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Maker:

L. C. Eichner Instruments  Search this

Measurements:

overall: 88 in x 76 in x 83 in; 223.52 cm x 193.04 cm x 210.82 cm

Object Name:

Equitorial Armillary Sphere (Replica)

ID Number:

PH.321830

Catalog number:

321830

Accession number:

244363

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ad-ef12-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_1187570

Measurements:

overall: 8 5/8 in x 6 11/16 in x 240 in; 21.9075 cm x 16.98625 cm x 609.6 cm

Object Name:

6-meter Bar

6 meter bar

Credit Line:

Coast & Geodetic Survey, Department of Commerce

ID Number:

PH.285228

Accession number:

57456

Catalog number:

285228

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b3-73b9-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_1850855

Measurements:

overall: 7 1/8 in x 3 in x 233 1/2 in; 18.0975 cm x 7.62 cm x 593.09 cm

Object Name:

6-meter Bar

6 meter bar

Credit Line:

Coast & Geodetic Survey, Department of Commerce

ID Number:

PH.285230

Accession number:

57456

Catalog number:

285230

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b3-73ba-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_1850860

Measurements:

overall: 8 7/8 in x 241 1/4 in x 8 in; 22.5425 cm x 612.775 cm x 20.32 cm

Object Name:

6-meter Bar

6-meter bar

6 meter bar

Credit Line:

Coast & Geodetic Survey, Department of Commerce

ID Number:

PH.285227

Accession number:

57456

Catalog number:

285227

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b3-7c17-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_1850923

Creator:

Hopper, Grace Murray, 1906-1992  Search this

Former owner:

National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Physical Sciences  Search this

Names:

Remington Rand.  Search this

Extent:

2.5 Cubic feet (7 boxes, 1 map-folder)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Articles

Technical notes

16mm films

Videotapes

Photographs

Date:

1944-1965

Summary:

Papers and photographs of Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1992) computer and Naval pioneer.

Scope and Contents:

The material includes technical notes, operating instructions and descriptions relating to projects which Hopper participated in at Harvard during and after World War II and later in the private sector. These projects involved the creation of the Navy's Mark I, II and III "mechanical calculators" (the fore runners of today's computers) and the UNIVAC and ENIAC civilian models. The photographs document both equipment and Hopper with her colleagues at work and on social occasions. There are numerous published articles and memoranda by Hopper and others on various technical aspects of computers. Clippings of newspaper and magazine articles relating to computers and their development are also included, as well as periodicals and brochures. A "humor file" contains jokes and anecdotes collected by Hopper.

Much of the material is annotated by Hopper, primarily through notations on 3 x 5 white slips of paper. Some of the annotations by Elizabeth Luebbert, who served as a summer research assistant in the Museum's Computer History Project.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into eleven series.

Series 1: Technical Documents, 1944-1949

Series 2: Photographs of Mark II, 1948

Series 3: Photographs at Harvard, 1944-1945

Series 4: Reports and Articles, 1946-1948

Series 5: Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, 1949-1965

Series 6: Compiling Routines, 1952-1954

Series 7: Press Clippings, 1944-1953

Series 8: Periodicals and Brochures, 1950-1953

Series 9: Humor file, 1944-1953

Series 10: Machine Tape, undated

Series 11: Audiovisual Materials, undated

Biographical / Historical:

Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1992) obtained her Ph.D. in mathematics from Yale University in 1934. She was an associate professor of mathematics at Vassar College when she joined the Women's Reserve of the United States Navy, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) in 1944 and was assigned to the computing project at Harvard University. She served under Commander Howard H. Aiken as a Wave until 1946, and remained at Harvard's Computation Laboratory as a research fellow until 1949. In that year she joined the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation as a senior mathematician. When Eckert-Mauchly became a division of Remington Rand, Hopper remained as senior programmer, a title she retained until 1959. Subsequently, she served as systems engineer and director of automatic programming development (1959-1964) and staff scientist in systems programming (1964-1971) for the UNIVAC division of Sperry Rand Corporation. Hopper retired from UNIVAC in 1972, having returned to active service in the U.S. Navy from which she eventually retired with the rank of Rear Admiral.

Related Materials:

Materials at the Archives Center

Computer Oral History Collection (AC0196)

This collection contains five oral history interviews with Grace Murray Hopper conducted on: July 1, 1968; November 1, 1968; January 7, 1969; February 4, 1969; and July 5, 1972.

