Energy & Power
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.
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Electrically Welded Specimen, Bicycle Top Tubing
- Description
- This bicycle’s welded steel top tube was created using Elihu Thomson’s electric welding apparatus (see object number MC*181724). Welding samples demonstrated potential industrial applications of electric welding, and illustrations of these samples were published in journals, brochures, and advertisements. Elihu Thomson’s invention of electric welding in 1885 resulted in numerous applications including the manufacture of automobile parts, tools, screws, ball bearings, and wire lines. Thomson’s welding apparatus passed an electric current through two pieces of metal pressed together. Resistance to the current at the contact point between the metal pieces created heat and welded the metals together.
- Scientist and inventor Elihu Thomson (1853-1937) played a prominent role in the industrialization and electrification of America with over 700 patents in his name. His inventions and patents helped change the nature of industry in the United States and included the “uniflow” steam engine, automobile muffler, producing fused quartz, stereoscopic x-ray pictures, electric arc lamps, lightning arrestors, and perhaps most notably—the process of electrical welding. Thomson and partner Edwin Houston established the Thomson-Houston Electric Company in 1883. In 1892 Thomson-Houston merged with the Edison Electric Company to form General Electric.
- date made
- 1886
- maker
- Thomson, Elihu
- ID Number
- EM.181672
- catalog number
- 181672
- accession number
- 33015
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Electrically Welded Specimen, Bicycle Rear Forks
- Description
- This bicycle’s welded steel rear fork was created using Elihu Thomson’s electric welding apparatus (see object number MC*181724). Welding samples demonstrated the potential industrial applications of electric welding, and illustrations of these samples were published in journals, brochures, and advertisements. Elihu Thomson’s invention of electric welding in 1885 resulted in numerous industrial applications including the manufacture of automobile parts, tools, screws, ball bearings, and wire lines. Thomson’s welding apparatus pressed two pieces of metal together while an electric current ran through the metal. Resistance to the current at the contact point between the metal pieces created heat and welded the metals together.
- Scientist and inventor Elihu Thomson (1853-1937) played a prominent role in the industrialization and electrification of America with over 700 patents in his name. His inventions and patents helped change the nature of industry in the United States and included the “uniflow” steam engine, automobile muffler, producing fused quartz, stereoscopic x-ray pictures, electric arc lamps, lightning arrestors, and perhaps most notably—the process of electrical welding. Thomson and partner Edwin Houston established a variety of companies to manage his industrial interests. In 1892, his Thomson-Houston Electric Company merged with the Edison Electric Company to form General Electric.
- date made
- 1886
- maker
- Thomson, Elihu
- ID Number
- EM.181675
- catalog number
- 181675
- accession number
- 33015
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Electrically Welded Specimen, Bicycle Crank Hanger
- Description
- This bicycle’s welded steel crank hanger was created using Elihu Thomson’s electric welding apparatus (see object number MC*181724). Welding samples demonstrated the potential industrial applications of electric welding, and illustrations of these samples were published in journals, brochures, and advertisements. Elihu Thomson’s invention of electric welding in 1885 resulted in numerous industrial applications including the manufacture of automobile parts, tools, screws, ball bearings, and wire lines. Thomson’s welding apparatus pressed two pieces of metal together while an electric current ran through the metal. Resistance to the current at the contact point between the metal pieces created heat and welded the metals together.
- Scientist and inventor Elihu Thomson (1853-1937) played a prominent role in the industrialization and electrification of America with over 700 patents in his name. His inventions and patents helped change the nature of industry in the United States and included the “uniflow” steam engine, automobile muffler, producing fused quartz, stereoscopic x-ray pictures, electric arc lamps, lightning arrestors, and perhaps most notably—the process of electrical welding. Thomson and partner Edwin Houston established a variety of companies to manage his industrial interests. In 1892, his Thomson-Houston Electric Company merged with the Edison Electric Company to form General Electric.
- date made
- 1886
- maker
- Thomson, Elihu
- ID Number
- EM.181676
- catalog number
- 181676
- accession number
- 33015
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Electrically Welded Specimen, Bicycle Crank Hanger
- Description
- This bicycle’s welded steel crank hanger was created using Elihu Thomson’s electric welding apparatus (see object number MC*181724). Welding samples demonstrated the potential industrial applications of electric welding, and illustrations of these samples were published in journals, brochures, and advertisements. Elihu Thomson’s invention of electric welding in 1885 resulted in numerous industrial applications including the manufacture of automobile parts, tools, screws, ball bearings, and wire lines. Thomson’s welding apparatus pressed two pieces of metal together while an electric current ran through the metal. Resistance to the current at the contact point between the metal pieces created heat and welded the metals together.
- Scientist and inventor Elihu Thomson (1853-1937) played a prominent role in the industrialization and electrification of America with over 700 patents in his name. His inventions and patents helped change the nature of industry in the United States and included the “uniflow” steam engine, automobile muffler, producing fused quartz, stereoscopic x-ray pictures, electric arc lamps, lightning arrestors, and perhaps most notably—the process of electrical welding. Thomson and partner Edwin Houston established a variety of companies to manage his industrial interests. In 1892, his Thomson-Houston Electric Company merged with the Edison Electric Company to form General Electric.
- date made
- 1886
- maker
- Thomson, Elihu
- ID Number
- EM.181677
- catalog number
- 181677
- accession number
- 33015
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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