Measuring & Mapping

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.

Like the original Rude star finder, this one consists of cardboard planispheres of the northern and southern skies, each of which has a plastic meridian arm for determining the declination of the stars.
Description
Like the original Rude star finder, this one consists of cardboard planispheres of the northern and southern skies, each of which has a plastic meridian arm for determining the declination of the stars. Here, however, the rims of the planispheres are graduated to 3 minutes of time, and there are seven clear plastic altitude-azimuth templates for use at different latitudes up to 70° north and south. In addition, the planispheres rotate against a circle graduated to 365 parts, thus facilitating the comparison of civial and sidereal time. This feature was designed by Navy Captain Henry M. Jensen; John Edward Gingrich, a graduate of the Naval Academy who compiled Aerial and Marine Navigation Tables (New York, 1931) and who would later become a Rear Admiral; and Guillermo Medina, an engineer with the United States Hydrographic Office. The Hydrographic Office transferred this example to the Smithsonian in 1957.
The instrument bears the inscription "H.O. 2102 A / RUDE STAR FINDER AND IDENTIFIER / WITH HYDROGRAPHIC MODIFICATIONS / AND SIDEREAL TIME CONVERTER / Letters Patent / No. 1401446 December 27, 1921 / No. 1919222 July 25, 1933 / Washington, D.C.: Published December 1932, at the Hydrographic Office, under the authority of the SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, SECOND EDITION, JANUARY 1934 / Price $7.50."
Ref: Gilbert T. Rude, "Star Finder and Identifier," U.S. patent #1,401,446.
Henry M. Jensen, J. E. Gingrich, and G. Medina, "Navigational Instrument," U.S. patent #1,919,222.
“Captain Rude, Naval Inventor,” Washington Post (Dec. 5, 1962), p. B13.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1934
ID Number
PH.315071.1
catalog number
315071.1
accession number
214422
In the 1920s, as American companies began using scientific tools for petroleum prospecting, the Marland Oil Co. established a geophysical research laboratory; hired a PhD physicist named Englehardt August Eckhardt and an electrical engineer named Ralph D.
Description
In the 1920s, as American companies began using scientific tools for petroleum prospecting, the Marland Oil Co. established a geophysical research laboratory; hired a PhD physicist named Englehardt August Eckhardt and an electrical engineer named Ralph D. Wyckoff; and purchased two sets of Mendenhall pendulum apparatus. Since this apparatus "afforded a precision of measurement which was just barely sufficient" for prospecting purposes, Eckhardt and Wyckoff developed a more precise instrument. The key element of their design was a minimum period pendulum made of fused quartz, a material that was physically stable and that minimized temperature corrections. General Electric supplied the quartz, the largest pieces of this material it had yet made.
The Gulf Research & Development Corp. hired Eckhardt and Wyckoff in 1928, and asked them to design new pendulum equipment based on their past experience. By 1935, Gulf had 10 pendulum instruments in the field. The pendulums were ground and polished by J. W. Fecker from pieces of fused quartz produced by General Electric. The bearings for the knife-edges were made of Pyrex. The optical work for the instrument was done by Bausch & Lomb.
For geological purposes, the Gulf pendulum instruments were replaced by gravimeters in 1936. For geodetic purposes, however, they remained useful and important for much longer. Indeed, some examples were used during the International Geophysical Year, 1957-1958. The Gulf Research & Development Corp. donated this example to the Smithsonian in 1962.
Ref: Malcolm W. Gay, "Relative Gravity Measurements Using Precision Pendulum Equipment," Geophysics 5 (1940): 176-191.
"Pendulum and Gravimeter Measurements of the Earth's Gravity," Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 39 (1958): 1205-1211.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s
maker
Gulf Research & Development Corp.
ID Number
PH.319961
catalog number
319961
accession number
241314
Arthur J. Weed was a skilled mechanic who, as chief instrument maker of the U.S. Weather Bureau, built and maintained the seismograph that Charles Marvin had designed in 1895.
Description
Arthur J. Weed was a skilled mechanic who, as chief instrument maker of the U.S. Weather Bureau, built and maintained the seismograph that Charles Marvin had designed in 1895. Moving in 1920 to the Rouss Physical Laboratory at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Weed gained access to resources that allowed him to go further in this field. With the aid of engineering students, Weed built a inverted pendulum seismograph with a 750-pound weight. Photographs of Weed with this massive instrument ran as an A.P. story in several newspapers. One headline read: “Trapping earthquakes has become a popular business at the University of Virginia, where one of the most unique and sensitive seismographs in the country keeps a twenty-four hour watch for tremors.”
Weed also designed a smaller inverted pendulum seismograph that could “be used in many places where a more elaborate installation is out of the question.” One account described a cylindrical steady mass of about six pounds resting on three wires placed in the form of an equilateral triangle to which an oil damping device is attached.” This is an instrument of that sort. It came to the Smithsonian in 1963.
