Measuring & Mapping - Overview
Where, how far, and how much? People have invented an astonishing array of devices to answer seemingly simple questions like these. Measuring and mapping objects in the Museum's collections include the instruments of the famous—Thomas Jefferson's thermometer and a pocket compass used by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their expedition across the American West. A timing device was part of the pioneering motion studies of Eadweard Muybridge in the late 1800s. Time measurement is represented in clocks from simple sundials to precise chronometers for mapping, surveying, and finding longitude. Everyday objects tell part of the story, too, from tape measures and electrical meters to more than 300 scales to measure food and drink. Maps of many kinds fill out the collections, from railroad surveys to star charts.
"Measuring & Mapping - Overview" showing 46 items.
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Standard Quartz Clock
- Description
- This unit is all that remains of a quartz clock dating from about 1955. The original clock consisted of additional components—a quartz oscillator, power supply and a frequency divider—mounted with this dial unit on an electronics rack. It was developed at the Naval Research Laboratory and installed at the U.S. Naval Observatory to monitor the accuracy of time signals sent to naval radio stations at Annapolis, San Francisco, Hawaii and Balboa in the Panama Canal Zone. The time signal started at the Naval Observatory, traveled by telegraph line to Annapolis and moved by radio relay to the remote stations. Similar transmitting quartz clocks were later installed at each of the stations, and the observatory’s role shifted from transmitting signals to monitoring the signal accuracy from the stations and providing published corrections based on comparisons with observatory standards.
- This surviving component is an electromechanical clock with a twenty-four-hour dial, a synchronous motor, an elaborate system of oilers and a strobe system for checking radio signal accuracy. The grey-painted face plate has an identification tag reading: “TD-31/FSM-5/Clock/Serial 1/A UNIT OF TIME STANDARD AN/FSM-5 /MANUFSCTURED FOR NAVY BUREAU OF SHIPS/BY/U.S. NAVAL OBSERVATORY/WASHINGTON DC.” At lower left is a switch and a tape label marked: “PANAMA ONLY.” Nearby in pencil: “Amber.” On the lower right is a brass crank for resetting the clock and a five-digit counter. Above the crank is an eyepiece. The eyepiece gives a low-power microscopic view into the clock movement where a glass dial, engraved with a thousand divisions revolves once a second. It is possible to read the thousandth of a second from the flash provided by an adjacent strobe lamp. The lamp flashes are controlled by another clock or by radio signals.
- Beginning in 1934, the U.S. Naval Observatory started to acquire quartz clocks to serve as time standards and to transmit time signals to navy radio stations. In this kind of clock, first built at Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1927, a small crystal of quartz takes the place of a pendulum or balance wheel. The crystal vibrates between 50,000 to 100,000 times per second, with a rate that depends upon how the crystal is cut. Through an electric current, that frequency drives a clock with a synchronous motor. The clock’s gearing divides down the crystal vibrations to a rate that turns the hands. Similar to other observatories, quartz clocks replaced the best pendulum clocks as time standards from 1946 to 1966, when atomic clocks were accepted.
- References:
- 1. Gebhard, Louis A. Evolution of Naval Radio-Electronics and Contributions of the Naval Research Laboratory, NRL Report 8300 (Washington, DC: GPO, 1979).
- 2. Dick, Steven. Sky and Ocean Joined: The U.S. Naval Observatory 1830-2000. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
- ID Number
- 1989.0581.01
- catalog number
- 1989.0581.01
- accession number
- 1989.0581
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Nier Mass Spectrograph
- Description
- In 1939, as political tensions in Europe increased, American physicists learned of an astonishing discovery: the nucleus of the uranium atom can be split, causing the release of an immense amount of energy. Given the prospects of oncoming war, the discovery was just as worrying as it was intellectually exciting. Could the Germans use it to develop an atomic bomb?
- The Americans realized that they had to determine whether a bomb was physically possible. Theoreticians predicted that it was the nuclei of the rare U-235 isotope that undergo fission, the more common U-238 being inactive.
- Alfred Nier, a young physicist at the University of Minnesota, was one of the few people in the world with the expertise to separate the isotopes. He built this mass spectrograph in February 1940 for that specific purpose. It has two small metal plates, each for collecting a tiny sample of one of the isotopes. They were tested: the fission prediction was correct. Nier remarked, "These experiments emphasize the importance of uranium isotope separation on a larger scale for the investigation of chain reaction possibilities in uranium." Soon, the Manhattan Project was in full swing, expending enormous resources to do just that.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- associated person
- Nier, Alfred O.
- ID Number
- 1990.0446.01
- catalog number
- N-09567
- accession number
- 1990.0446
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Manpack Global Positioning System (GPS) Receiver
- Description
- The Global Positioning System (GPS) consists of NAVSTAR satellites in earth orbit that send signals to receivers on land, sea, or in the air. The system became operational in 1978. Its military usefulness was demonstrated during Operation Desert Storm (1991), when coalition troops with receivers were able to navigate quickly and with great precision in the relatively featureless desert, thus having a significant tactical advantage over Iraqi forces. Collins Defense Communications, a subsidiary of Rockwell International, developed this GPS receiver (AN/PSN-8) for the U.S. military and delivered 1,400 units to the Department of Defense between 1988 and 1993. Although termed the "Manpack," it weighed 17 pounds and thus was often strapped to a truck or a helicopter. Each unit cost $45,000.
