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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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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,…
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…
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.…
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…