When Weed died in 1936, the chief seismologist of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey noted that “the science of seismology has lost one who has given much thought to instrumental problems, an active worker and a true friend.” The American Geophysical Union noted the loss of “a member who has long been active in the field of instrumental seismology.”
Ref: “Seismograph is Homemade,” Washington Post (July 10, 1927), p. 12, and Salt Lake Tribune (July 10, 1927), p. 10.
“Something New In Seismographs,” The Telegraph (May 4, 1932).
N. H. Heck, “Arthur J. Weed,” Science 83 (1936): 404.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
ID Number
PH.323393
catalog number
323393
accession number
251562
Gurley termed this an Explorer's Level, and described it as "a small, light model designed to meet the requirements of engineers for a compact and serviceable level for running preliminary lines in exploration work where it is not convenient to operate a large instrument." The de
Description
Gurley termed this an Explorer's Level, and described it as "a small, light model designed to meet the requirements of engineers for a compact and serviceable level for running preliminary lines in exploration work where it is not convenient to operate a large instrument." The design was introduced in 1914, and remained in production until 1934. This example is marked "W. & L. E. GURLEY TROY, N.Y." and "151265." The serial number indicates that it was made in 1915. It belonged to the U. S. Department of Agriculture. New, it cost $110.
Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, Manual of the Principal Instruments used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N.Y., 1920), p. 70.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1914-1934
maker
W. & L. E. Gurley
ID Number
PH.333625
catalog number
333625
accession number
303692
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.
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.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1936
ID Number
ME.319994
catalog number
319994
accession number
240411
Gravimeters (gravity meters) are extremely precise instruments that measure the earth’s gravity at a specific location.
Description
Gravimeters (gravity meters) are extremely precise instruments that measure the earth’s gravity at a specific location. Gravimeters are often used by prospectors to locate subterranean deposits of valuable natural resources (mainly petroleum) as well as by geodesists to study the shape of the earth and its gravitational field. Differences in topography, latitude, or elevation—as well as differences in subterranean density—all affect the force of gravity. Commonly, gravimeters are composed of a weight hanging on a zero-length spring inside a metal housing to negate the influence of temperature and wind. Gravity is then measured by how much the weight stretches the spring.
Because gravitational anomalies are often associated with petroleum deposits, geologists measure the force of gravity in areas where they suspect oil might be found. The gravimeters that came into use for this purpose in the 1930s were more rugged and easier to manage than the gravity pendulums and torsion balances that had used since the early years of the 20th century. This gravimeter, which reads to one part in ten million, was the first gravimeter that was sufficiently accurate and dependable for oil exploration. It was designed by Orley Hosmer Truman, built by the Humble Oil and Refining Co., and put into use in 1931. Humble donated it to the Smithsonian in 1960.
Ref: Notes prepared by D. H. Gardner, August 19, 1959, in NMAH accession file.
O. H. Truman, "Notes on the Truman Gravity Meter No. 1" (Feb. 26, 1962), and letter to P. W. Bishop, Jan. 10, 1963, in NMAH curatorial file.
L. L. Nettleton, Geophysical Prospecting for Oil (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1940),p. 32.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1931
maker
Humble Oil and Refining Co.
ID Number
AG.MHI-P-7682
catalog number
MHI-P-7682
accession number
230370
Julien P. Friez designed this instrument “to record automatically and continuously the variations in the height of water in tanks, streams, flumes, reservoirs, etc.” It consists of a float and a drum recorder and is based on the patent issued to Julien P. Friez in 1901.
Description
Julien P. Friez designed this instrument “to record automatically and continuously the variations in the height of water in tanks, streams, flumes, reservoirs, etc.” It consists of a float and a drum recorder and is based on the patent issued to Julien P. Friez in 1901. A metal tag on the base reads “JULIEN P. FRIEZ & SONS / BELFORT METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY / 1230 E. BALTIMORE STREET, / BALTIMORE, MD. U.S.A.” The Weather Bureau transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1954.
Julien P. Friez was born north-eastern France in 1850, learned the instrument trade, came to the United States around 1868, and established a shop in Baltimore in 1890. He initially offered an assortment of mechanical and electrical instruments but, with close ties to Charles F. Marvin of the U.S. Weather Bureau, he began specializing in meteorological instruments. At the turn of the century, Friez bought land at the corner of East Baltimore St. and Central Ave. and built a factory. In honor of Belfort, a town near his native village, Friez named the new facility the Belfort Meteorological Observatory. The firm became Julien P. Friez & Son in 1913 and Julien P. Friez & Sons in 1914. Julien P. Friez & Sons, Inc., became a Division of the Bendix Corporation in 1930.
Ref: Julien P. Friez, “Recording Water-Gage,” U.S. Patent 681,536 (1901).
Friez’s Improved Automatic Water Stage Register (Baltimore, 1902). This is Circular W issued by the Belfort Meteorological Observatory.
Julien P. Friez & Sons, Friez’s Improved Automatic Water Stage Registers (Patented) (Baltimore, 1916).