- Date made
- 1988-1993
- user
- U.S. Department of Defense
- maker
- Collins Avionics & Communications Division of Rockwell International
- ID Number
- 1997.0006.01
- catalog number
- 1997.0006.01
- accession number
- 1997.0006
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Rockwell-Collins Defense Advance GPS Receiver (DAGR)
- Description
- The Defense Advanced GPS Receiver (DAGR) is a small, hand-held GPS receiver made by Rockwell-Collins, Inc. The DAGR uses state of the art GPS technology, including "All in View" satellite tracking and the Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM). The SAASM allows decryption of precision GPS coordinates. The size and weight (5 oz) provide for pocket storage and easy portability.
- Initial contracting for the production of the DAGR began in 2002. Actual use in the field began in 2004. It is used by the US Armed Services, the Missile Defense Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and 32 Allied countries.
- ID Number
- 2012.0002.01
- accession number
- 2012.0002
- catalog number
- 2012.0002.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Chaumont HQ Battle Map
- Description
- Gen. John J. Pershing commanded the American Expeditionary Force in World War I. When he arrived in France, he established his headquarters at Chaumont, where his war room included this large situation map. During the course of operations, the map was regularly replaced by another map peeled from a block of identical maps. Identical updated maps were distributed to all subordinate commands, allowing a degree of coordination never before achieved. This map sheet shows troop dispositions on the Western Front the day the war ended, November 11, 1918.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- associated date
- 1918
- user
- Pershing, John J.
- American Expeditionary Force
- ID Number
- AF*35016
- catalog number
- 35016
- accession number
- 182935
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Quartz Clock
- Description
- This clock was built at the U. S. Naval Observatory about 1936 as part of an experimental program to control time signals transmitted by radio. It is a quartz clock, that is, it depends on a specially cut piece of quartz crystal to keep time. The search for a better timekeeper than the best pendulum clocks led to the development of quartz-crystal clocks, the first of which telecommunications engineers at Bell Telephone Laboratories built in 1927 to monitor and control frequencies.
- date made
- 1936
- ID Number
- ME*319994
- catalog number
- 319994
- accession number
- 240411
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Lewis and Clark Expedition Pocket Compass
- Description
- In the spring of 1803, Meriwether Lewis began to purchase scientific and mathematical instruments for a pending expedition into the northwestern region of North America. Among the items he purchased from Philadelphia instrument maker Thomas Whitney were three pocket compasses for $2.50 each, and this silver-plated pocket compass for $5. It has a mahogany box, a silver-plated brass rim that is graduated to degrees and numbered in quadrants from north and south, a paper dial, two small brass sight vanes, and a leather carrying case. Whether Lewis purchased the silver compass for himself or intended it as a special gesture for William Clark is not known.
- Following the instructions of President Thomas Jefferson, the Corps of Discovery, under the leadership of Lewis and Clark, ascended the Missouri River in May 1804 to obtain detailed information on the natural resources of the region, to search for a northwest passage, and to make official diplomatic contact with Indian leaders.
- By the time they returned to St. Louis in September 1806, few of the instruments that were purchased for the trip had survived the journey. The pocket compass, however, was kept by Clark as a memento. He later gave the compass to his friend, Capt. Robert A. McCabe, whose heirs donated it in 1933 to the Smithsonian Institution.
- Date made
- ca 1804
- user
- Clark, William
- maker
- Whitney, Thomas
- ID Number
- PL*038366
- catalog number
- 38366
- accession number
- 122864
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Chromolithograph of bird species "Phalacrocorax Brasilianus"
- Description
- Thomas Sinclair (c.1805–1881) of Philadelphia printed this lithograph of “Phalacrocorax brasilianus [GM]” or Neotropic cormorant, from an original sketch by William Dreser (c.1820–after 1860) of Philadelphia (1847–1860) and New York (1860). The illustration was printed in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XXVIII in the “Birds” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere, written by John Cassin (1813–1869).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1855
- graphic artist
- Sinclair, Thomas
- original artist
- Dreser, William
- publisher
- United States Navy
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- author
- Cassin, John
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.02
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraving of snake species "Elaps nigrocinctus"
- Description
- William Dougal (1822–1895) of Washington, D.C. engraved this print of “Elaps nigrocinctus [Grd]”, now "Micrurus nigrocinctus nigrocinctus" or Central American coral snake, from an original sketch John H. Richard (c.1807–1881) of Philadelphia. The illustration was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XXXV in the “Reptiles, fishes, crustacea” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere, written by Charles Girard (1822–1895).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1855
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- book printer, publisher
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- author
- Girard, Charles
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.08
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.08
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraving of fish and frog species "Trichomycterus Maculatus, Cheiroden Pisciculus, Cystignathus Taeniatus, and Phyllobates Auratus"
- Description
- William Dougal (1822–1895) of Washington, D.C. engraved this print of “Trichomycterus maculatus [Cuv. -Val.], Cheiroden pisciculus [Grd], Cystignathus taeniatus [Grd], and Phyllobates auratus [Grd]” now "Trichomycterus maculatus," "Cheiroden pisciculus," "Batrachyla taeniata," (Banded tree frog), and "Dendrobates auratus" (Poison dart frog, Green poison frog, Green and black poison dart frog) from an original sketch by John H. Richard (c.1807–1881) of Philadelphia. The illustration was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XXXIV in the “Reptiles, fishes, crustacea” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere, written by Charles Girard (1822–1895). The print is also signed by Girard.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1855
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- author
- Girard, Charles
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.16
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.16
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center