Measuring & Mapping

Vernier Compass

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.

Place: United States

Set of Charts, Evans' Arithmetical Study

Around 1900 many American educators advocated the use of objects in teaching mathematics and the sciences. R. O. Evans Company of Chicago published this set of twenty chromolithographed charts.
Description
Around 1900 many American educators advocated the use of objects in teaching mathematics and the sciences. R. O. Evans Company of Chicago published this set of twenty chromolithographed charts. They were designed to apply the object method “to the entire subject of practical arithmetic.” The title chart shows a man in classical garb holding a diagram of the Pythagorean theorem and a pair of dividers, expounding to a child. Other instruments displayed include a pencil, a drawing pen, a magnetic compass, several geometric models, a globe, a telescope, two set squares, an hourglass, and one of Evans’s charts.
Charts include extensive commentary for teachers. There are sheets entitled Counting and Writing Numbers, Reviews and Colors, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division,. Other charts discuss Fractions, Weights and Measures, the Metric System, and Mensuration (one chart considers the measurement of flat surfaces, another one 3-dimensional solids). There also are charts on Business Methods (3 charts), Lumber and Timber Measure,Surveying, Percentage, Commercial and Legal Forms, and Book Keeping. A variety of objects are shown.
The paper, cloth-backed charts are held together at the top by a piece of fabric that is tacked to a wooden backing. This backing slides into an oak case decorated with machine-made molding and panels. A mark on the case reads: This is the (/) Property of (/) F. C. Adams (/) Hillsboro N. H. (/) May 28 - 1902 (/) Loaned to (/) Miss L. Hany (?) (/) Teacher School Dist. No. 17. F.C. Adams is probably Freeman C. Adams (1845-1913) of Hillsborough and Manchester, N.H. This suggests that this particular example of Evans’ Arithmetical Study was used by a woman who taught at a school in New Hampshire.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1897
maker
R. O. Evans Company
ID Number
2009.0086.01
accession number
2009.0086
catalog number
2009.0086.01

Surveyor's Vernier Compass

Surveyor's vernier compass marked "Wm. J. Young Maker Philadelphia." William J. Young began using this particular signature around 1840, and began putting serial numbers on his instruments in the early 1850s. The variation arc on the north arm extends 27 degrees either way.
Description
Surveyor's vernier compass marked "Wm. J. Young Maker Philadelphia." William J. Young began using this particular signature around 1840, and began putting serial numbers on his instruments in the early 1850s. The variation arc on the north arm extends 27 degrees either way. The vernier is moved by rack and pinion located on the south arm and hidden under a brass plate, and reads to 5 minutes. There is a circular level vial on the south arm and an outkeeper on the north arm. The face is dark, and the needle ring was probably silvered originally.
This compass belonged to David Newton Ellis (1850-1926), the County Surveyor of Monroe County, West Virginia.
Ref.: D. J. Warner, "William J. Young. From Craft to Industry in a Skilled Trade," Pennsylvania History 52 (1985): 53-68.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Young, William J.
ID Number
1981.0648.02
accession number
1981.0648
catalog number
1981.0648.02

Surveyor's Vernier Compass

This surveyor's vernier compass has an unusual and ornate face decorated with Masonic symbols. The variation arc on the north arm extends 10 degrees either way; the vernier is moved by rack and pinion, and reads to 10 minutes. A level vial is on the south arm. The "J.
Description
This surveyor's vernier compass has an unusual and ornate face decorated with Masonic symbols. The variation arc on the north arm extends 10 degrees either way; the vernier is moved by rack and pinion, and reads to 10 minutes. A level vial is on the south arm. The "J. SIMPSON BARDSTOWN KY" inscription refers to Jonathan Simpson (1787-1863) who was was working in Kentucky by 1820, and who advertised in the Bardstown newspaper, The Republican, on October 3, 1844: "I shall keep on hand a constant supply of SILVERWORK of my own manufacture-warranted to be as good as any manufactured in the United States, and at the Cincinnati prices. My necessities compel me to labour as much as ever I did. I have a few Surveying instruments on hand, which I will sell very low."
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Simpson, Jonathan
ID Number
PH.325686
catalog number
325686
accession number
257690