Edward Wegmann, Conveyance and Distribution of Water for Water Supply (New York, 1918), pp. 572-573.
M. Eugene Rudd, “Julian P. Friez: An Important American Meteorological Instrument Maker,” Rittenhouse 8 (1994): 114-123.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1914-1930
maker
Julien P. Friez & Sons, Inc.
ID Number
PH.314526
accession number
204612
catalog number
314526
An advertising novelty for American Saw & Mfg. Co., maker of Lenox saws. The ruler is a twelve-inch folding ruler made of ivory-grained celluloid.
Description (Brief)
An advertising novelty for American Saw & Mfg. Co., maker of Lenox saws. The ruler is a twelve-inch folding ruler made of ivory-grained celluloid. It's marked in inches and centimeters.
Description
Folding 12-inch celluloid ruler marked in inches and centimeters, with inscriptions that read “AMERICAN SAW & MFG. CO. / SPRINGFIELD, MASS., U.S.A.” and “LENOX / HACK / SAWS.” Inscriptions on the back identify Lenox as “The Blade in the Plaid Box.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1915-1930
maker
Whitehead and Hoag Company
ID Number
2006.0098.1700
catalog number
2006.0098.1700
accession number
2006.0098
Surveyors who carry instruments long distances, often over difficult terrain, are always concerned about weight. W. & L. E. Gurley made their first lightweight instrument—an aluminum transit—in 1876.
Description
Surveyors who carry instruments long distances, often over difficult terrain, are always concerned about weight. W. & L. E. Gurley made their first lightweight instrument—an aluminum transit—in 1876. But the prohibitive cost of aluminum kept them from manufacturing instruments of this material. Following World War I, Gurley introduced a line of instruments made of an aluminum alloy named Lynite. This transit is of that sort. Gurley termed it a Lightweight Engineers' Transit and sold it, with tripod, for $275. The inscription reads "W. & L. E. GURLEY TROY N.Y., U.S.A. 3028." The serial number indicates that it was the 28th instrument that Gurley made in 1930. The horizontal and vertical circles are silvered, graduated every 30 minutes of arc, and read by opposite verniers to single minutes.
One standard is marked "PATENT 1731848." The reference is to the patent granted to W. L. Egy on October 15, 1929, and assigned to Gurley. This patent described a graduated circle or arc for surveying instruments made of an aluminum alloy.
Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, Light Weight Transits (Troy, N.Y., 1929).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930
maker
W. & L. E. Gurley
ID Number
1986.0091.01
accession number
1986.0091
catalog number
1986.0091.01
Along with gravimeters and torsion balances, pendulums can be used to measure gravitational force. The period oscillation of the pendulum can be used to measure gravitational acceleration, and in turn used in prospecting for natural resources.
Description
Along with gravimeters and torsion balances, pendulums can be used to measure gravitational force. The period oscillation of the pendulum can be used to measure gravitational acceleration, and in turn used in prospecting for natural resources. Different types of underground resources have different densities, increasing or decreasing gravitational attraction that can be detected by pendulums.
This is one of two similar instruments that the Humble Oil & Refining Co. purchased in 1931, and used to determine the force of gravity near Houston, Texas. It is a photographic recording instrument with four invariable pendulums of the sort that the Austrian military officer, Robert von Sterneck, designed in the 1880s. Carl Bamberg offered instruments of this sort, with "price by arrangement" for some 20 years, and Askania Werke continued the tradition.
Ref: Notes prepared by D.H. Gardner, August 19, 1959, in NMAH accession file.
Carl Bamberg, Preis-Verzeichnis. No. XI. Wissenschaftliche Instrumente (1904), pp. 50-52.
M. Haid, "Neues Pendelstativ," Zeitschrift für Instrumentenkunde 16 (1896): 193-196.
date made
ca 1931
maker
Askania
ID Number
AG.MHI-P-7681
catalog number
MHI-P-7681
accession number
230370
Gravimeters (gravity meters) are extremely precise instruments that measure the earth’s gravity at a specific location.
Description
Gravimeters (gravity meters) are extremely precise instruments that measure the earth’s gravity at a specific location. Gravimeters are often used by prospectors to locate subterranean deposits of valuable natural resources (mainly petroleum) as well as by geodesists to study the shape of the earth and its gravitational field. Differences in topography, latitude, or elevation—as well as differences in subterranean density—all affect the force of gravity. Commonly, gravimeters are composed of a weight hanging on a zero-length spring inside a metal housing to negate the influence of temperature and wind. Gravity is then measured by how much the weight stretches the spring.
This gravimeter was built in 1938 under the direction of Andrew Bonnell Bryan (1897 1989), a Ph.D. physicist who served as Director of the Geophysics Division of the Carter Oil Co., in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bryan described an earlier model at the 1937 meeting of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, noting that it "was originally designed in the laboratories of the Humble Oil & Refining Company and is now being built and used by both Humble and Carter in slightly different forms." The gravimeter weighed 112 pounds, and could be "readily handled by two men." The Carter Oil Co. donated this instrument to the Smithsonian in 1959.
