Spectrophotometer
date: label: date made
content: 1936
name: label: maker
content: General Electric Company
notes: label: Description
content: Arthur Cobb Hardy (1895-1977), a physicist on the faculty of MIT, developed a recording spectrophotometer in the 1920s. The first commercial version, produced by General Electric, went into operation in early 1933. The form was costly and complex, and only about 100 examples were produced.
label: Description
content: The National Bureau of Standards bought this instrument in 1936 for use in its color laboratory. The cost was $5324. When more efficient instruments became available, the Bureau gave it to the Catholic University of America; that school later gave it to the Smithsonian. The tag reads “RECORDING SPECTROPHOTOMETER Cat. No. 4980123 GE No. 713722 110 VOLTS D-C 110 VOLTS 60 CYCLES U.S. Pat. 1349252, 1377405, 1403475, 1459412, 1537708, 1558437, 1803198, 1803199, SCHENECTADY, N.Y., U.S.A.”
label: Description
content: Ref: Arthur C. Hardy, “History of the Design of the Recording Spectrophotometer,” <i>Journal of the Optical Society of America</i> 28 (1938): 360-.
label: Description
content: J. L. Michaelson, “Construction of the General Electric Recording Spectrophotometer,” <i>Journal of the Optical Society of America</i> 28 (1938): 365-.
label: Description
content: Kasson S. Gibson and Harry J. Keegan, “Calibration and Operation of the General Electric Recording Spectrophotometer of the National Bureau of Standards,” <i>Journal of the Optical Society of America</i> 28 (1938): 372-385.
label: Description
content: “Arthur C. Hardy, 81, MIT Physicist; developed sound recording on film,” Boston Globe (Nov. 1, 1977), p. 38.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Chemistry
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of the Catholic University of America, Department of Chemistry
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CH.329779
label: catalog number
content: 329779
label: accession number
content: 283690
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Spectrophotometer
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: recording drum: 28 cm x 6.3 cm; 11 in x 2 1/2 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 46.5 cm x 87 cm x 190 cm; 18 5/16 in x 34 1/4 in x 74 13/16 in
label: Measurements
content: base: 26 cm; 10 1/4 in