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This digital collection features selected scientific instruments, apparatus, and analytical tools from the Institute's museum as well as photographs, rare-book engravings, and illustrations depicting various types of equipment and machinery found in laboratories, manufacturing plants, and mechanical treatises. Inventions from book wheels to fireballs can be found here, alongside more modern innovations such as Gammacells and Geiger counters.
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2 items
Reproduction of Voltaic Pile
- 2018
Modern reproduction of the first electric battery invented by Alessandro Volta in 1800. Base and top are wooden. Between the base and top rests a stack or pile of 46 copper-zinc cells. Electrodes used to tranfer the…
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5 items
Oral history interview with Frank H. Field
- 2009-Dec-09 (First session)
- 2009-Dec-10 (Second session)
Frank H. Field was raised in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, by an aunt, an uncle, and a grandmother. He entered Duke University, placing a year ahead in chemistry, but had very little money. To meet his expenses he worked…
- Interviewee Field, F. H. (Frank Henry), 1922-
- Interviewer Grayson, Michael A.
- Subject Field, F. H. (Frank Henry), 1922-, Ionization, Rockefeller University, Chromatographic analysis, Chemists, Mass spectrometry, Chemists--Biography, Consolidated Engineering Corporation, Esso Research and Engineering Company, Humble Oil and Refining Company (Incorporated in Tex.), Franklin, J. L. (Joseph Louis), 1906-, Chemical apparatus
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6 items
Oral history interview with Keith R. Jennings
- 2008-Apr-24 (First session)
- 2008-Apr-25 (Second session)
Keith R. Jennings begins his oral history by discussing his youth and education in the United Kingdom, including his chemistry studies at University of Oxford, where he worked with Jack Wilfrid Linnett, and his…
- Interviewee Jennings, Keith R., 1932-
- Interviewer Grayson, Michael A.
- Subject Chromatographic analysis, Jennings, Keith R., 1932-, Mass spectrometry, Chemists--Biography, Chemical apparatus, Chemists
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6 items
Oral history interview with John H. Beynon
- 2008-Apr-22
John H. Beynon was born in Ystalyfera, Wales, the older of two sons whose parents ended their education at secondary school. Beynon grew up in a coal mining town and attended a local university, the University of Wales…
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Distillation still
- Before 2007
Distillation is a method of separating chemical substances based on differences in their volatilities in a boiling liquid mixture. A distilled beverage is a liquid meant for consumption containing ethyl alcohol…
- Subject Distillation apparatus, Distillation
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5 items
Oral history interview with Klaus Biemann
- 2006-Aug-29
Klaus Biemann's oral history begins with a discussion of his youth near Vienna, Austria. As pharmacy was the family profession, Biemann chose to study it at the University of Innsbruck. He soon developed an interest in…
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7 items
Oral history interview with David M. Hercules
- 2002-Mar-20
David M. Hercules begins his interview by discussing his childhood and education. He describes his youth in Somerset, Pennsylvania, and his childhood curiosity with science. When he was in high school, he continued to…
- Interviewee Hercules, David M.
- Interviewer Daemmrich, Arthur, Brock, David C.
- Subject Hercules, David M., Lehigh University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Electron spectroscopy, University of Georgia, Business consultants, Catalysis, University of Pittsburgh, Mass spectrometry, Spectrum analysis, Chemical apparatus, Chemists
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Beckman Biomek 2000 Laboratory Automation Workstation
- 1990s
Beckman's Biomek workstations debuted in the mid-1980s and additional models were released over the next two decades. The Biomek 2000 was released in 1994.
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4 items
Extrusion of saran bubbles at Dow Chemical Company
- 1993
Four views showing various stages of the extrusion of saran bubbles from a rolling machine at the Dow Chemical Company plant in Midland, Michigan. The employee visible in the photographs is unidentified. During…
- Creator Of Work Dow Chemical Company
- Subject Plastics, Employees, Industries, Extrusion process, Dow Chemical Company, Corporations, Plastics--Extrusion, Plastics industry and trade, Machinery
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7 items
Oral history interview with Seymour Meyerson
- 1991-Mar-07
Seymour Meyerson was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and attended the University of Chicago from which he received his undergraduate degree. By 1943 Meyerson began active service with the US military, spending the…
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5 items
Dairy Science Instruments
- After 1959 – before 1989
Pyrex 70% Gerber Bottle - A glass tube bottle with bulbous ends and a flattened midsection. The mid-section has measurements from 0 to 70 mL. One end is inscribed in red "Cheese".
Used Gerber Bottle 8% - A glass tube…
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Beckman Biomek 1000 Automated Laboratory Workstation
- 1980s
Beckman's Biomek 1000 Automated Laboratory Workstation was released in 1986. New models continued to be added to the Biomek line for the next two decades.