Bubble Sextant

This instrument was developed for the Navy by the Aeronautical Instrument Section of the National Bureau of Standards in 1924, and produced by the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company. The instrument bears a plaque that reads “BUBBLE SEXTANT / U.S.
Description
This instrument was developed for the Navy by the Aeronautical Instrument Section of the National Bureau of Standards in 1924, and produced by the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company. The instrument bears a plaque that reads “BUBBLE SEXTANT / U.S. NAVY / BUREAU OF STANDARDS / MODEL NO. 2 / 1924 / NO. 4.” Phillip Van Horn Weems, who donated this example to the Smithsonian, noted that "Six sextants were made at the time for $250,000 each. Bausch & Lomb lost money on the deal but naturally recuperated on later orders and on later models. I drew this sextant from the storeroom in North Island, at the Naval Air Station, San Diego, and made numerous tests with it, along with Byrd, Lindbergh, Ellsworth, etc. etc."
Location
Currently not on view
user
Weems, Philip Van Horn
maker
Bausch & Lomb
ID Number
AF.59069-N
catalog number
59069-N
accession number
242229

Bubble Sextant

Edwin A. Link, Jr. presented this bubble sextant, in a beautiful alligator case, to P. V. H. Weems. It is a standard A-12 with an attachment that enables the user to view the real horizon.
Description
Edwin A. Link, Jr. presented this bubble sextant, in a beautiful alligator case, to P. V. H. Weems. It is a standard A-12 with an attachment that enables the user to view the real horizon. Link applied for a patent on this feature in 1943.
Ref: Link Bubble Sextant (Octant) Model A-12 Handbook: Description, Operation, Use, Adjustment (Binghamton, N.Y.: Link Aviation Devices, Inc., 1943).
Edwin A. Link, Jr., "Navigation Instrument Including a Horizon Attachment," U.S. patent #2,395,559
Location
Currently not on view
user
Weems, Philip Van Horn
ID Number
AF.59061-N
catalog number
59061-N
accession number
242229

Liquid Compass

The Ritchie ledgers, now held by Ritchie Navigation, indicate that this compass was manufactured on August 11, 1877, and sold to T.S. & J.D. Negus, a New York firm that sold a variety of nautical and optical instruments. It later belonged to the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey.
Description
The Ritchie ledgers, now held by Ritchie Navigation, indicate that this compass was manufactured on August 11, 1877, and sold to T.S. & J.D. Negus, a New York firm that sold a variety of nautical and optical instruments. It later belonged to the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey. The inscriptions read "RITCHIE BOSTON U.S.A." and "PATENTED APL. 7. 1863. APL. 10, 1866. MAY 12, 1868. JULY 19, 1870" and "9786."
Ref: E. S. Ritchie & Sons, Ritchie’s Liquid Compasses and Nautical Instruments (ca. 1905).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1877
maker
Ritchie
ID Number
PH.337138
catalog number
337138
accession number
1979.0361