Ref: F. G. Boucher to P. W. Bishop, August 6, 1959, in NMAH accession file.
A. B. Bryan, "Gravimeter Design and Operation," Geophysics 2 (1937): 301-308.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1938
maker
Carter Oil Company
ID Number
AG.MHI-P-7658
catalog number
MHI-P-7658
accession number
230569
This clock dates from the 1930s, when the popularity of electric clocks began to surpass mechanical ones. In the late 1870s, mass produced spring-driven alarm clocks had first become available for as little as $1.50.
Description
This clock dates from the 1930s, when the popularity of electric clocks began to surpass mechanical ones. In the late 1870s, mass produced spring-driven alarm clocks had first become available for as little as $1.50. The alarm clock became a fixture in bedrooms across the country. In the 1920s, inexpensive electric versions, plugged into house current, appeared. By 1933, roughly sixty percent of all clocks made and sold annually—with and without alarms—were electric.
The internal workings of this clock were made in Ashland, Mass., by the Warren Telechron Co. for General Electric Company. The dial is marked “General Electric” and “Telechron.” The small circular opening under the 12 on the dial is a power indicator. If the power to the clock failed, a red dot appeared in the opening. Resetting would cause the red dot to disappear. Reflecting the art deco influences of that decade, the clock features an alloy case with a black plastic base. Evolved from a firm making window mechanisms for automobiles, the Dura Company of Toledo, Ohio, manufactured the case, an art deco style based on design patent D85,094 granted to George Louis Graff of the same city in 1931.
The modern electric alarm clock has its origins at the Warren Clock Company, Ashland, Mass., in 1912 when Henry Warren made battery-driven electric clocks and experimented with a small clock that operated with power from the electric mains. In 1918 Warren received a patent for a self-starting synchronous motor small enough to power a clock. His clock required a steady flow of 60 cycles per second of alternating current. He discovered that his clocks failed to keep time because the frequency of current from the local power company, Boston Electric, fluctuated. Warren’s next invention, a master clock for power stations, remedied the situation.
In 1917 General Electric purchased a 49% interest in the Warren Clock Company (renamed Warren Telechron Co. in 1926) and used Telechron motors in its clocks. At first clocks appeared only under the Telechron name, but after about 1930, a line of products made in Ashland bearing the General Electric name began to appear. In 1943, when Henry Warren retired, General Electric acquired a controlling interest in the firm and continued making electric clocks until 1979.
See also: Linz, Jim. Electrifying Time: Telechron and G.E. Clocks, 1925-1955. Atglen, Pa.: Schiffer Publishing, 2001.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1927-1935
manufacturer
General Electric Company
maker
Warren Telechron Co.,
ID Number
ME.334995
catalog number
334995
accession number
318950
Ernst Alfred Bostrom (1855-1923) was a Swedish immigrant who worked as a machinist for the telephone company in Atlanta, Georgia. After enrolling with the International Correspondence School, he advanced to foreman and then to superintendent.
Description
Ernst Alfred Bostrom (1855-1923) was a Swedish immigrant who worked as a machinist for the telephone company in Atlanta, Georgia. After enrolling with the International Correspondence School, he advanced to foreman and then to superintendent. He formed the Bostrom-Brady Manufacturing Co. in 1901 and began manufacturing a simple and inexpensive farm level of his own design. The Bostrom Convertible Level followed some years later, and could be used as either a transit or a level. Alfred Droke used this example while working with the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s. The inscription reads "MFD. BY BOSTROM-BRADY MFG. CO. ATLANTA, GA." That on the box reads "BOSTROM SURVEYING INSTRUMENTS MODEL NO. 5 SERIAL NO. 47 BOSTROM-BRADY MFG. CO. ATLANTA, GA. U.S.A."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1935
maker
Bostrom-Brady Mfg. Co.
ID Number
2006.0141.01
accession number
2006.0141
catalog number
2006.0141.01
Object EM*N-08430 consists of radon gas and a beryllium rod, enclosed in a glass tube, all enclosed in an exterior brass cylinder.
Description
Object EM*N-08430 consists of radon gas and a beryllium rod, enclosed in a glass tube, all enclosed in an exterior brass cylinder. This apparatus was used in 1934-35 by Enrico Fermi and coworkers in producing slow neutrons in investigations on induced radioactivity.
The brass rod pulls apart; inside is a glass tube sealed at both ends. Inside one end of the glass tube is a small sealed glass pod, prevented from sliding by wads of cotton. Inside the pod is a mass of black granules; the tube glass is discolored purple in this pod region. The outer brass rod/tube has internal pads at each end.
