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 653 items.
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Goldstone Quartz Oscillator
- Description
- Precision frequency standards provide crucial reference radio signals for deep space tracking and navigation. This instrument was installed in 1961 at NASA’s Goldstone tracking station in the Mojave Desert, approximately 45 miles from Barstow, California for the earliest Ranger missions exploring the moon. It provided reference radio frequencies between the station and the spacecraft. It became a secondary frequency standard (see strip of tape on object) when rubidium frequency standards, more precise than the quartz standard, were introduced in 1962 for the Mariner missions.
- This frequency standard was made by Sulzer Laboratories Inc., Rockville, MD, about 1960. It contains two Model 5A oscillators, serial no. 410 and 482 in a standard electronics rack mount. The output signals are 5 MHz, 1 MHz and 500 kHz. Each oscillator uses the Bliley BG61AH-5, 5-MHz AT-cut resonator.
- Peter Sulzer invented the first fully transistorized quartz oscillator. The Model 5A is a commercial standard patterned after the AN/URQ-10 developed for military use.
- Reference:
- 1. Norton, J., J. Cloeren and P. Sulzer, "Brief History of the Development of Ultra Precise Oscillators for Ground and Space Applications," Proceedings of IEEE 50thFrequency Control Symposium (1996), 47-57.
- date made
- ca 1960
- ID Number
- 2008.0145.05
- accession number
- 2008.0145
- catalog number
- 2008.0145.05
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Magellan "NAV 1000" Hand-Held GPS Receiver
- Description
- The Magellan Corporation, founded in 1986, worked to develop a handheld, battery-powered GPS receiver for the civilian market. Launched in 1988, the NAV 1000 was the first hand-held receiver introduced to the consumer market. Magellan anticipated that people would use these devices for hiking, boating and other recreational purposes.
- date made
- 1988
- maker
- Magellan Systems Corporation
- ID Number
- 2010.0118.01
- accession number
- 2010.0118
- catalog number
- 2010.0118.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
MDIS "PathMaster" GPS Control Display Unit
- Description
- In the late 1990s, Magellan released the first turn-by-turn navigation system for civilian drivers. The PathMaster hard-wired into a car, allowed users to see a map on a display screen and follow directions. The large computer received GPS data from an antenna and sent it to the display. A small card with a portable hard drive containing map data was inserted into the computer.
- date made
- ca 1997
- maker
- Magellan Systems Corporation
- ID Number
- 2010.0118.13
- accession number
- 2010.0118
- catalog number
- 2010.0118.13
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
MDIS "PathMaster" GPS Information Computer
- Description
- In the late 1990s, Magellan released the first turn-by-turn navigation system for civilian drivers. The PathMaster hard-wired into a car, allowed users to see a map on a display screen and follow directions. The large computer received GPS data from an antenna and sent it to the display. A small card with a portable hard drive containing map data was inserted into the computer.
- date made
- ca 1997
- maker
- Magellan Systems Corporation
- ID Number
- 2010.0118.14
- accession number
- 2010.0118
- catalog number
- 2010.0118.14
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Magellan Developmental Breadboard for GPS Receiver
- Description
- The Magellan Systems Corporation produced some of the earliest handheld GPS units for civilian use. In 1986 company engineers began experimenting with electronic mockups. This is the earliest “breadboard” receiver. Together with a keyboard (2010.0154.02) and power supply (2010.0154.03), this object was used to test circuitry and components at Magellan while developing the first civilian GPS receivers.
- maker
- Magellan Systems Corporation
- ID Number
- 2010.0154.01
- accession number
- 2010.0154
- catalog number
- 2010.0154.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Magellan Developmental Display Screen and Keyboard for GPS Receiver
- Description
- The Magellan Systems Corporation produced some of the earliest handheld GPS units for civilian use. In 1986 company engineers began experimenting with electronic mockups. This is the earliest keyboard. Together with the "breadboard" (2010.0154.01) and power supply (2010.0154.03), this object was used to test circuitry and components at Magellan while developing the first civilian GPS receiver.