Dumpy Level

The U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Precise Level "is constructed without regard to cost, extreme accuracy being the governing consideration.
Description
The U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Precise Level "is constructed without regard to cost, extreme accuracy being the governing consideration. This fact accounts for the seemingly high price, which is for the complete instrument, with two achromatic eye–pieces, graduated and chambered level–vial having a value of 2 seconds per division. Completed packed, with extra heavy tripod...$300." Thus wrote G. N. Saegmuller, proprietor of Fauth & Co., describing the Precise Level that had been developed by E. G. Fischer and his colleagues in the Instrument Division of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. This example, marked "FAUTH & CO. WASHN. D.C. 2239" was made between 1900, when the form was introduced, and 1905, when Fauth went out of business. It belonged to the University of Missouri at Columbia.
To minimize changes due to temperature variation, Fischer's team developed an iron–nickel alloy with a very low coefficient of expansion. They also placed the telescope tube within a slightly larger tube, and sealed the openings between the tubes with chamois leather collars. To minimize disruptions caused by changes in weight or pressure upon the ground, Fischer's team mounted the level above the telescope. A mirror, mounted above the level, reflects an image of the bubble into a tube at the left side of the telescope. Thus, while the surveyor's right eye looks through the telescope to the distant rod, his/her left eye can see both ends of the level vial.
The Fischer level was Fauth's third precise level. The first was similar to the instrument that Kern had shown at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia. The second, unveiled in 1879, was based on a design originating in Vienna, Austria, and developed in the Instrument Shop of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, which was then under Saegmuller's direction.
Ref: E. G. Fischer, "Description of Precise Levels Nos. 7 and 8," Report of the Director of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (1900), Appendix 6.
George N. Saegmuller, Descriptive Price–List of First–Class Engineering & Astronomical Instruments (Washington, D.C., 1903), pp. 60–61.
Randall Brooks and Heather Bajdik, "Precise Levels in Surveys of North America," Rittenhouse 10 (1996): 48–57.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Fauth & Co.
ID Number
PH.333634
catalog number
333634
accession number
300659

Surveyor's Transit

Instrument with a "Kolesch & Co. New York. 1796" inscription. The firm termed it an Engineer's Transit, No. 7650. The horizontal circle is graduated every 20 minutes, and is read by opposite verniers with celluloid reflectors to 30 seconds.
Description
Instrument with a "Kolesch & Co. New York. 1796" inscription. The firm termed it an Engineer's Transit, No. 7650. The horizontal circle is graduated every 20 minutes, and is read by opposite verniers with celluloid reflectors to 30 seconds. There is a clamp and tangent to the telescope. New, it cost $160.
Heinrich Adolph Kolesch (1855-1903) was a German immigrant who began in business in 1885, taking over the firm that had been founded by E. & G. W. Blunt. Kolesch & Co. was still using the Blunt dividing engine in 1925. The firm was incorporated in New York State in 1904, and dissolved in 1947.
Ref: Kolesch & Co., Illustrated Catalogue and Price-List (New York, 1913), pp. 228-229 for this type of instrument, and pp. 195 and 198 for the history of the firm.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1885
maker
Kolesch and Company
ID Number
1989.0409.01
accession number
1989.0409
catalog number
1989.0409.01

Geodetic Transit

This transit marked "USC&GS No. 18" was designed by E. G. Fischer, chief mechanician of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. It is one of two identical instruments that were built in the Survey's instrument shop in 1888–1889.
Description
This transit marked "USC&GS No. 18" was designed by E. G. Fischer, chief mechanician of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. It is one of two identical instruments that were built in the Survey's instrument shop in 1888–1889. They were said to be "the most complete and best constructed transits the Survey has ever had for longitude." They had about the same optical power as the transits that Troughton & Simms had made in the 1840s, but weighed substantially less. When packed in two boxes for transportation, each instrument weighed "only" about 350 pounds. John Clacey made the objective lenses, and Edward Kahler made the eyepieces.
G. N. Saegmuller, who offered an apparently identical instrument for $900, termed it a "Coast Survey Transit. No. 30" and noted that the Survey used instruments of this sort "for time observations only."
Ref: Edwin Smith, "A Description of Two New Portable Transit Instruments for Longitude Work," Report of the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey for 1889 (Washington, D.C., 1890), Appendix No. 9.
G. N. Saegmuller, Descriptive Price–List of First–Class Engineering & Astronomical Instruments (Washington, D.C., 1903), p. 75.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PH.316661.01
accession number
226636
catalog number
316661