History
In their attempts to excite and transform atomic nuclei, physicists were limited throughout the 1920’s to bombarding atoms with particles, chiefly alpha particles, spontaneously emitted by sources consisting of naturally radioactive substances, for example radium. (Alpha particles consist of two protons and two neutrons bound together into a particle identical to a helium nucleus.) Disadvantages of using alpha particles included the limited supply and great expense of radium and similar substances, as well as the limited energy and uncontrollability of these spontaneous radiations. The situation was overcome by the use of neutrons, first discovered by James Chadwick in 1932. (See Chadwick ionization chamber replica; object ID no. - - - -) Chadwick recognized evidence of the particle in I. and F. Joliot Curie’s description of phenomena resulting from the bombardment of beryllium by alpha particles. Although the husband and wife team missed the neutron discovery, their continuing investigations of the bombardment of light elements by alpha particles led them in 1934 to recognize that in this process radioactivity was being induced artificially in the target nuclei. (See Joliot-Curie apparatus replica; object ID no. EM*N-09624.2)
Based on the above discoveries, Enrico Fermi at the University of Rome immediately inferred that if alpha particles could induce artificial radioactivity, neutrons should do so - - and far more readily. He quickly gathered his group of young coworkers to help him exploit the field thus opened.
Basic principles of Fermi’s neutron source
When a radioactive element that emits alpha particles is mixed with a light element such as beryllium, neutrons are emitted because many of the alpha particles are absorbed by the nuclei of the light element. The radon-beryllium mixture in the tube of object no. EM*N-08430 was used as a source of neutrons by Fermi and his associates at the University of Rome in 1934-35 for their investigations of neutron-induced radioactivity, which showed that nuclear reactions could be produced in almost all elements by bombarding them with neutrons.
In Fermi’s neutron source, radon gas (Rn 222) was bled from a solution of radium (Ra 226) and collected on and around the beryllium metal at one end of the tube. The radon decays with a half-life of 3.8 days to lead (Pb 210) by way of two short lived alpha-emitting isotopes. The three alpha particles resulting from the decay of the isotopes interact with the beryllium (Be 9) to produce neutrons.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1934-1935
maker
Fermi
coworkers
ID Number
EM.N-08430
catalog number
N-08430
accession number
247572
An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the cylinder pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine.
Description
An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the cylinder pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine. The indicator portion of this unit is a 1930 Crosby Valve and Gage company external spring model. The advantage of the outside spring was isolation of the spring from the varying temperatures inside the cylinder. The continuous recording attachment was invented by Professor Gaetano Lanza of MIT and patented in 1908.
The advantage of continuous measurements is that accurate assessments can be made of engines which experience widely varying loads during portions of their work. A continuous recording mechanism had been patented by T. Davidson approximately a year prior to the Lanza patent. Lanza’s improvement was the replacement of cords attached to the engine’s piston rod with a rigid metal attachment. This eliminated errors and distortions caused by the cord stretching and variations in the return springs.
The introduction of the steam indicator in the late 1790s and early 1800s by James Watt and others had a great impact on the understanding of how the steam behaved inside the engine's cylinder and thereby enabled much more exacting and sophisticated designs. The devices also changed how the economics and efficiency of steam engines were portrayed and marketed. They helped the prospective owner of a machine better understand how much his fuel costs would be for a given amount of work performed. Measurement of fuel consumed and work delivered by the engine was begun by Watt, who in part justified the selling price of his engines on the amount of fuel cost the purchaser might save compared to an alternate engine.
In the early days of steam power, the method to compare engine performance was based on a concept termed the engine’s “duty”. It originally was calculated as the number of pounds of water raised one foot high per one bushel of coal consumed. The duty method was open to criticism due to its inability to take into consideration finer points of efficiency in real world applications of engines. Accurate determination of fuel used in relation to work performed has been fundamental to the design and improvement of all steam-driven prime movers ever since Watt’s time. And, the steam indicators’ key contribution was the accurate measurements of performance while the engine was actually doing the work it was designed to do. This indicator is the result of nearly 150 years of design and performance improvements. The Lanza attachment enabled accurate and continuous of monitoring of engines that experienced widely varying load conditions.
date made
1930
ID Number
MC.309834
catalog number
309834
accession number
109635
Object EM*N-09624.2 is a replica of the apparatus used by Joliot-Curie in the discovery of artificial radioactivity.
Description
Object EM*N-09624.2 is a replica of the apparatus used by Joliot-Curie in the discovery of artificial radioactivity. The apparatus consists of batteries, a geiger counter tube, and electronics
Component parts have been given index numbers under N-09624.2 as follows:
.2.1.1 Amplifying and counting apparatus
.2.1.2 Vatea vacuum tube
.2.1.3 Mazda metal vacuum tube
.2.1.4 Visseaux vacuum tube (lost)
.2.1.5 Small brass nut for binding post, found loose in crate in which object parts were returned from loan to Oak Ridge, Sept. 2, 1997
.2.1.6 Small brass hexagonal nut , found loose in same crate.
