3042.94
Box of electrode assemblies and molybdenum foils for experimental mini-arc lamps. Electrodes of assorted sizes.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Box of electrode assemblies and molybdenum foils for experimental mini-arc lamps. Electrodes of assorted sizes.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968-06-24
maker
Fridrich, Elmer G.
ID Number
1996.3042.22
nonaccession number
1996.3042
catalog number
1996.3042.22
Experimental tungsten halogen lamp with quartz envelope, rolled seals, and a coiled-coil tungsten filament.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Experimental tungsten halogen lamp with quartz envelope, rolled seals, and a coiled-coil tungsten filament.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1964
maker
General Electric Company
ID Number
1996.0147.41
catalog number
1996.0147.41
accession number
1996.0147
Experimental arc lamp. Ribbon foils are welded to electrodes with large surface area. Metal end caps on both seals.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Experimental arc lamp. Ribbon foils are welded to electrodes with large surface area. Metal end caps on both seals.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1966
maker
Fridrich, Elmer G.
ID Number
1996.0147.72
accession number
1996.0147
catalog number
1996.0147.72
Original mini-arc lamp with argon and iodine. The quartz envelope uses uranium glass for graded seals.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Original mini-arc lamp with argon and iodine. The quartz envelope uses uranium glass for graded seals.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1960
maker
Fridrich, Elmer G.
ID Number
1996.0147.28
accession number
1996.0147
catalog number
1996.0147.28
A sales demonstration fluorescent lamp with wrapper. Clear end reveals electrode structure.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
A sales demonstration fluorescent lamp with wrapper. Clear end reveals electrode structure.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1966
maker
Westinghouse Electric Corp.
ID Number
1997.0387.18
accession number
1997.0387
catalog number
1997.0387.18
Experimental tungsten halogen lamp with filament legs coiled around ends of the leads.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Experimental tungsten halogen lamp with filament legs coiled around ends of the leads.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1963
maker
Fridrich, Elmer G.
ID Number
1996.0147.37
accession number
1996.0147
catalog number
1996.0147.37
Experimental mini-arc lamp designed to test short arc-gap.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Experimental mini-arc lamp designed to test short arc-gap.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1968
maker
Fridrich, Elmer G.
ID Number
1996.0147.27
accession number
1996.0147
catalog number
1996.0147.27
Tungsten filament lamp with decorative GT-style envelope.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Tungsten filament lamp with decorative GT-style envelope.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1963
maker
GTE Sylvania, Inc.
ID Number
2000.0224.13
catalog number
2000.0224.13
accession number
2000.0224
Experimental mini-arc lamp with a round quartz arc-tube mounted inside an outer envelope.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Experimental mini-arc lamp with a round quartz arc-tube mounted inside an outer envelope.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1967
maker
Fridrich, Elmer G.
ID Number
1996.0147.79
accession number
1996.0147
catalog number
1996.0147.79
Experimental 5,000 watt mini-arc lamp with indium-iodide fill gas and mercury "thinner."Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Experimental 5,000 watt mini-arc lamp with indium-iodide fill gas and mercury "thinner."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1967
maker
Fridrich, Elmer G.
ID Number
1996.0147.14
accession number
1996.0147
catalog number
1996.0147.14
This is an experimental ruby laser made in 1963 at Ohio State University.
Description
This is an experimental ruby laser made in 1963 at Ohio State University. Edward Damon, a researcher at the University’s Antenna Laboratory, made this and several other lasers during his investigation of Theodore Maiman’s ruby laser experiments of three years earlier.
In addition to replicating Maiman's 1960 experiments, Damon wished to explore variations of the ruby laser. Unlike Maiman's laser, this laser does not use a spiral flashlamp to energize the ruby crystal. Instead, Damon placed three linear flashlamps parallel to the rod-shaped laser crystal. Firing these lamps simultaneously provided energy to the crystal. The laser also demonstrates a water cooling technique still used in some lasers today.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1963
ID Number
2009.0228.02
accession number
2009.0228
catalog number
2009.0228.02
Incomplete experimental arc lamp. Excess glass has not been trimmed from the seal ends and the leads are loose.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Incomplete experimental arc lamp. Excess glass has not been trimmed from the seal ends and the leads are loose.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1967
maker
Fridrich, Elmer G.
ID Number
1996.0147.69
accession number
1996.0147
catalog number
1996.0147.69
Pre-pinches used to make mini-arc lamps showing foil seals for tipless lamp construction.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Pre-pinches used to make mini-arc lamps showing foil seals for tipless lamp construction.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1969
maker
Fridrich, Elmer G.
ID Number
1996.0147.21
accession number
1996.0147
catalog number
1996.0147.21
"Longer Life - Less Light” incandescent lamp. The life rating, light output and efficiency of an lamp are all linked.GE "Longer Life / Less Light Lamp".
Description (Brief)
"Longer Life - Less Light” incandescent lamp. The life rating, light output and efficiency of an lamp are all linked.
GE "Longer Life / Less Light Lamp". According to a GE engineer, this was an attempt at truth in advertising to show that the public would not buy a long-life lamp if they knew that lumen output was reduced. The unappealing color and type-face of package may indicate a half-hearted effort to sell this product. The lamp was produced in response to the Brooks Committee Congressional hearings into lamp life (1964-66) - the details on the package mirror the argument GE made to the Committee. Characteristics: medium-screw base with glass insulator. CC-6 tungsten filament with center support, crimp connectors, dumet leads. Tipless A-shape envelope with internal frost [IF] coating.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1978
ca 1968
maker
General Electric Company
ID Number
2003.0030.08
accession number
2003.0030
catalog number
2003.0030.08
Type PAR40 automotive metal halide headlamp. Intended to replace tungsten lamps in automotive use.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Type PAR40 automotive metal halide headlamp. Intended to replace tungsten lamps in automotive use.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1969
maker
GTE Sylvania, Inc.
ID Number
2000.0224.07
catalog number
2000.0224.07
accession number
2000.0224

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