Surveyor's Vernier Compass

This compass is marked "T. R. RANDOLPH CINCINNATI. O." and "1234" and "PATENTED JUNE 24 '79." On June 24, 1879, Theodore F.
Description
This compass is marked "T. R. RANDOLPH CINCINNATI. O." and "1234" and "PATENTED JUNE 24 '79." On June 24, 1879, Theodore F. Randolph received a patent (#216,759) for a surveyor's compass with a telescope sight, in which the telescope and its supports can be detached from the compass. In this example (which is missing the telescope and its supports) the raised rim is silvered, and graduated to 30 minutes. The variation arc, which is located on the compass face, extends 25 degrees either way, and reads by double vernier to single minutes. The carrying case is marked "PATENTED NOV. 9, 1880," referring to Randolphs' patent (#234,331) for a seamless leather container of this sort. This instrument belonged to the University of Missouri at Columbia.
Ref: T. F. Randolph, Illustrated Catalogue and Price List (Cincinnati, 1892), p. 2.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Randolph, Theodore F.
ID Number
PH.333647
catalog number
333647
accession number
300659

Geologist's Compass

This is an aluminum compass with brass sights that was designed for topographical work. The raised rim and beveled outer ring are graduated every degree and numbered every 10 degrees in quadrants from north and south.
Description
This is an aluminum compass with brass sights that was designed for topographical work. The raised rim and beveled outer ring are graduated every degree and numbered every 10 degrees in quadrants from north and south. The northeast quadrant of the face has a variation scale that extends 27 degrees one way and 43 degrees the other; this is graduated to degrees, and reads by folded vernier to 5 minutes. The southern half of the face is graduated to degrees, and equipped with a pendulum clinometer pivoted at the center. There are level vials on the SE and SW corners of the plate. The four beveled edges of the plate are graduated, one to inches and tenths, one to inches and eighths, and two as protractors. The back of the plate has a diagram showing the arrangement of township numbering. The signature reads "KEUFFEL & ESSER CO NEW YORK." Other marks read "U.S. INDIAN FOREST SERVICE. DEPT OF THE INTERIOR" and "1958." New, with ball joint and socket for mounting on a jacob staff, this compass cost $25. The University of Missouri at Columbia donated it to the Smithsonian.
Ref: Keuffel & Esser, Catalogue (New York, 1913), p. 420.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
PH.333652
catalog number
333652
accession number
300659

Solar Compass

This solar compass, one of the earliest instruments of its kind, is marked "Burts patent Made by Wm. J. Young Philada." It belonged to Artemas Curtis, a brother–in–law of the inventor, William Austin Burt. It was made by William J.
Description
This solar compass, one of the earliest instruments of its kind, is marked "Burts patent Made by Wm. J. Young Philada." It belonged to Artemas Curtis, a brother–in–law of the inventor, William Austin Burt. It was made by William J. Young in Philadelphia, probably in 1840, and it nicely illustrates the complex process of developing a successful instrument. Following Burt's instructions, Young produced an instrument in which the vernier for the variation arc was moved by hand. When that design proved inconvenient, a tangent screw was added to move the vernier–and this tangent screw covered the signature. This example is of that type. In later examples, the signature appears where it can be easily read.
Ref: John S. Burt, They Left Their Mark. A Biography of William Austin Burt (Rancho Cordova, Ca., 1985).
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Young, William J.
inventor
Burt, William A.
ID Number
PH.328793
catalog number
328793
accession number
277834