.2.1.7 Very small bras round-head screw, found loose in same crate
.2.2 Geiger counter tube with tripod and base
.2.2.1 Jack plug detached from wire connected to Geiger counter tube
.2.3.1 Tray with 15 batteries
.2.3.2 Short wire with white jack fittings (original location unclear)
.2.4.1 Large battery, Mazda Type R.5910
.2.4.2 Red wire for positive terminal
.2.4.3 Gray wire for negative terminal
See folder in curator's files "Loan to Oak Ridge 1991.9100 for details of the loan of the replica Becquerel and Joliot-Curie apparatus to the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge, TN, and for information on the damage the objects sustained while on loan.
History and basic principles:
James Chadwick in his experiments at the Cavendish Laboratory in 1932 demonstrated the existence of the neutron, the uncharged particle of about the mass of a proton long anticipated by Ernest Rutherford and members of his Cambridge research group. Chadwick recognized evidence of the neutron in I. and F. Joliot-Curie's description of phenomena resulting from the bombardment of beryllium by alpha particles.
Irene Curie, daughter of Marie, and Irene's husband, Frederick Joliot, had pointed out the phenomena in which Chadwick had recognized evidence of the neutron. Although they missed that discovery, continued investigation of the bombardment of light elements by alpha particles led them to in 1934 to recognize that in the process radioactivity was being induced artificially in the target nuclei. Their Nobel prize followed immediately.
Object EM*N-09624.2 is a replica of the apparatus used in their discovery. The aluminum cylinder is a Geiger counter tube to measure counts of radioactive disintegrations. The batteries provide the Geiger counter with high voltage, while the chassis contains the electronic equipment to amplify and add its counts.
Date made
1934
maker
Joliot-Curie, F and I
ID Number
EM.N-09624.2
catalog number
EM*N-09624.2
accession number
277564
An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine. Manufactured by Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Co.
Description
An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine. Manufactured by Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Co. of Boston, Massachusetts, this steam engine indicator is enclosed in a wooden case. It consists of a steel piston; an interchangeable external, helical wound spring; a large single recording drum with a spiral spring; and a brass stylus. The piston causes the stylus to rise and fall with pressure changes in the engine under measurement thereby directly recording the indicator’s output on the paper. Around the drum’s base is wound a cord that is attached to the connecting rod of the piston on the steam engine being measured. This causes the drum to rotate as the engine’s piston moves. An internal coil spring causes the cord to retract and the drum to counter rotate back to its original position as the connecting rod returns. The result is a steam pressure-volume diagram which is used to measure the efficiency and other attributes of the steam engine. This indicator differs from other models in that it has provisions for making more than a single pressure-volume diagram. It can use an alternate recording drum that holds a roll of recording paper which is unwound as measurements proceed. The resulting series of pressure-volume diagrams allow comparison of engine performance over time and as load and other conditions change. The continuous recording mechanism was patented in 1907 and assigned to the Crosby Company.
The introduction of the steam indicator in the late 1790s and early 1800s by James Watt and others had a great impact on the understanding of how the steam behaved inside the engine's cylinder and thereby enabled much more exacting and sophisticated designs. The devices also changed how the economics and efficiency of steam engines were portrayed and marketed. They helped the prospective owner of a machine better understand how much his fuel costs would be for a given amount of work performed. Measurement of fuel consumed and work delivered by the engine was begun by Watt, who in part justified the selling price of his engines on the amount of fuel cost the purchaser might save compared to an alternate engine. In the early days of steam power, the method to compare engine performance was based on a concept termed the engine’s “duty”. It originally was calculated as the number of pounds of water raised one foot high per one bushel of coal consumed. The duty method was open to criticism due to its inability to take into consideration finer points of efficiency in real world applications of engines . Accurate determination of fuel used in relation to work performed has been fundamental to the design and improvement of all steam-driven prime movers ever since Watt’s time. And, the steam indicators’ key contribution was the accurate measurements of performance while the engine was actually doing the work it was designed to do. This Crosby steam indicator represented over one hundred years of evolution and improvement of the devices. Its ability to make continuous recordings was a significant improvement for many applications.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
ID Number
MC.335063
catalog number
335063
accession number
314531
One rule is 24" long and is held together by corroded brass hinges. The blades may be solid ebony. Small metal buttons in the center of each blade assist with positioning the instrument.
Description
One rule is 24" long and is held together by corroded brass hinges. The blades may be solid ebony. Small metal buttons in the center of each blade assist with positioning the instrument. This rule has no identifying markings.
The second rule is 18" long and is held together by nickel plated brass hinges. The blades are made of ebonized boxwood. Two metal knobs at the center of each blade are used to position the instrument. On the left of the knob on the top blade is marked: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO (/) N.Y. Below the knob is marked: 1784. On the right of the knob is marked: TRADEMARK (below the K&E lion logo). The bottom blade is marked: PAT. JUNE 1, 1915.
