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 49 items.
Page 1 of 5
Universal Magnetometer with Dip Circle
- Description
- This instrument is marked "D.T.M. C.I.W. N° 19." Designed and built by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1912, it incorporates an astronomical telescope and magnetometer for the determination of magnetic declination and horizontal intensity, and a dip circle with a Lloyd-Creak attachment for the determination of inclination and intensity. It is relatively light and easy to manipulate. It was used for a few years and then set aside when the universal magnetometer with earth inductor came into use.
- This magnetometer was probably transferred to the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey after the Carnegie Institution closed its geomagnetic program. The U.S. Geological Survey acquired it in 1973, when it took over the geomagnetic program of the federal government, and transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1982.
- Ref: J. A. Fleming, "Two New Types of Magnetometers Made by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington," Terrestrial Magnetism 16 (1911): 1-12.
- Carnegie Institution of Washington, Land Magnetic Observations, 1911-1913 (Washington, D.C., 1915), pp. 7-8.
- Date made
- 1912
- maker
- Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
- ID Number
- 1982.0671.03
- accession number
- 1982.0671
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Earth Inductor
- Description
- As scientists discovered that even the best dip circles gave unreliable results, they began using earth inductors to determine magnetic dip. In 1912, the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington developed a new earth inductor for use at sea. It has three key elements: an improved gimbal stand, a means for rotating the coil without disturbing the gimbal rings, and a sensitive galvanometer.
- This example is marked "D.T.M. C.I.W. E.I. N° 3." It is the third Carnegie marine earth inductor. When the Carnegie closed its program in terrestrial magnetism, it was lent to the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. The U.S. Geological Survey acquired it in 1973 when it took over the geomagnetic program of the federal government, and transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1982.
- Ref: J. A. Fleming, "Description of the C.I.W. Marine Earth
- Inductor," Terrestrial Magnetism 18 (1912): 39-45.
- C. W. Hewlett, "Report on the C.I.W. Marine Earth Inductor," Terrestrial Magnetism 18 (1912): 46-48.
- Date made
- 1912
- maker
- Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
- ID Number
- 1982.0671.05
- accession number
- 1982.0671
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Universal Magnetometer with Earth Inductor
- Description
- This instrument was designed and produced by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Unlike the Carnegie's original universal magnetometer, this one is equipped with an earth inductor to determine dip. It is marked "DEPARTMENT TERRESTRIAL MAGNETISM Carnegie Institution of Washington E.I. - M. No. 28." It was completed in 1914 and used in many locations around the world. The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey used it in South and Central America in the early 1940s. The U.S. Geological Survey acquired it in 1973, when that agency took charge of the federal program in geomagnetism, and transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1982.
- Ref: J. A. Fleming and J. A. Widner, "Description of the C.I.W. Combined Magnetometer and Earth Inductor," Terrestrial Magnetism 18 (1913): 105-110.
- Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. Land Magnetic Observations, 1911-1913 (Washington, D.C., 1915), pp. 9-12.
- U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Magnetic Observations in the American Republics 1941-44 (Washington, D.C., 1946), p. 16.
- Date made
- 1914
- maker
- Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
- ID Number
- 1982.0671.07
- accession number
- 1982.0671
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Magnetometer
- Description
- Theodolite magnetometers were designed for observations in the field, and so are relatively light, compact, of simple construction, and easily handled. Their tri-leg base can hold either the magnetometer or the theodolite that is used for astronomical alignment. The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey designed this particular form in the early 1890s, basing it on the instrument that the Survey had been using since the early 1880s but adding several new features. One is the octagonal shape of the collimating magnets. Another is the black velvet screen that connects the telescope with the suspension box: this cuts off stray light,and eliminates the problems caused by the glass window in the earlier form.
- This example is marked "C. & G. S. NO. 18." The Survey produced it in 1892-1893 and made it available for L.A. Bauer's magnetic survey of Maryland at the end of the century. The base—marked "Bausch, Lomb, Saegmuller Co., ROCHESTER, N.Y. 2690"—must be a replacement, made after the formation of that firm in 1905.
- The U.S. Geological Survey acquired this magnetometer in 1973 when it assumed control of the geomagnetic program of the federal government, and it transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1982.
- Ref: Edwin Smith, "Notes on Some Instruments Recently Made in the Instrument Division of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Office," Report of the Superintendent of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey for the Year 1894, Appendix No. 8, p. 275.
- L. A. Bauer, Maryland Geological Survey (Baltimore, 1897), p. 433.
- Date made
- 1892-1893
- maker
- U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
- ID Number
- 1982.0671.08
- accession number
- 1982.0671
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Magnetometer
- Description
- This theodolite magnetometer is based on the design that the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey developed in 1892-1893. It is similar in many ways to the instrument that the Survey had been using since the early 1880s, but with several new features. One is the octagonal shape of the collimating magnets. Another is the black velvet screen that connects the telescope with the suspension box: this cuts off stray light and eliminates the problems that had been caused by the glass window in the earlier form. It is marked "FAUTH & CO. WASHN D.C. 941" and "T.M.C.I. 1." The serial number suggests that it was made around 1895.