Brunton Pocket Transit

The Brunton Pocket Transit was said to be "the most convenient, compact and accurate pocket instrument made for preliminary surveying on the surface or underground." It has a folding sight at north.
Description
The Brunton Pocket Transit was said to be "the most convenient, compact and accurate pocket instrument made for preliminary surveying on the surface or underground." It has a folding sight at north. The lid of the instrument, hinged at south and provided with sight line and small hole, serves as the second sight. Since the lid is mirrored, the user can read the needle while sighting a distant object. The needle ring is graduated to degrees. The western half of the face is graduated in degrees, in quadrants from west, and provided with a clinometer with vernier that reads to 5 minutes. The sides of the case and lid are flat, and so the instrument can be set up vertically when used for vertical angles. This example is marked "D. W. BRUNTON'S PAT. SEPT. 18, 1894 APR. 14, 1914 WM. AINSWORTH & SONS SOLE MANUFACTURERS PAT. OCT. 2, 12. MAY 27. 13. DENVER, COLO. U. S. A. 14711." It was owned by the University of Missouri at Columbia, and was probably made between 1915 and 1919.
David W. Brunton (died 1927), a Canadian–born surveyor working in Colorado, invented this instrument after growing tired of carrying heavy equipment through the Rocky Mountains. He obtained his first patent (#526,021) in 1894, and subsequent patents in 1912 (#1,042,079), 1913 (#1,062,582), and 1914 (#1,092,822). The Wm. Ainsworth Co. of Denver began marketing these instruments in 1896, and by 1899 had sold more than 200 units. The firm became Wm. Ainsworth & Sons in 1905. The Brunton pocket transit remains in production today in Riverton, Wyoming.
Ref: Wm. Ainsworth & Sons, Catalog BX of Precision Engineering and Surveying Instruments (Colorado, 1908), p. 62.
Peter von Gitter, "The Brunton Pocket Transit, A One Hundred Year Old North American Invention," Earth Sciences History 14 (1995): 98–102.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
William Ainsworth and Sons
ID Number
PH.333641
catalog number
333641
accession number
300659

Industrial Thermometer

This is a short-stem instrument designed for industrial use. The brass V-shaped case is marked “Tycos” at top, and “Taylor / Instrument / Co.” at bottom.
Description
This is a short-stem instrument designed for industrial use. The brass V-shaped case is marked “Tycos” at top, and “Taylor / Instrument / Co.” at bottom. The black housing around the mercury-in-glass thermometer with a milk glass tube has a scale from 32 to 240 degrees Fahrenheit, and is marked “Tycos / ROCHESTER / N.Y. U.S.A.”
Hohmann & Maurer had been making instruments of this sort since the mid-1880s, and continued doing so after being bought out by Taylor Bros. in 1896. This example was made after 1908 when the Taylor Instrument Co. introduced the Tycos trade mark and dropped the Hohmann & Maurer signature and trade mark. It came to the Smithsonian in 1923.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1923
maker
Taylor Instrument Co.
ID Number
PH.308162
catalog number
308162
accession number
70532

Solar Compass

This solar compass belonged to the U. S. Geological Survey, a federal agency that was established in 1879. It was made around 1880, and transferred to the Smithsonian in 1920.
Description
This solar compass belonged to the U. S. Geological Survey, a federal agency that was established in 1879. It was made around 1880, and transferred to the Smithsonian in 1920. The horizontal circle is silvered, graduated to 30 minutes, and read by opposite verniers to single minutes. The inscription reads "W. & L. E. Gurley, Troy, N.Y." The auxiliary telescope, which attaches to either sight vane, is marked "PAT. JULY 9, 1878," and is described by the patent (#205,712) that was granted to William and Lewis E. Gurley in 1878.
Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, Manual of the Principal Instruments used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N. Y., 1878), p. 70.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
maker
W. & L. E. Gurley
ID Number
PH.307086
catalog number
307086
accession number
65070

Pocket watch, U.S. Watch Co.

The movement in this silver-cased watch, serial number 97569, was made by the U.S. Watch Company, Waltham, Mass., about 1892. It is stem-wound and set with a lever on the side of the case.Currently not on view
Description
The movement in this silver-cased watch, serial number 97569, was made by the U.S. Watch Company, Waltham, Mass., about 1892. It is stem-wound and set with a lever on the side of the case.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1892
maker
U.S. Watch Co.
ID Number
ME.317055
catalog number
317055
accession number
230383

