Gallery: Help Identify These Mysterious Scientific Objects
01instrument-with-eight-dials-set-in-wooden-frame
For more than a century, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have calibrated America's measurements, setting common baselines for everything from weights to time to the fat content of milk. The work has involved a [gadgeteer's fantasy of instruments](http://nistdigitalarchives.contentdm.oclc.org/) -- [time standards](http://nistdigitalarchives.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p15421coll3&CISOPTR=208) and [refractometers](http://nistdigitalarchives.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p15421coll3&CISOPTR=251), [galvanometers](http://nistdigitalarchives.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p15421coll3&CISOPTR=201) and [magne-gages](http://nistdigitalarchives.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p15421coll3&CISOPTR=203), thousands of tools that make measurement possible. Yet even as NIST became the world's preeminent source of quantification, they simply lost track of what some of those old instruments did. "Often a scientist retired or left NIST, and someone was cleaning out their office and found an instrument on the shelves and there was no documentation," said NIST digital services librarian Regina Avila. "They would give them to our museum guy and say, 'I found this. It looks important and we don't want to toss it.'" Now on display at NIST, those mystery tools are fascinating to see: Nothing sparks a "[My name is Ozymandias](http://www.potw.org/archive/potw46.html)" moment like a finely crafted, highly sophisticated object of forgotten provenance and purpose. But they don't need to stay lost. NIST hopes the public can identify the instruments, which have been [gathered in the museum artifacts section](http://is.gd/0I8Fqy) of NIST's digital archives. In coming months, NIST will add hundreds more mystery tools. On the following pages are a few of our favorites among those already posted. They and other artifacts can be seen in [higher resolution in NIST's archive](http://is.gd/0I8Fqy). If you know what any of them are, [let NIST know](mailto:[email protected]). __Above:__ Instrument With Eight Dials Set in Wooden Frame ----------------------------------------------- Dimensions (cm): 21 x 46 x 26. Possibly an ohm meter; used in electrical engineering. ([Link to full NIST listing](http://nistdigitalarchives.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p15421coll3&CISOPTR=360&CISOBOX=1&REC=3 ).)
02wood-heads
Wood Heads ---------- Dimensions (cm): 30 x 18 x 19. Possibly used for testing hearing aids. ([Link to full NIST listing](http://cdm15421.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p15421coll3&CISOPTR=408&CISOBOX=1&REC=12 ).)
03black-cylindrical-instrument-with-small-round-window-set-on-tripod
Black Cylindrical Instrument With Small Round Window Set on Tripod --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dimensions (cm): 26 x 24 x 15. Possibly a galvanometer. Metal tag reads "Rubicon Company, Philadelphia. Serial No. 46282." ([Link to full NIST listing](http://nistdigitalarchives.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p15421coll3&CISOPTR=407&CISOBOX=1&REC=14 ).)
04wooden-box-with-multiple-terminals-and-dials
Wooden Box With Multiple Terminals and Dials --------------------------------------------- Dimensions (cm): 26 x 55 x 30. Similar in appearance to several resistor boxes in the collection. Inscribed, "BS 21976." ([Link to full NIST listing](http://cdm15421.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p15421coll3&CISOPTR=381&CISOBOX=1&REC=6 ).)
05metal-instrument-in-wooden-case
Metal Instrument in Wooden Case ------------------------------- Dimensions (cm): 9 x 23 x 2. ([Link to full NIST listing](http://cdm15421.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p15421coll3&CISOPTR=410&CISOBOX=1&REC=14 ).)
06square-wood-framed-instrument-with-two-dials
Square Wood-Framed Instrument With Two Dials -------------------------------------------- Dimensions (cm): 19x21x18. Invented by Otto-Wolff-Gruppe; reads "Int Ohm" at top of instrument face. ([Link to full NIST listing](http://is.gd/KHaCXl ).)
07ross-precision-computer
Ross Precision Computer ----------------------- Dimensions (cm): 31 x 25 x .2. Disk engraved with a spiral logarithmic scale of 24 terms, and a total length of 30 feet. Measurements correspond to .0001 of total length. ([Link to full NIST listing](http://cdm15421.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p15421coll3&CISOPTR=266&CISOBOX=1&REC=18 ).)
08resistance-box
Resistance Box -------------- Dimensions (cm): 12 x 17 x 16. Made by Rubicon Co. ([Link to full NIST listing](http://nistdigitalarchives.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p15421coll3&CISOPTR=396&CISOBOX=1&REC=8).)
09wood-box-with-one-dial-at-the-top
Wood Box With One Dial at the Top --------------------------------- Dimensions (cm): 22 x 10 x 10. ([Link to full NIST listing](http://cdm15421.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p15421coll3&CISOPTR=382&CISOBOX=1&REC=7 ).)
10small-cylindrical-instrument-on-tripod
It's natural to assume that, in our information-overloaded culture, the identity of modern tools won't be forgotten. But that's not the case, said Avila. "It's not normal to label and categorize and index the things we have and use," she said. "It's not in the habit of people who use tools every day to do that. Obsolescence and technological change happens much sooner than you think." Above: Small Cylindrical Instrument on Tripod --------------------------------------------- Dimensions (cm): 23 x 17 x 17. Metal label reads "The Leeds & Northrup Co. Scientific Instruments. Philadelphia. 25118." ([Link to full NIST listing](http://cdm15421.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p15421coll3&CISOPTR=409&CISOBOX=1&REC=13 ).)
