Name/Title
Atwood's MachineEntry/Object ID
2013.3.5Description
Atwood's machine was designed to illustrate the laws of falling bodies.
This particular instrument was purchased in 1821 by Dr. Charles Caldwell from the famous firm of Pixii in Paris. The Widener Library at Harvard has a series of Pixii Catalogues.
Note the mahogany column and the replica of a Grecian urn atop the instrument. This machine was made during a time when the classical influence still prevailed in natural philosophy. Occasionally the clock escapement and the pendulum, which are integral parts of this machine, were mounted separately on a wall nearby.
Our records show that the original weights for this machine were lost and replaced by new weights which in turn have been lost.
It is interesting to speculate that very likely this piece of apparatus was shipped from Paris by sailing vessel to Philadelphia, transported across Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh, floated down the Ohio River by barge to Limestone (Maysville), Kentucky, and then brought over-land to Lexington.
Figure 6 shows a small corner of the present museum room in the basement of the Library Building. Part of a Leyden jar battery can be seen as well as one of the antiquated book cases now used as exhibit cases.Collection
Moosnick Museum - Scientific Apparatus