This instrument belonged to the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Internal records indicate that D.T.M. purchased it from Kolesch & Co. in New York in 1906 (for $175), sent it to Bausch, Lomb, Saegmuller Co. for repairs (another $120), and kept it in service until 1919.
Ref: Edwin Smith, "Notes on Some Instruments Recently Made in the Instrument Division of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Office," Annual
- Report of the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey for 1894, Appendix No. 8.
- Date made
- ca 1895
- maker
- Fauth
- Fauth & Co.
- ID Number
- 1983.0039.04
- accession number
- 1983.0039
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Metric Conversion Card
- Description
- In the 1970s, after metric units of measure had been adopted in Canada and Great Britain, some people in the United States advocated adoption of the metric system. The National Bureau of Standards of the U. S. Department of Commerce prepared this white plastic reference card to assist those wishing to use the unfamiliar units of measure. One side gave approximate conversion factors for computing metric measures from customary measures of length, area, mass and volume. This side also has a scale eight centimeters long divided to millimeters, and a chart with temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit along the top and temperatures in degrees centigrade along the bottom.
- The other side of the card gives factors for converting from metric to common measures of length, area, mass, volume, and temperature. There also is a scale three inches long divided to 1/16th of an inch.
- The card was a gift of machinist George A. Norton, a longtime employee of the National Museum of American History.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1972
- maker
- U.S. Department of Commerce. National Bureau of Standards
- ID Number
- 1990.3231.02
- catalog number
- 1990.3231.02
- nonaccession number
- 1990.3231
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Dip Circle
- Description
- This Kew pattern dip circle is marked "U.S.C.&G.S. No. 23" and was probably made in the instrument shop of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. The vertical circle is silvered, graduated to 30 minutes, and read by opposite verniers and magnifiers to single minutes. The horizontal circle is graduated to 30 minutes and read by vernier to single minutes. On top of the box there is a compass needle in a box with peep sights that measures magnetic variation.
A brass housing on the front of the instrument holds an auxiliary needle (now missing) that serves as a deflector for the determination of total intensity; this technique was introduced by Humphrey Lloyd, professor of natural philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin, in the early 1840s.
Ref: Daniel Hazard, Directions for Magnetic Measurements (Washington, D.C., 1911), pp. 66-69.
Humphrey Lloyd, "On a New Magnetical Instrument, for the Measurement of the Inclination, and Its Changes," Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 2 (1840-1844): 210-217, 226-232.
- maker
- U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
- ID Number
- PH*314632
- accession number
- 208213
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Universal Magnetometer with Earth Inductor
- Description
- This instrument is marked "DEPARTMENT OF TERRESTRIAL MAGNETISM Carnegie Institution of Washington E.I. - M No 26." It was designed and produced by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Unlike the Carnegie's original universal magnetometer, this one is equipped with an earth inductor to determine dip. It was completed in 1914, compared with standard magnetic instruments at the Kew and Greenwich observatories in England, and at the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Surveys observatory at Cheltenham, Md., and used in many locations around the world.
Ref: J. A. Fleming and J. A. Widner, "Description of the C.I.W. Combined Magnetometer and Earth Inductor," Terrestrial Magnetism 18 (1913): 105-110.
Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. Land Magnetic Observations, 1911-1913 (Washington, D.C., 1915), pp. 9-12.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1914
- maker
- Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
- ID Number
- PH*320627
- accession number
- 2003.0312
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Dip Circle
- Description
- This is one of eight dip circles that Edward Kahler made for the American expeditions sent to observe the transit of Venus across the face of the sun in 1874. It is marked "106." The vertical circle is graduated to 20 minutes. The horizontal circle is graduated to 30 minutes and read by vernier to single minutes. Both are silvered. The U.S. Naval Observatory transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1966.
Ref: Steve Dick, Sky and Ocean Joined (Cambridge, 2002), p. 250.
- Date made
- ca 1874
- maker
- Kahler
- ID Number
- PH*327714
- catalog number
- 327714
- accession number
- 283554
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Universal Magnetometer with Dip Circle
- Description
- This instrument, marked "D.T.M. C.I.W. No 21," was designed and built by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1912. It incorporates an astronomical telescope and magnetometer for the determination of magnetic declination and horizontal intensity, and a dip circle with a Lloyd-Creak attachment for the determination of inclination and intensity. It is relatively light and easy to manipulate. It was used for a few years and then set aside when the universal magnetometer with earth inductor came into use.
This instrument ended up in the hands of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, which transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1959.
Ref: J. A. Fleming, "Two New Types of Magnetometers Made by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington," Terrestrial Magnetism 16 (1911): 1-12.
Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. Land Magnetic Observations, 1911-1913 (Washington, D.C., 1915), pp. 7-9.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1912
- maker
- Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
- ID Number
- PH*316504
- accession number
- 225703
- catalog number
- 316504
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center