Energy & Power - Overview
The Museum's collections on energy and power illuminate the role of fire, steam, wind, water, electricity, and the atom in the nation's history. The artifacts include wood-burning stoves, water turbines, and windmills, as well as steam, gas, and diesel engines. Oil-exploration and coal-mining equipment form part of these collections, along with a computer that controlled a power plant and even bubble chambers—a tool of physicists to study protons, electrons, and other charged particles.
A special strength of the collections lies in objects related to the history of electrical power, including generators, batteries, cables, transformers, and early photovoltaic cells. A group of Thomas Edison's earliest light bulbs are a precious treasure. Hundreds of other objects represent the innumerable uses of electricity, from streetlights and railway signals to microwave ovens and satellite equipment.
"Energy & Power - Overview" showing 11 items.
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Assay Flask
- Description
- The term "assay" implies an analysis for only a certain constituent (or constituents) of a mixture. A good example is the assay of an ore for gold. That sort of assay would be done using a dry method, i.e. heating the ore in a crucible.
- An assay can also be performed using a wet method. A good example is the extraction of an alkaloid from dried plant material. The plant sample is placed in a vessel into which a solvent is introduced. The active constituent is separated from the sample and extracted by chemical means.
- The flask featured here, with its sloping sides and narrow mouth, is used for the wet assay method. The sample and solvent would be combined in this vessel. Additional apparatus would be used for the separation and extraction of the active constituent.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 1985.0311.064
- catalog number
- 1985.311.64
- accession number
- 1985.0311
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Environmental Button
- Description
- While many of the buttons in our collections were produced by environmental organizations, the causes they espouse are often advocated by government agencies. This button is a good example. It was made in Canada by the Alberta Energy and Natural Resources.
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0362
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0362
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Environmental Button
- Description
- This button produced by the California Department of Water and Power advocates prudent energy usage.
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0367
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0367
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Environmental Button
- Description
- Several types of renewable energy sources are available as alternatives to non-renewable carbon based energy sources. The button featured here advocates the use of wind power to generate electricity.
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0369
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0369
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Environmental Button
- Description
- Several types of renewable energy sources are available as alternatives to non-renewable carbon based energy sources. This button advocates the use of solar energy to generate electricity.
- Date made
- 1978
- maker
- Edward Horn Co.
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0400
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0400
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Environmental Button
- Description
- This popular button protests the use of nuclear power as an energy source.
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0452
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0452
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
18th Century Electrostatic Machine
- Description
- This machine was used to generate static-electric charges for scientific experiments and demonstrations. Anyone who has walked across a carpet and been shocked when touching a door knob has conducted an experiment in generating static charges. This machine generates electricity the same way--by friction.
- Elaborate experiments could be performed with electrostatic machines. The experimenter operated the machine by turning a crank and rotating the glass sphere. That generated an electrical charge by rubbing against a pad of cloth or leather. The charge would be collected by a comb of brass points and stored in a brass “prime conductor”–-typically a hollow cylinder. Neither the comb nor the prime conductor survive for this unit. Experiments investigating the electrical field surrounding the prime conductor or a charged body could be performed by bringing a material of interest into close proximity. If one was grounded, touching the prime conductor immediately discharged the machine, unlike the steady flow of current obtained from a battery. Prior to the invention of batteries and magneto generators, these machines constituted the primary means of generating electricity for experimental use.
- Static-electric machines were first developed in Europe in the early 1700s, but this example was made and used in the US. Machines made in Europe tended toward a horizontal orientation, while American machines were mounted more vertically. This hand-made machine probably dates from the 1750s or 60s. The maker of this machine is unknown but research by museum staff indicates a design influenced by Benjamin Franklin. Aside from its similarity to other Franklin machines, an 1870s label from the donor (Princeton University) and oral tradition at that school both associate this machine with Franklin, though it is believed unlikely that Franklin himself used this particular machine.
- date made
- ca. 1750
- ID Number
- EM*325513
- catalog number
- 325513
- accession number
- 2008.0088
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Environmental Button
- Description
- This button was used to encourage students at Kent State University in Ohio to ride the campus bus in order to minimize auto pollution.
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0036
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0036
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Environmental Button
- Description
- The group "Bike for a Better City" encouraged New York commuters and lawmakers to view bicycling as a means for everyday transportation. The organization, founded in 1970 by Barry Fishman and Harriet Green, called for the establishment of special bike lanes to make city biking safer.
- maker
- Fishman, Barry
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0051
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0051
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Environmental Button
- Description
- This button urges people to find alternatives to driving, such as using public transportation, riding bicycles, or walking.
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0060
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0060
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center