Slide Chart, Metrics Made Easy

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. A variety of special tables were made to help Americans convert between systems of measurement.
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. A variety of special tables were made to help Americans convert between systems of measurement. This slide chart is one of them.
The paper cardboard sleeve is joined with adhesive and printed in red, yellow, pink, black and white. The front contains a table for converting inches to millimeters, another for converting pints to liters, a third for converting feet to meters and a fourth for converting gallons to liters. The reverse has tables for miles/kilometers, ounces/grams, pounds/kilograms and oF/OC.
A mark on the front reads: Metrics (/) made easy. Another reads: INCH/METRIC DIGITAL DIAL (/) A product of (/) Danatron (/) Corporation (3198 ‘C’, Airport Loop Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92828. A mark on the edge of the slide reads (as best as can be deciphered): Copyright 1977 Nelson Taxel Woodmere N.Y. 11598 Printed in U.S.A.
The object was found in the collections of the Division of Work and Industry of the National Museum of American History.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1977
maker
Danatron Corporation
ID Number
1988.3078.03
catalog number
1988.3078.03
nonaccession number
1988.3078

Surveyor's Vernier Compass

James Foster Jr. (1814-1873) began advertising as a mathematical and philosophical instrument maker in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1846. He showed his wares at several fairs sponsored by the Ohio Mechanics Institute in the 1850s.
Description
James Foster Jr. (1814-1873) began advertising as a mathematical and philosophical instrument maker in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1846. He showed his wares at several fairs sponsored by the Ohio Mechanics Institute in the 1850s. The rim of this surveyor's compass is graduated every 30 minutes. The vernier on the north arm is moved by rack and pinion, and reads to single minutes. There is a circular level on the south arm. The inscription reads "James Foster, Jr. Cincinnati, O."
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Foster, Jr., James
ID Number
PH.337208
catalog number
337208
accession number
1979.0649

Magnetometer

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.
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.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1895
maker
Fauth
Fauth & Co.
ID Number
1983.0039.04
accession number
1983.0039
catalog number
1983.0039.04

Surveyor's Compass

This compass was made between 1853 and 1859. The "Jas. W. Queen, Philada. Warranted" inscription indicates that James W. Queen sold the compass and guaranteed its quality. The style, however, suggests that it was made by W. & L. E. Gurley, the Troy, N.
Description
This compass was made between 1853 and 1859. The "Jas. W. Queen, Philada. Warranted" inscription indicates that James W. Queen sold the compass and guaranteed its quality. The style, however, suggests that it was made by W. & L. E. Gurley, the Troy, N. Y., firm that was rapidly becoming the largest producer of complex mathematical instruments in the United States. The Queen Catalogue of 1859 offered several compasses, levels, and transits, with illustrations and descriptions copied from the Gurley Manual of 1855. A compass of this sort, with 6-inch needle, two straight levels, outkeeper, and mounting for use on a Jacob staff, cost $30. A paper label inside the box reads “James W. Queen 264 Chestnut St., near 10th, Philadelphia.”
Ref: James W. Queen & Co., Illustrated Catalogue of Mathematical, Optical, and Philosophical Instruments and School Apparatus (Philadelphia, 1859), p. 14.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1853-1859
maker
W. & L. E. Gurley
ID Number
1982.0104.04
accession number
1982.0104
catalog number
1982.0104.04

Gradienter

This instrument is marked "Geo. Shilling Washn D.C." and "U.S.G.S." It was made for the U.S. Geological Survey, and transferred to the Smithsonian in 1907. The horizontal circle and vertical arc are silvered, graduated to 30 minutes, and read by verniers to single minutes.
Description
This instrument is marked "Geo. Shilling Washn D.C." and "U.S.G.S." It was made for the U.S. Geological Survey, and transferred to the Smithsonian in 1907. The horizontal circle and vertical arc are silvered, graduated to 30 minutes, and read by verniers to single minutes. A level vial sits atop the telescope; another level vial sits on the horizontal circle. The inside of the lens cap is marked "U.S.G.S. No 2."
George Shilling (1844–1917) was born and educated in Norway and moved to the United States in 1867. In 1882, after working in several American instrument shops, he went into business on his own, manufacturing surveying and astronomical instruments. His shop was in Washington, D.C., and the federal government was his biggest customer.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Shilling, George
ID Number
PH.247906
catalog number
247906
accession number
47736