Provenance:

Grace Murray Hopper donated her materials to the National Museum of American History, Section of Mathematics in 1967 and 1968. The majority of the collection was donated through the Museum's Computer Oral History Project in 1972.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Occupation:

Computer programmers  Search this

Topic:

Computers  Search this

Computer programming  Search this

Computers and women  Search this

Mathematicians  Search this

Systems engineering  Search this

Univac computer  Search this

Genre/Form:

Articles -- 20th century

Technical notes

16mm films

Videotapes

Photographs -- 20th century

Citation:

Grace Murray Hopper Collection, 1944-1965, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0324

See more items in:

Grace Murray Hopper Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8a1e4e5a0-fbd1-4ece-ad0c-dd83803a6168

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0324

Collection Creator:

Hopper, Grace Murray, 1906-1992  Search this

Container:

Box 3, Folder 10

Type:

Archival materials

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Collection Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Collection Citation:

Grace Murray Hopper Collection, 1944-1965, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

See more items in:

Grace Murray Hopper Collection

Grace Murray Hopper Collection / Series 4: Reports and Articles

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8f97662c4-4e4d-42fe-a022-502c296c4347

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0324-ref242

Physical Description:

brass (overall material)

Measurements:

overall: 3 1/2 in x 17 in; 8.89 cm x 43.18 cm

Object Name:

heat reflectors

Credit Line:

Union College

ID Number:

PH.325779.02

Catalog number:

325779.02

Accession number:

255505

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng40195e327-c19e-4160-a160-915bd9d4d65d

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_2014128

Measurements:

overall: 5/16 in x 1/2 in x 6 in; .79502 cm x 1.27 cm x 15.24 cm

Object Name:

handle, toothbrush

toothbrush, nylon

ID Number:

ZZ.RSN79634Z31

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b3-0e88-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_1827514

Measurements:

overall: 3/8 in x 1/2 in x 6 1/8 in; .9525 cm x 1.27 cm x 15.5575 cm

Object Name:

handle, toothbrush

toothbrush, nylon

ID Number:

ZZ.RSN79634Z30

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b3-0e8b-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_1827520

Measurements:

overall: 3/8 in x 5/16 in x 5 1/8 in; .9525 cm x .79502 cm x 13.0175 cm

Object Name:

handle, toothbrush

toothbrush, nylon

ID Number:

ZZ.RSN79634Z29

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b3-0e8c-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_1827521

Measurements:

overall: 3/8 in x 1/2 in x 6 1/8 in; .9525 cm x 1.27 cm x 15.5575 cm

Object Name:

handle, toothbrush

toothbrush, nylon

ID Number:

ZZ.RSN79634Z27

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b3-0e8f-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_1827525

Measurements:

overall: 3/8 in x 1/2 in x 6 1/4 in; .9525 cm x 1.27 cm x 15.875 cm

Object Name:

handle, toothbrush

toothbrush, nylon

ID Number:

ZZ.RSN79634Z28

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b3-0e90-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_1827527

Maker:

California Electrical Works  Search this

Physical Description:

wood (overall material)

paper (label on top of the instrument material)

brass (overall material)

Measurements:

overall: 27 1/8 in x 13 1/2 in x 11 3/4 in; 68.8975 cm x 34.29 cm x 29.845 cm

Object Name:

seismograph

Place made:

United States: California, San Francisco

Used:

United States: Ohio, Cleveland

Date made:

late 1880s

Credit Line:

Case Institute of Technology

ID Number:

PH.323669

Catalog number:

323669

Accession number:

251332

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Measuring & Mapping

Science & Mathematics

Seismographs

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b3-1a63-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_996607

Creator:

Baekeland, L. H. (Leo Hendrik), 1863-1944  Search this

Names:

Bakelite Corporation  Search this

Nepera Chemical Co.  Search this

Extent:

15 Cubic feet (49 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Professional papers

Clippings

Laboratory notes

Personal correspondence

Photographs

Notebooks

Diaries

Date:

1976

1863 - 1968

Summary:

The papers document Leo H. Baekeland, a Belgian born chemist who invented Velox photographic paper (1893) and Bakelite (1907), an inexpensive, nonflammable, versatile plastic. The papers include student notebooks; private laboratory notebooks and journals; commercial laboratory notes; diaries; patents; technical papers; biographies; newspaper clippings; maps; graphs; blueprints; account books; batch books; formula books; order books; photographs; and correspondence regarding Baekeland, 1887-1943.

Scope and Contents:

Baekeland documented his life prolifically through diaries, laboratory notebooks, photographs, and correspondence. These constitute the bulk of the collection. The Bakelite company history is also incompletely documented in this collection through Baekeland's correspondence, the commercial laboratory notebooks, and some company ledgers.

