Natural Resources - Overview
The natural resources collections offer centuries of evidence about how Americans have used the bounty of the American continent and coastal waters. Artifacts related to flood control, dam construction, and irrigation illustrate the nation's attempts to manage the natural world. Oil-drilling, iron-mining, and steel-making artifacts show the connection between natural resources and industrial strength.
Forestry is represented by saws, axes, a smokejumper's suit, and many other objects. Hooks, nets, and other gear from New England fisheries of the late 1800s are among the fishing artifacts, as well as more recent acquisitions from the Pacific Northwest and Chesapeake Bay. Whaling artifacts include harpoons, lances, scrimshaw etchings in whalebone, and several paintings of a whaler's work at sea. The modern environmental movement has contributed buttons and other protest artifacts on issues from scenic rivers to biodiversity.
"Natural Resources - Overview" showing 675 items.
Page 5 of 68
Schweydar-Bamberg Torsion Balance
- Description
- Torsion balances are used to measure weak natural forces. Torsion balances generally consist of a straight rod with masses attached to each end, suspended from a wire. It is then encased in metal to isolate it from temperature or wind disturbance. All mass near or far has an influence on the rod, but the wire resists this force and twists in the opposite direction, producing through its twisting the measurements of the forces imposed upon it.
- The Humble Oil and Refining Co. purchased this photographic torsion balance in 1926—this was just four years after Americans began making gravimetric surveys for prospecting purposes—and used it for oil exploration in Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama until the introduction of gravimeters in 1936. Although this instrument has no signature, it was probably made by Askania, in Friedenau, Germany. Askania opened a sales office in Houston, Texas in the 1920s.
- The Schweydar Bamberg instrument is an Eötvös torsion balance with a photographic arrangement for recording the results automatically. The form was described in 1921 by Wilhelm Schweydar, a German geophysicist, and produced by Carl Bamberg. It was publicized in the United States by C. A. Heiland, a German geophysicist who worked for Askania in Houston and who taught at the Colorado School of Mines.
- Ref: Askania Bulletin Geo 103E
- W. Schweydar, "Die Photographische registrierende Eötvössche Torsionswage der Firma Carl Bamberg in Berlin-Friedenau," Zeitschrift fur Instrumentendekunde 41 (1921): 175-183.
- C. A. Heiland, "Schweydar-Bamberg Types of Eötvös Torsion Balance" Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists 10 (1926): 1201-1209.
- C. A. Heiland, Directions for the Use of the Askania Torsion Balance (Houston, 1933).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1926
- maker
- Askania
- ID Number
- AG*MHI-P-7680
- catalog number
- MHI-P-7680
- accession number
- 230370
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Gravity Pendulum
- 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.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1931
- maker
- Askania
- ID Number
- AG*MHI-P-7681
- catalog number
- MHI-P-7681
- accession number
- 230370
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Truman Gravity Meter No. 1
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Worden Gravimeter
- 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.
- Texas Instruments introduced the Pioneer gravimeter in 1960, describing it as a Worden instrument "ideally suited for gravity programs in areas of limited latitude and temperature variations." Its design is covered by three patents, all assigned to Texas Instruments. One (#2,674,887), granted to Sam P. Worden in 1954, described an instrument "which is of very simple construction and which, at the same time, will permit very delicate measurements, and is smaller in size and of less weight and more rugged than conventional types of gravity meters now in use." The patent went on to say that this instrument "is of such construction and size that the working parts may be more efficiently insulated," and that it incorporated "a compensating device which dispenses with the necessity of a thermostatic control." The second patent (#2,738,676), granted to Worden and Boyd Cornelison in 1956, described a "Large Range Gravity Sensitive Instrument." The third (#2,732,718) was granted to Cornelison in 1956. Texas Instruments donated this example to the Smithsonian in 1963.
- Ref: "Worden" Gravity Meter Operating Instruction Manual No. 81537-4 (Houston: Texas Instruments, 1961).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Texas Instruments
- ID Number
- AG*MHI-P-8452A
- catalog number
- MHI-P-8452A
- accession number
- 248052
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Gulf Gravimeter
- 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. Generally gravity is then measured by how much the weight stretches the spring, although this object tweaks this arrangement.
- The Gulf Research & Development Corp. began work on a gravimeter in November 1932, and conducted their first field trials in March 1935. The gravimeter soon supplanted Gulf's pendulum equipment; and by the end of the decade, with 18 instruments in the field, Gulf was fairly described as "the most aggressive of the major oil companies in the early application of gravimeter surveys to petroleum exploration." Gulf gravimeters often achieved results accurate to 0.05 milligal. With slight modification, they could be used under water.
