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Wiedemann's Galvanometer
The galvanometer is a current measuring device. Gustav H. Wiedemann's version of the galvanometer was developed in 1874. The coils on either side of the suspended needle could be moved back and forth to change the sensitivity, and a series of coils,…
Analytical Balance
Analytical balances are accurate and precise instruments for weighing chemical samples. They require a dust-free and draft-free location on a solid bench that is free of vibrations. The samples must be measured at room temperature to prevent natural…
Phenakistoscope
The name derives from the Greek word “to cheat”. The essential component of this device is a glass disk upon which are arranged figures radially, representing a moving object in successive positions. On turning the disk, and projecting a light beam…
Sextant
A sextant is used in nautical navigation measure the angle between two visible objects. The angle, and the time it was measured, can be used to calculate a position line on a nautical or aeronautical chart. A common use of the sextant is to sight the…
Buoyancy of Air
Chemists, and other people who do careful weighings, know that we live at the bottom of a sea of air, and that a buoyant force equal to the weight of the air displaced by our bodies acts upward on us. Alas, the density of air is small, and the…
Planimeter
An instrument with a movable pointer used for mechanical measurements of the area of an (irregular) plane figure.
Theolodite
An optical instrument used to measure angles in surveying, meteorology, and navigation. The earliest theodolite consisted of a small mounted telescope that rotated horizontally and vertically. Washington and Lee taught surveying in the mid-19th…
Circular Protractor
A mathematical instrument for laying down and measuring angles on paper, used in drawing or plotting.
String Model of a Hyperboloid
This model shows a geometric surface called a hyperboloid of one sheet. It was used in mathematics and architecture classes. The wires are straight lines. For any point on the surface, there are two straight lines lying entirely on the surface which…
Physics Laboratory
This picture was taken around the year 1900. The laboratory room was in the attic of Reid Hall and was heated by a potbelly stove. On the right is a good example of a large vacuum pump that resembles those sold in the 1850's by Chamberlain of Boston.…
Electrical Experimentation Lab
This picture shows the electrical experimentation room in Reid Hall around 1900. The tangent galvanometer visible in the picture above had been moved and can be seen at the right. Just to the left of it is the Kelvin current balance still in the…
Fountain in a Vacuum
"The “Fountain in Vacuo” is a perfectly delightful and entertaining 19th century demonstration that is never done today. Volume 1 of Pike’s Illustrated Catalogue of Optical, Mathematical and Philosophical Instruments (New York, 1856) describes it,…
Vacuum Pump
A vacuum pump is a device that removes gas from a sealed volume in order to leave behind a partial vacuum. The first vacuum pump was invented in 1650 by Otto von Guericke. This 19th century pump is made of brass.
Waltham 8 day Ship's Deck Chronometer/Clock
This gimbaled, eight-day marine chronometer is a deck clock made by Waltham in Waltham, Massachusetts, made around 1910. The mount is to keep the clock face horizontal even if the box (and ship) roll in various ways. A glass plate covered the…
Voigtlander Vag Camera
Manufactured about 1920 by Voigtländer & Sohn AG of Braunschweig, Germany. A folding plate camera using a 6x9cm film back. It has a Voigtländer Anastigmat Voigtar 105mm f/6.3 lens set in a IBSOR DDR shutter made by AGC and having the AGC…
Edison Projecting Kinetoscope
This picture should be rotated 90 degrees clockwise to show how the instrument was actually used. This kinetoscope was manufactured by Edison Mfg, Co, Orange, N.J., USA. around 1902. Continuous 35mm film wrapped around the reel, and turning the crank…
Balance with Weights
The simplest type of balance, the equal-arm, or beam, balance, is an application of a lever. A uniform bar, the beam, is suspended at its exact center on a knife-edge set at right angles to it. The point of support is called the fulcrum. Two pans of…
Lightbulbs in Stand
These light bulbs were manufactured around 1905. They can be dated by the construction of the filament. To learn more about antique light bulbs, visit this link to the SCHENECTADY MUSEUM.
Photograph of Abraham Lincoln
This photograph is an ambrotype.
Presidential campaign flag for John Bell
Flag advertising for the U. S. presidential campaign of John Bell
General Order Number 9
In General Order Number 9, General Robert E. Lee announces to the Army of Northern Virginia that the American Civil War has ended and that they are free to return home. This is the original document written in General Lee's hand.
Auf dem Einsamen Vorposten
Abessinische Patrouille in der Wüste von Ogaden beobachtet den Anmarsch des Feindes.
Auch Abessinien verwendet Tankabwehrgeschütze
Auch Abessinien verwendet Tankabwehrgeschütze. Beim Widerstand gegen den italienischen Vormarsch.
Vor dem Einsatz an der Front
Abessinische Soldaten beim Zusammensetzen eines leichten Geschützes