- maker
- Magellan Systems Corporation
- ID Number
- 2010.0154.02
- accession number
- 2010.0154
- catalog number
- 2010.0154.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Magellan Developmental Power Supply for GPS Receiver
- Description
- The Magellan Systems Corporation produced some of the earliest handheld GPS units for civilian use. In 1986 company engineers began experimenting with electronic mockups. This is the earliest power supply unit. Together with a "breadboard" receiver (2010.0154.01) and a keyboard (2010.0154.02), this object was used to test circuitry and components at Magellan while developing the first civilian GPS receiver.
- maker
- Magellan Systems Corporation
- ID Number
- 2010.0154.03
- accession number
- 2010.0154
- catalog number
- 2010.0154.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Symmetricom Chip Scale Atomic Clock (CSAC)
- Description
- Chip-scale atomic clocks (CSAC) have components comparable in size to the integrated circuits (“chips”) used in modern electronic equipment. They were first developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2004. The first commercial version is this cesium CSAC with model number SA.45s, produced by Symmetricom, Inc., in Beverley, Mass., and sold beginning in 2011. Its “physics package” (the set of components that generate the cesium frequency) occupies less than 1 cubic centimeter, thousands of times smaller and lighter than the beam tube of a conventional cesium atomic clock and operates on very different principles. Furthermore, the energy consumption is much less, making extended operation on battery power feasible. Developing such a small clock required many innovations in several disciplines, including semiconductor laser technology, silicon processing, vacuum-packing and firmware algorithms. Its portability and low energy consumption have made possible many new applications, such as geophysical sensors, backpack jammers for improvised explosive devices, backpack military radios, unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and military GPS receivers, but, as of 2013, it has not yet been used in space.
- maker
- Symmetricom, Incorporated
- ID Number
- 2011.0207.01
- accession number
- 2011.0207
- catalog number
- 2011.0207.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Chemical Balance
- Description
- This chemical balance was made by Aaron Pollock of Boston. It was used in the laboratory of Ira Remsen (1846–1927), who became the first professor of chemistry at Johns Hopkins University in 1876. The size of the pans indicates that this balance was used for gross preparation. The balance is made of brass, with bearings of steel and agate. The pans are copper. The cabinet is mahogany with glass-paneled doors and glass panels in the back. Chemical balances are usually contained in cabinets because their operation is affected by air changes and humidity. The drawer beneath the pillar contains the weights.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- patentee
- Pollock, Aaron
- used by
- Remsen, Ira
- maker
- Pollock, Aaron
- ID Number
- CH*315866.1
- catalog number
- 315866.1
- accession number
- 221777
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Stormer Viscosimeter
- Description
- This instrument was designed by E. J. Stormer, chief chemist of the Case Threshing Machine Co. in Racine, Wisconsin. In 1909 it was described as “distinctly new in design, and since it comes from a practical chemist who has found it superior to other forms in making a large number of determinations daily, it may be expected to appeal to other practical men.” And indeed it did. Stormer viscosimeters were soon being used for paint, clay slips, and pyroxylin solutions, as well as for corn, catsup, and cod liver oil.
- Stormer’s original viscosimeter consisted of a falling weight that caused something to rotate at constant speed through a viscous liquid held at a constant temperature. Viscosity would be expressed either in terms of the number of rotations in a given time, or the time needed to make a number of rotations. By 1914, Arthur H. Thomas was offering Stormers with a rotating cylinder, and this basic form remains available to this day.
- This example is marked “ARTHUR H. THOMAS CO. PHILADELPHIA, PA.” and “FISHER SCIENTIFIC CO. PITTSBURGH, PA. USA.” The Metal Products Division of Koppers Co., Inc., donated it to NMAH in 1976.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- distributor/retailer
- Arthur H. Thomas Company
- maker
- Fisher Scientific Company
- Arthur H. Thomas Company
- ID Number
- CH*336370
- accession number
- 1978.0078
- catalog number
- 336370
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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