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The Instrument Photograph Collection has an online catalog that is searchable by image title, caption, instrument type, and year. More than 90 kinds of instruments and apparatus are represented:
Geomagnetic instruments |
Binnacles, Compasses, Deflectors, Dip circles, Earth inductors, Earth-current apparatus, Galvanometers, Geomagnetic instruments (miscellaneous), Magnetographs, Magnetometers, Magnets, Theodolites, Variometers |
Other geophysical apparatus |
Atmospheric electric instruments (miscellaneous), Conductivity apparatus, Cosmic ray detectors, Dust counters, Field equipment, Furnaces, Gravimeters, High pressure apparatus, Ion counters, Ionization chambers, Ionospheric sounders, Mass spectrometers, Oceanographic instruments, Potential-gradient apparatus, Pyrometers, Seismographs, Seismometers, Thermometers |
Atomic and nuclear physics apparatus |
Cloud chambers, Cyclotrons, Geiger counters, High voltage apparatus, Particle tracks, Tesla coils, Van de Graaff generators |
Electrical instruments and apparatus |
Ammeters, Batteries, Commutators, Electrical equipment, Electrometers, Electroscopes, Galvanometers, Generators, High voltage apparatus, Oscillators, Oscillographs, Photoelectric devices, Potentiometers, Radio equipment, Receivers, Tesla coils, Transformers, Transmitters, Van de Graaff generators, Voltmeters, X-ray apparatus |
Timekeeping and navigation apparatus |
Chronographs, Chronometers, Clock drives, Clocks, Motion recorders, Navigation instruments, Sextants, Theodolites |
Facilities |
Buildings and facilities, Foundries, Instruments shops, Laboratories, Observatories, Research vessels |
Other subjects |
Apparatus (other), Calculators, Control equipment, Drawing instruments, Engines, Exhibitions, Expeditions, Machine tools, Magnetization experiments, Measuring instruments, Microscopes, Miscellanea, Odographs, Radio telescopes, Recorders, Solarimeters, Spectrohelioscopes, Telescopes |
Some of the prints and negatives in the collection have been digitized and are represented by thumbnails in the catalog; however, most of the 5000 images have text descriptions only. Digitization is ongoing. To request digitized versions of particular images, contact to the archives and provide the image number(s) of interest.