Duplex Pendulum Seismograph

A paper label on this seismograph reads “Made from the Designs of Professor Ewing of Dundee, by the California Electric Works, 35 Market street, San Francisco; and recommended for use in California by Professor LeConte of Berkeley and by Professor Holden, Director of the Lick Obs
Description
A paper label on this seismograph reads “Made from the Designs of Professor Ewing of Dundee, by the California Electric Works, 35 Market street, San Francisco; and recommended for use in California by Professor LeConte of Berkeley and by Professor Holden, Director of the Lick Observatory.”
James Alfred Ewing was a young Scottish physicist/engineer who, while teaching in Tokyo in the years between 1878 and 1883, designed several seismographs. Among these was a duplex pendulum instrument that recorded the two horizontal components of earthquakes. It was, he claimed, “comparatively cheap and simple” and was “employed by many private observers in Japan.”
The Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company in England began manufacturing Ewing’s several seismographs in 1886. The first examples in the United States were installed in the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton and in the University of California at Berkeley. Edward Holden was then director of the former and president of the latter, and Joseph LeConte was professor of geology at Berkeley.
Enthusiastic about the new science of seismology, Holden and LeConte convinced Paul Seiler, head of an electrical apparatus supply firm in San Francisco, to manufacture duplex pendulum seismographs that would sell for $15 apiece (rather than the $75 charged by the English firm). Over a dozen examples are known to have been distributed across the country and around the world, some recording earthquakes as early as 1889. This one came to the Smithsonian in 1964, a gift of Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio.
Ref: Edward S. Holden, Handbook of the Lick Observatory (San Francisco, 1888), pp. 54-56.
Edward S. Holden and Joseph LeConte, “Use of the Ewing Duplex Seismometer” (1887), reprinted in Holden, “Earthquakes on the Pacific Coast,” Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 1087 (1898).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 1880s
maker
California Electrical Works
ID Number
PH.323669
catalog number
323669
accession number
251332

Clipboard with Stopwatch

Among the most frequently used and most controversial tools for measuring work was the stopwatch. Stopwatches attached to clipboards, like this one from Georgia Tech, were used to teach engineering students how to do timed work measurement studies.
Description
Among the most frequently used and most controversial tools for measuring work was the stopwatch. Stopwatches attached to clipboards, like this one from Georgia Tech, were used to teach engineering students how to do timed work measurement studies. A time-study worksheet is attached to the clipboard.
Measuring the amount of time a particular work task took preoccupied managers at the turn of the 20th century. Such measurements became the cornerstone of the new profession of industrial engineering and dominated the analysis of manufacturing work until the 1960s.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1950s
1940s - 1950s
ID Number
1997.0160.03
accession number
1997.0160
catalog number
1997.0160.03.1

Maximum and Minimum Kiosk Thermometer

Like the thermometer introduced by James Six in England in 1782, this example has a U-shaped glass tube filled with alcohol and mercury. The tube has a milk-white back, and reads from -40 to +110 Fahrenheit on either side.
Description
Like the thermometer introduced by James Six in England in 1782, this example has a U-shaped glass tube filled with alcohol and mercury. The tube has a milk-white back, and reads from -40 to +110 Fahrenheit on either side. Its two ends are bent at right angles so that their cylindrical bulbs protrude out the back of the supporting black metal plate. This plate is marked, at top, “U.S. / WEATHER BUREAU / No 32” and in the middle “Taylor Instrument Companies / ROCHESTER, N.Y.” It is also marked “Tycos” with a flag announcing the company logo, “ACCURATUS TB.”
The Weather Bureau began building kiosks in 1909, equipping them with meteorological instruments, and placing them around the country where they would be seen by citizens. This thermometer was designed for that purpose, and probably was not available commercially .
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
maker
Taylor Instrument Co.
ID Number
PH.314533
catalog number
314533
accession number
204612

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