Arrangement:

Series 1: Reference Materials, 1863-1868 and undated

Subseries 1.1: Biographical, 1880-1965

Subseries 1.2:Company History, 1910-1961

Subseries 1.3: Related Interests, 1863-1968 and undated

Series 2: Published and Unpublished Writings (by Leo H. Baekeland), 1884-1945

Series 3: Correspondence, 1888-1963 Subseries 3.1: Personal Correspondence, 1916-1943

Subseries 3.2: Charitable Donations, 1916-1938

Subseries 3.3: Family Correspondence, 1888-1963

Subseries 3.4: Clubs and Associations, 1916-1943

Series 4: Diaries, 1907-1943

Series 5: Reading and Lecture Notes, 1878-1886

Series 6, Laboratory Notebooks, 1893-1915

Series 7: Commercial Laboratory Notebooks, 1910-1920

Series 8: Bakelite Company, 1887-1945

Series 9, Patents, 1894-1940

Series 10: Bakelite Corporation Ledgers, 1910-1924; 1935; 1939

Series 11: Photographs, 1889-1950 and undated

Subseries 11.1: Photographs, 1889-1950 and undated

Subseries 11.2: Film Negatives, 1900-1941 and undated

Subseries 11.3: Photoprints, 1894-1941

Subseries 11.4: Stereographs, 1888-1902 and undated

Subseries 11.5: Film and Glass Plate Negatives, 1899-1900 and undated

Series 12: Audio Materials, 1976

Biographical / Historical:

Leo Hendrik Baekeland was an industrial chemist famous for his invention of Bakelite, the first moldable synthetic polymer, and for his invention of Velox photographic paper. Baekeland's career as an inventor and innovator was punctuated by an urge to improve existing technologies and a willingness to experiment both meticulously and daringly. Born in Ghent, Belgium in 1863, Baekeland was a distinguished chemistry student and became a young professor at the University of Ghent. He had a long standing interest in photography and sought to further photographic technology with his expertise in chemistry. In 1887 he obtained his first patent for a dry plate which contained its own developer and could be developed in a tray of water. With the support of a business partner/faculty associate, Jules Guequier, he formed a company named Baekeland et Cie to produce the plate, but the venture failed due to lack of capital.

On August 8, 1889, he married Celine Swarts, daughter of his academic mentor Theodore Swarts, Dean of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Ghent. After his wedding he travelled to different countries using a traveling scholarship he had been awarded two years previously. His travels ended in the United States where he was offered a job researching chemical problems associated with manufacturing bromide papers and films with A. and H.T. Anthony and Company, a photographic supply producer. Leo and Celine Baekeland had three children: George, Nina and Jenny (1890-1895).

He left Anthony and Company in 1891 to be a consulting chemist. During that time he invented a photographic print paper using silver chloride which could be developed in artificial light instead of sunlight and thus offered more flexibility and consistency to photographers. In 1893, with financial support from Leonard Jacobi, a scrap metal dealer from San Francisco, he formed the Nepera Chemical Company in Yonkers, New York, to manufacture "gaslight" paper under the trade name Velox. The paper became quite popular and the company expanded its operations after its first three years. Finally, George Eastman bought the company for a reported $750,000 which afforded Baekeland the time to conduct his own research in a laboratory he set up on his estate, "Snug Rock," in Yonkers.

Baekeland worked on problems of electrolysis of salt and the production of synthetic resins. He was hired as a consultant to work with Clinton P. Townsend to perfect Townsend's patented electrolytic cell. Baekeland's work there contributed to the success of the Hooke Electrochemical Company which began in operations in Niagara Falls in 1905.

Simultaneously, in 1902 Baekeland began researching reactions of phenol and formaldehyde, and by 1907 was able to control the reactions and produce a moldable plastic (oxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride) which he named Bakelite. Although the process was not perfected for another couple of years, Baekeland applied for a patent for Bakelite right away. He announced his discovery to the scientific community in 1909, and in 1910 formed the General Bakelite Company. Bakelite was a thermosetting resin that, unlike Celluloid became permanently solid when heated. It was virtually impervious to heat, acids, or caustic substances. It could be molded into a wide variety of shapes and was an excellent electric insulator that came to replace hard rubber and amber for electrical and industrial applications. It was also suitable for a wide variety of consumer products such as billiard balls, jewelry, pot handles, telephones, toasters, electric plugs, and airplane instrument knobs. Two companies challenged Bakelite with significant competition, Condensite Corporation of America and Redmanol Chemical Products Company. Bakelite finally merged with these two companies in 1922 to become the Bakelite Corporation. Union Carbide finally bought the corporation in 1939.

Baekeland sustained his interest in photography by taking numerous photographs throughout his lifetime. He also devoted much of his spare time to professional societies and received various honorary degrees and awards such as the Perkin Medal. He had several hobbies such as boating, wine and beer making, and, exotic plants. He also traveled extensively throughout the world, which is documented in his diaries and photographs.

Baekeland spent his final years mostly in his Coconut Grove, Florida home where he became increasingly eccentric until his mind failed him and he was institutionalized. He died in 1943 at the age of eighty.

Scope and Content: Baekeland documented his life prolifically through diaries, laboratory notebooks, photographs, and correspondence. These constitute the bulk of the collection. The Bakelite company history is also incompletely documented in this collection through Baekeland's correspondence, the commercial laboratory notebooks, and some company ledgers.