By 1880 Keuffel & Esser of New York imported ebony parallel rules with brass hinges and positioning buttons, selling the 24" size as model 706 for $2.00. By 1890 the firm was also making its own version of the rules, since the imported wood, which was often grown in Africa, warped and shrank in the climate of the United States. The imported rules were sold as model numbers 1790 (6", 35¢) through 1795 (24", $1.75). K&E stopped selling imported ebony rules in 1909. Rules manufactured at the company's factory in Hoboken, N.J., from hardwoods stained black were sold as model numbers 1780 through 1785. The 18" model 1784 was priced at $1.25 in 1890 and $1.50 in 1913. The company discontinued this product line after 1936, when model 1784 sold for $2.50.
The first rule thus dates to between 1880 and 1909. Charles Christ Pfeiffer (b. 1874) received the patent mentioned on the second rule, for replacing one of the rivets securing one of the hinges with an adjustable screw. He emigrated from Germany as a child and worked as a cabinetmaker and foreman in Hoboken, possibly for K&E since he assigned the patent to the company. In the 1920s Pfeiffer moved to New London, Conn., where he purchased a farm in the 1930s. The second rule dates to between 1915 and 1936.
References: Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 13th ed. (New York, 1880), 115; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 21st ed. (New York, 1890), 133; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 33rd ed. (New York, 1909), 201, 223; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 34th ed. (New York, 1913), 197; Catalogue and Price List of Keuffel & Esser Co., 36th ed. (New York, 1921), 144; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 38th ed. (New York, 1936), 228; Charles C. Pfeiffer, "Parallel Ruler" (U.S. Patent 1,141,483 issued June 1, 1915); 1900–1940 U.S. Census records; World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880-1936
maker
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
MA.333946
catalog number
333946
accession number
296611
An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine. Manufactured by Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Co.
Description
An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine. Manufactured by Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Co. of Boston, Massachusetts, these steam engine indicators are enclosed in a wooden case. Each consists of a steel piston; an interchangeable external, helical wound spring; a large single recording drum with a spiral spring; and a brass stylus. The piston causes the stylus to rise and fall with pressure changes in the engine under measurement thereby directly recording the indicator’s output on the paper. Around the drum’s base is wound a cord that is attached to the connecting rod of the piston on the steam engine being measured. This causes the drum to rotate as the engine’s piston moves. An internal coil spring causes the cord to retract and the drum to counter rotate back to its original position as the connecting rod returns. The result is a steam pressure-volume diagram which is used to measure the efficiency and other attributes of the steam engine. These indicators enabled simultaneous measurement of both ends of a cylinder.
The introduction of the steam indicator in the late 1790s and early 1800s by James Watt and others had a great impact on the understanding of how the steam behaved inside the engine's cylinder and thereby enabled much more exacting and sophisticated designs. The devices also changed how the economics and efficiency of steam engines were portrayed and marketed. They helped the prospective owner of a machine better understand how much his fuel costs would be for a given amount of work performed. Measurement of fuel consumed and work delivered by the engine was begun by Watt, who in part justified the selling price of his engines on the amount of fuel cost the purchaser might save compared to an alternate engine. In the early days of steam power, the method to compare engine performance was based on a concept termed the engine’s “duty”. It originally was calculated as the number of pounds of water raised one foot high per one bushel of coal consumed. The duty method was open to criticism due to its inability to take into consideration finer points of efficiency in real world applications of engines . Accurate determination of fuel used in relation to work performed has been fundamental to the design and improvement of all steam-driven prime movers ever since Watt’s time. And, the steam indicators’ key contribution was the accurate measurements of performance while the engine was actually doing the work it was designed to do. These Crosby steam indicators represented over one hundred years of evolution and improvement of the devices.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
ID Number
MC.335062
catalog number
335062
accession number
314531
This sextant has a frame of blackened brass. The inscriptions read "H. HUGHES & SON LTD. LONDON" and "44164" and "MADE IN ENGLAND." The silvered scale is graduated every degree from -5° to +130° and read by ivory micrometer with electric light to 10 seconds of arc.
Description
This sextant has a frame of blackened brass. The inscriptions read "H. HUGHES & SON LTD. LONDON" and "44164" and "MADE IN ENGLAND." The silvered scale is graduated every degree from -5° to +130° and read by ivory micrometer with electric light to 10 seconds of arc. The batteries for the light are in the handle of the instrument. Hughes was making micrometer sextants by the early 1930s.
Steven Memoli bought this sextant in Cardiff, Wales, in 1944. He spent the war years transporting troops from the U.S. to Europe and North Africa, and also participated in the Normandy invasion. Several years after the war, having been prodded by the U.S. Circuit Court, the Department of Defense granted veteran’s status to Memoli and other merchant seamen of his ilk.
Ref: Henry Hughes & Son, Ltd., Sextants and General Navigational Instruments (London, 1938).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1940-1945
maker
H. Hughes & Son, Ltd.
ID Number
1989.0548.01
catalog number
1989.0548.01
accession number
1989.0548
Thomas C. Mendenhall, who became superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1889, introduced a new gravity apparatus that was substantially smaller than earlier gravimetric instruments and, he hoped, more reliable.