- The Gulf gravimeter was designed by a young Ph.D. physicist named Archer Hoyt (1905-ca. 1938) who, after trying various designs, chose an unastized instrument with a heliacal spring. This instrument does not measure the change of length of a spring with change of gravity, but rather the rotation (or unwinding) of the lower end of the spring. Hoyt used a thin ribbon for the spring, rather than the thin wire that had been used in earlier instruments of this sort. The mass at the bottom of the spring held a mirror whereby the angular rotation could be measured. Hoyt received three patents on October 4, 1938. One (#2,131,737) described the gravimeter itself. The second (#2,131,738) described the optical system. The third (#2,131,739) described the helical ribbon spring measuring apparatus. All were assigned to the Gulf Research and Development Corp.
- The original Gulf gravimeter weighed over 90 lbs. The instrument that the Gulf Research & Development Corp donated to the Smithsonian in 1966 seems to be a later model designed for demonstration purposes.
- Ref: E. A. Eckhardt, "A Brief History of the Gravity Method of
- Prospecting for Oil," Geophysics 5 (1940): 231-242.
- R. D. Wyckoff, "The Gulf Gravimeter," Geophysics 6 (1941): 13-33.
- L. L. Nettleton, Geophysical Prospecting for Oil (New York,1940), pp.27-29.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- AG*MHI-P-9196
- catalog number
- MHI-P-9196
- accession number
- 272511
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
North American Geophysical Gravimeter
- 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 is an example of the gravimeter that the North American Geophysical Co. began advertising in 1945. It has a LaCoste-type zero-length spring, and a null system with a beam support. It is buoyancy compensated and, when new, accurate to within .01 of a milligal. It is read by microscope. It weighs 28 lbs. This particular unit was probably made sometime after 1950 when Reginald C. Sweet obtained a patent (#2,523,075) and assigned it to the North American Geophysical Co. Robert M. Iverson donated it to the Smithsonian in 1967.
- Ref: G. E. Sweet, The History of Geophysical Prospecting (Los Angeles, 1966).
- L. L. Nettleton, Gravity and Magnetics in Oil Prospecting (New York, 1976), p.62.
- Advertisements for North American gravimeters in Geophysics 11 (1946): 28; 14 (1949): 62; and 16 (1951): 28.
- maker
- North American Geophysical Co.
- ID Number
- AG*MHI-P-9376
- catalog number
- MHI-P-9376
- accession number
- 281132
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Worden Gravimeter
- 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 is a display model of the original Worden gravimeter. Its central element, made of fused quartz, is an exact copy of the original, enlarged 5 times. The case and dials are slightly smaller. Worden Quartz Products, Inc., a Division of Ruska Instrument Corp., donated this instrument to the Smithsonian in 1967.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- AG*MHI-P-9437
- catalog number
- MHI-P-9437
- accession number
- 272383
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Ivory Billiard Balls
- Description
- The best billiard balls once came exclusively from the tusks of Asian elephants. No natural material other than elephant ivory had the physical size, strength, and beauty to perform in the billiard room and the concert hall. But mass markets in the western world for ivory billiard balls, combs, piano keys, and commercial trinklets, placed the wild elephant in serious jeopardy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
- While one African elephant tusk could yield hundreds of slips of piano key ivory, only four or five quality billiard balls could be made from the average tusk of an Indian, Ceylonese, or Indo-Chinese elephant. Raw tusks arrived at shops in New York and Chicago where master ivory turners would reduce blocks of ivory to gleaming spheres. Today, synthetic materials attempt to reproduce the performance of ivory balls on the billiard table, while in dark corners of old pool halls and in the collections of the Smithsonian, balls such as this one from 1925 recall a time when, at the expense of elephants, the only real billiard balls were cut from fresh Asian ivory.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1875-1920
- associated dates
- 1925 08 12
- ID Number
- CL*329507
- accession number
- 87896
- catalog number
- 329507
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Surveyor’s Chain (1/2 Gunter)
- Description
- In the colonial period and throughout the nineteenth century, most American surveyors measured distances with chains. The favored form was the Gunter, introduced by the English mathematician, Edmund Gunter, in 1620. This has 100 links and measures 66 feet (or 4 poles) overall. Thus 80 chains equal a mile, and 10 square chains equal an acre. The chain shown here is a half-Gunter, with 50 links measuring 33 feet overall. It is one of several instruments that James Griswold used to lay out the New York and Erie Canal.
- ID Number
- PH*319344
- accession number
- 236805
- catalog number
- 319344
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Miner's Carbide Lamp
- Description (Brief)
- This mining lamp is a “Guy’s Dropper” model made by the Shanklin Manufacturing Company of Springfield, Illinois, first manufactured in 1913. The lamp is named after its inventor, Frank Guy, a miner from Springfield. Frank Guy partnered with George and Edgar Shanklin to produce this lamp, and the lamp saw tremendous success through World War I. The Shanklin Mfg. Co. was sold to the Universal Lamp Company in 1932, who continued to make "Guy's Dropper."
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 1978.2497.02
- accession number
- 1978.2497
- catalog number
- 1978.2497.02
- 78.2497.02
- MHI-MI-1215
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center