Related Materials:

Materials in the Archives Center

Albany Billiard Ball Company Records (AC0011)

Celluloid Corporation Records (AC0009)

J. Harry DuBois Collection on the History of Plastics (AC0008)

Materials at Other Organizations

The Hagley Museum and Library, Manuscripts and Archives Department in Delaware also several related collections including: the Directors of Industrial Research Records, 1929 -982; the Du Pont Viscoloid Company, Survey of the Plastics Field, 1932; The Society of the Plastics Industry, 1937-1987; the Roy J. Plunkett Collection, 1910-1994 (inventor of Teflon); and the Gordon M. Kline Collection, 1903.

Separated Materials:

The National Museum of American History, Division Medicine and Science has several artifacts associated with Baekeland including the original "Bakalizer" the apparatus in which Bakelite was first made. See accession numbers: 1977.0368; 1979.1179; 1981.0976; 1982.0034; 1983.0524; 1984.0138.

Provenance:

The bulk of the collection was donated to the National Museum of American History's Division of Physical Sciences in November, 1981, by Celine Karraker, Leo H. Baekeland's granddaughter.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Phenolic resins  Search this

Travel -- Photographs  Search this

Chemists -- 1880-1970  Search this

Inventors -- 1880-1970  Search this

Plastics -- 1880-1970  Search this

Chemistry  Search this

Genre/Form:

Professional papers -- 1880-1970

Clippings -- 1880-1970

Laboratory notes

Personal correspondence -- 1880-1970

Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass -- 19th-20th century

Notebooks -- 1880-1970

Diaries -- 1880-1970

Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 19th-20th century

Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- Nitrate -- 19th-20th century

Citation:

Leo Baekeland Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0005

See more items in:

Leo H. Baekeland Papers

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep846e88df6-033d-4805-99e2-b308002a75f4

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0005

Measurements:

overall; stand, each: 15 in x 8 in; 38.1 cm x 20.32 cm

overall; reflectors, each: 2 1/2 in x 12 7/16 in; 6.35 cm x 31.59125 cm

Object Name:

heat reflectors

ID Number:

PH.325779.01

Accession number:

255505

Catalog number:

325779.01

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b3-888d-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_1167072

Measurements:

overall: 9 3/4 in x 16 7/8 in x 12 1/8 in; 24.765 cm x 42.8625 cm x 30.7975 cm

Object Name:

Lamp, Arc

Credit Line:

National Bureau of Standards

ID Number:

PH.328874

Catalog number:

328874

Accession number:

278101

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746aa-4a1d-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_1184332

Maker:

L. Golaz  Search this

Measurements:

overall; pressure gauge: 12 in x 11 in x 6 1/2 in; 30.48 cm x 27.94 cm x 16.51 cm

overall; bath: 23 1/8 in x 17 1/4 in x 13 1/4 in; 58.7375 cm x 43.815 cm x 33.655 cm

overall; cage: 12 1/2 in x 5 1/2 in x 3 in; 31.75 cm x 13.97 cm x 7.62 cm

Object Name:

Calorimeter

Place made:

France: Île-de-France, Paris

Credit Line:

Baltimore Polytechnic Institute

ID Number:

PH.325752

Catalog number:

325752

Accession number:

257194

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ad-e829-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_1187795

Maker:

Gaertner Scientific Corporation  Search this

Measurements:

overall: 12 1/4 in x 12 7/16 in x 10 1/2 in; 31.115 cm x 31.59125 cm x 26.67 cm

Object Name:

Calorimeter

Place made:

United States: Illinois, Chicago

Credit Line:

Beloit College. Department of Physics and Astronomy

ID Number:

PH.334636

Catalog number:

334636

Accession number:

312090

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b3-633e-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_1816710

Maker:

William Bond & Son  Search this

Measurements:

overall: 12 3/8 in x 25 in x 25 in; 31.4325 cm x 63.5 cm x 63.5 cm

Object Name:

chronograph, drum

Place made:

United States: Massachusetts, Boston

Date made:

early 1850s

Subject:

Science & Scientific Instruments  Search this

Credit Line:

Haverford College

ID Number:

1981.0745.09.01

Catalog number:

1981.0745.09.01

Accession number:

1981.0745

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b2-4e37-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_1813403

Maker:

Zeiss, Carl  Search this

Measurements:

overall: 55 1/2 in x 59 in x 22 3/4 in; 140.97 cm x 149.86 cm x 57.785 cm

Object Name:

telescope (refracting)

telescope, refracting

telescope

Date made:

ca 1900

Credit Line:

U.S. Weather Bureau

ID Number:

PH.314578

Accession number:

204611

Catalog number:

314578

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Science & Mathematics

Astronomy

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ad-b536-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_1433300