Tech time capsule

In the early 1800s, a merchant captain or Naval officer aboard a tall ship would have used the heavens, mathematics, and the ticking of time to chart their path across the ocean. They would have used tools such as a sextant, astronomical almanacs, and possibly a marine chronometer to carry out the maritime commerce and military maneuvers which helped to enrich early America – and Yale College.

Artifacts that evoke such historical scenes are housed on the second floor of the Yale Peabody Museum in its new History of Science and Technology gallery. The collection itself includes more than 15,000 artifacts from Yale and beyond.   

Alexi Baker, collections manager and co-curator of the gallery, noted that the objects on view reflect those largely made in Europe and North America during the past 500 years. “However,” she added, “we do have a lot of materials from beyond Yale, and a lot of these artifacts connect to stories much longer and more global in nature, which is something that we try to evoke in the museum.” Baker curated the exhibition with Paola Bertucci, professor of history and history of medicine, and curator-in-charge of the History of Science and Technology division.

As you walk into the History of Science and Technology exhibit space, on your left is a case that explores the interconnections between astronomy, navigation, and surveying — fields that historically relied on shared instruments and knowledge. Tools like the tripod telescope and sextants were essential for measuring time, mapping land and sea, and understanding the cosmos. A notable piece from one of the earliest observatories at Yale, which resembles a cannon, was once used to measure precise time and transmit it via telegraph. This large brass meridian circle was made in Germany in 1838 and was used to make more precise astronomical observations, but also to improve the accuracy of timekeeping, which was still heavily dependent on astronomy.

 The case across from the meridian circle showcases the global and historical significance of astronomical and other instruments. Its highlight, the 1537 brass astrolabe crafted by George Hartmann, is mounted to rotate, and it allows visitors to view its intricately engraved front and back, revealing the craftsmanship and scientific knowledge of the early modern period. Alongside it is a non-functional, “exploded” astrolabe borrowed from the Peabody’s Babylonian collection, which helps illustrate the individual components of this complex device. The astrolabe could be used for astronomy, astrology, surveying, timekeeping, celestial navigation, and religious purposes.

For centuries, humans used the protractor, slide rule, and mechanical calculator to mathematically solve commercial, military, and scientific conundrums. Electronic computers first appeared during World War II to decipher codes and figure out the trajectory of weapons. Increasingly as time went on, computers were machines in the hands of humans. Yale’s own Grace Hopper ’30 MA, ’34 Ph.D. helped develop the first American commercial digital computer, the UNIVAC, which was released in 1951. In the “Computing Machines” case, what sits among a cylindrical slide ruler (1903), a hydraulic computer (early 1900s), a “Millionaire” mechanical calculator (1920s), and a Radio Shack Tandy Model 102 portable computer (1987), is quite the celebrity: a Macintosh model M0001W 512K personal computer, the first upgrade after its 1984 introduction.

The case titled “Global Connections” shows early communication technologies that tell the story of how electricity and sound transmission changed the world in the 19th and early 20th centuries. You’ll spot a graphophone, a type of phonograph invented in the 1880s that used wax cylinders for sound recording and playback, and an antique candlestick telephone. But the item that Baker finds most exciting is a surviving piece of the first successful telegraph cable. “It’s unpolished and frayed,” she pointed out, “but that means that it was likely given to Yale by someone who worked on the project. It is a direct link to when the continents were first linked by telegraph.”

This display of early glass apparatus and lightbulbs is another of Baker’s favorites in the gallery. The Peabody’s mount makers have suspended the blown glass so that it appears to be floating — not only showcasing its scientific uses but highlighting the glassmakers’ craftsmanship. The case contains Geissler tubes, Crookes tubes, and early light bulbs from the late 1800s to early 1900s — some created by Yale’s own glassblowers. Yale is one of the few universities that still maintains a glassblowing studio. The Geissler tubes are sealed glass tubes which would have been filled with low-pressure gas that glowed in colors when high-voltage electric currents produced by induction coils or electrostatic machines traveled through them. They could also come in elaborate shapes, from flowers to words, and some moved. They would have been used in classrooms and popular science exhibitions of the day.

When you enter the gallery’s side room devoted to historical optics and early media, you feel as if you have stepped into a theater in a bygone era. One fascinator is the magic lantern, an early type of projector that originated in the 17th century and predates modern slide projectors and cinema. Originally, it used candles or oil lamps, replaced later by limelight or electric bulbs, to produce a bright light that enlarged and projected pictures from glass slides with painted or photographic images. These displays also demonstrate early mechanical lantern slides, cameras, and microscopes — including Yale’s first microscope from 1734. They explore the evolution of photography and filmmaking with still images and moving footage. “We’ve always envisioned this as a more immersive sensory experience than the rest of the gallery,” said Baker.