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2 items
Extrusion of saran bubble at Dow Chemical Company
- 1987 – 1988
Two views of an unidentified employee observing the extrusion of a saran bubble from a rolling machine at the Dow Chemical Company plant in Midland, Michigan. During production, saran film passed through a series of…
- Creator Of Work Dow Chemical Company
- Subject Plastics, Employees, Industries, Extrusion process, Dow Chemical Company, Corporations, Plastics--Extrusion, Plastics industry and trade, Machinery
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Unidentified man wielding syringe, with Beckman TL-100 Ultracentrifuge
- Circa 1987
A man flanked by dramatically-lit glassware uses a syringe, separated from a Beckman tabletop ultracentrifuge by opened blinds. This model was produced in 1978.
Beckman Instruments began producing centrifuges after…
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2 items
Glass tubes for Bendix Mass Spectrometer
- 1970s
Two views of assorted glass tubes presumably designed for use with the Bendix Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer system. The Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (TOFMS) was the flagship analytical instrument of the Bendix…
- Creator Of Work Bendix Corporation
- Subject Scientific apparatus and instruments, Spectrometer industry, Mass spectrometry, Bendix Corporation, Glassware
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Gascoyne Laboratories facility in Baltimore, Maryland
- 1970s
Close-up view of chemist Francis Ptak holding a rack of Nessler tubes at a Gascoyne Laboratory facility located in Baltimore, Maryland. A Perkin-Elmer automated, multi-element spectrophotometer is visible in the…
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First Day Cover commemorating chemistry
- 1976
Colorano cachet includes a silk depiction of two alchemists in a laboratory. Stamp depicts chemical glassware and fluids.
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Saran film production at Dow facility
- 1972
General view of sheets of saran film moving through a rolling machine at a Dow Chemical Company manufacturing facility in Midland, Michigan. Initially developed for the U.S. Army to wrap arms and equipment for transport…
- Creator Of Work Dow Chemical Company
- Subject Plastics, Employees, Industries, Dow Chemical Company, Corporations, Plastics industry and trade, Machinery
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Saran Wrap production at Dow facility
- 1972
General view of a conveyor belt transporting rolls of Saran Wrap at a Dow Chemical Company manufacturing facility in Midland, Michigan. Initially developed for the U.S. Army to wrap arms and equipment for transport…
- Creator Of Work Dow Chemical Company
- Subject Plastics, Employees, Industries, Dow Chemical Company, Belt conveyors, Corporations, Plastics industry and trade, Machinery
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Packaging of Saran Wrap at Dow facility
- 1972
General view of a conveyor belt transporting cases of Saran Wrap at a Dow Chemical Company manufacturing facility in Midland, Michigan. Initially developed for the U.S. Army to wrap arms and equipment for transport…
- Creator Of Work Dow Chemical Company
- Subject Plastics, Dow Chemical Company, Belt conveyors, Consumer goods, Corporations, Plastics industry and trade, Machinery
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Packaging of Saran Wrap at Dow facility
- 1972
Elevated view of a conveyor belt transporting boxes of Saran Wrap at a Dow Chemical Company manufacturing facility in Midland, Michigan. Initially developed for the U.S. Army to wrap arms and equipment for transport…
- Creator Of Work Dow Chemical Company
- Subject Plastics, Employees, Industries, Dow Chemical Company, Belt conveyors, Corporations, Plastics industry and trade, Machinery
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8 items
Mass Spectrometer
- 1972
Components of a mass spectrometer as designed by Alfred Otto Carl Nier (1911-1994). Mass spectrometers are analytical instruments used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of one or more molecules in a sample. The…
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Louis Vallaincourt observing extrusion of saran bubble at Dow Chemical Company
- 1972
General view of employee Louis Vallaincourt observing the extrusion of a saran bubble from a rolling machine at the Dow Chemical Company plant in Midland, Michigan. During production, saran film passed through a series…
- Creator Of Work Dow Chemical Company
- Subject Plastics, Employees, Industries, Extrusion process, Dow Chemical Company, Corporations, Plastics--Extrusion, Plastics industry and trade, Machinery, Vallaincourt, Louis
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3 items
Hewlett-Packard Model 35 Calculator with case
- 1972
Developed in 1972, the HP-35 was Hewlett Packard's first pocket calculator and the first pocket calculator ever to have transcendental functions. Twenty HP engineers spent two years and approximately $1 million…
- Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard Company
- Subject Pocket calculators, Calculators, Hewlett-Packard Company
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Cliffs Dow plant in Marquette, Michigan
- After 1934 – before 1970
General view of a section of the interior of the Cliffs Dow wood distillation plant located in Marquette, Michigan. Seeking a source of raw material for its new plastic, ethylcellulose, the Dow Chemical Company joined…