Spectrometer
date: label: date made
content: 1914-1926
name: label: maker
content: Adam Hilger, Ltd.
notes: label: Description
content: In a constant deviation spectrometer, the collimator and telescope are fixed in place, and the observed wavelength is varied by rotating the prism or diffraction grating in the central box. The “ADAM HILGER LTD / LONDON / ENGLAND” inscription on the eyepiece of this example identifies the manufacturer. The “JAMES G. BIDDLE / PHILADELPHIA, U.S.A.” inscription on a brass plate identifies the firm that brought the instrument into the United States.
label: Description
content: Adam Hilger, Ltd. introduced its first constant deviation spectrometer in 1904, noting that the prism was designed by Messrs. Pellin & Broca, and described in the <i>Journal de Physique</i> in 1899. The form proved remarkably successful, and remained on the market for decades. This example, made between 1914 and 1926, is a Modified Wavelength Spectrometer. Here, the arm between the collimator and the prism is designed to hold one of three high-resolution, multiple-beam interferometers: a Michelson echelon diffraction grating, a Lummer-Gehrcke parallel plate, and a Fabry-Perot etalon.
label: Description
content: Ref: Arthur H. Thomas Company, <i>Laboratory Apparatus and Reagents</i> (Philadelphia, 1914), p. 495.
label: Description
content: Noah Rindos, “A Constant Deviation Wavelength Spectrometer Made by Adam Hilger, Ltd.,” <i>Rittenhouse</i> 12 (1998): 25-29.
label: Description
content: Charlotte Bigg, “Adam Hilger, Ltd and the Development of Spectrochemical Analysis,” in Peter J. T. Morris, ed., <i>From Classical to Modern Chemistry. The Instrumental Revolution</i> (London, 2002), pp. 111-129.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England, London
topic: label: Subject
content: Science & Scientific Instruments
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Bowdoin College
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1998.0007.01
label: catalog number
content: 1998.0007.01
label: accession number
content: 1998.0007
objectType: label: Object Name
content: spectrometer, constant deviation
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 34.5 cm x 60.5 cm x 63 cm; 13 19/32 in x 23 13/16 in x 24 13/16 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 13 9/16 in x 22 3/4 in x 21 1/2 in; 34.44875 cm x 57.785 cm x 54.61 cm