Description
Thomas C. Mendenhall, who became superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1889, introduced a new gravity apparatus that was substantially smaller than earlier gravimetric instruments and, he hoped, more reliable. Mendenhall’s apparatus had a set of short and invariable pendulums, an airtight brass chamber in which the pendulums could be swung, and a flash apparatus with telescope for observing the coincidence between a pendulum and the beats of a chronometer. In 1894 the Survey used Mendenhall apparatus to determine the force of gravity at 26 stations along the 39th parallel from the Atlantic coast to Utah. The trial was deemed successful, and this type of apparatus remained in use until the 1930s.
The pendulum of the Mendenhall apparatus was made of a copper-aluminum alloy, with a flat stem supporting a lenticular bob. It had a period of about 2 seconds, so designed that a coincidence between the pendulum and a chronometer would occur every 5 or 6 minutes. Each apparatus was provided with three pendulums. If discrepancies appeared in the results, the faulty pendulum could be detected as well as a dummy pendulum equipped with a thermometer.
The Coast and Geodetic Survey transferred this example to the Smithsonian in 1958, describing it as “essentially a boiled-down version of the original." Its pendulums have periods of about 3 seconds. The Museum also has a Michelson interferometer that was used to determine the flexure of the pendulum support, and was adapted for this purpose in 1907.
Ref: Victor Lenzen and Robert Multhauf, "Development of Gravity Pendulums in the 19th Century," United States National Museum Bulletin 240 (1965): 331-334.
C. H. Swick, Modern Methods of Measuring the Intensity of Gravity (Washington, D.C.: United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1921).
T. C. Mendenhall, "Determination of Gravity with the New Half-Second Pendulum," Report of the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey for 1890-91, Part 2, pp. 503-564.
W. H. Burger, "The Measurement of the Flexure of Pendulum Supports with the Interferometer," Report of the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey for 1909-1910, Appendix 6.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1889-1930
ID Number
PH.315810
accession number
221202
catalog number
315810
Unlike car drivers on land, navigators at sea have no road signs to indicate speed limits, dangers, or routes. Navigational buoys are floating objects anchored to the bottom that serve as aids to navigation.
Description
Unlike car drivers on land, navigators at sea have no road signs to indicate speed limits, dangers, or routes. Navigational buoys are floating objects anchored to the bottom that serve as aids to navigation. Their distinctive shapes, colors, and other markings provide information indicating their purpose and how to navigate around them.
The placement and maintenance of navigational buoys are essential to shipping, since they often provide the only guidance for channel locations, shoals, reefs, and other hazards. If damaged by collisions, extinguished, or broken loose from their moorings, the Coast Guard will repair, replace, refuel, or relocate the failed buoy.
Designated an 8X20 LBR, this particular type of buoy was used by the U.S. Coast Guard Lighthouse Service on the East Coast from around 1930 until the early 1950s. It measures 8 feet in width and 20 feet high, and the letters mean Lighted, Bell, and Radar Reflector. It originally weighed ca. 15,600 pounds, including the 225-lb bell. The bottom of this example was removed to fit into the gallery.
It was designed to be deployed in shallow, protected coastal waters and could be seen about two miles away in daylight. The light on the top was powered by batteries stored under the round hatches in the large bottom compartment. The bell was rung by the rocking of the buoy in the waves.
ID Number
TR.336771
accession number
1978.2285
catalog number
336771
This compass has a metal bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. It was used on a lifeboat of the SS Alcoa Mariner, an American freighter torpedoed by a German submarine in September 1942. Frank B. Hodges, a sailor on the Alcoa Mariner, gave it to the Smithsonian.
Description
This compass has a metal bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. It was used on a lifeboat of the SS Alcoa Mariner, an American freighter torpedoed by a German submarine in September 1942. Frank B. Hodges, a sailor on the Alcoa Mariner, gave it to the Smithsonian. The inscriptions read "M. C. CO." and "ALCOA MARINER." The former refers to the Marine Compass Company, a firm that was established in Hanover, Massachusetts, in 1910. The owners of this firm purchased E. S. Ritchie & Son in 1951.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1940
maker
Marine Compass Company
ID Number
1990.0577.01
accession number
1990.0577
catalog number
1990.0577.01
Bausch & Lomb began making refractometers when World War I limited the import of European instruments coming into the United States. The inscription on this Abbé-type refractometer reads "Bausch & Lomb Optical Company Rochester N.Y. Ser. No. 77381 USA Pat. No.
Description
Bausch & Lomb began making refractometers when World War I limited the import of European instruments coming into the United States. The inscription on this Abbé-type refractometer reads "Bausch & Lomb Optical Company Rochester N.Y. Ser. No. 77381 USA Pat. No. 2,080,841." The referenced patent, issued to Harold Straat in 1937 and assigned to Bausch & Lomb, described a new prism system and box for refractometers.
Ref: Richard A. Paselk, “The Evolution of the Abbé Refractometer,” Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society 62 (1999): 19-22.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1937
maker
Bausch & Lomb Optical Company
ID Number
2000.0128.01
catalog number
2000.0128.01
accession number
2000.0128

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