Content from Artifact Spotlight

Ampico A Reproducing Piano

2011-04-21T17:45:42Z

Artifact no.: 1969.0699 Reproducer Manufacurer: American Piano Co., New York, USA
Piano
Manufacturer: Wm. Knabe & Co., Baltimore, MD, USA
Date: ca. 1924 Source: Public Works Canada

The Ampico reproducing piano, believed to have come from Rideau Hall, the official residence of Canada's Governor-General, automatically plays back music stored on perforated paper rolls.

The reproducer is driven by an electric suction pump that draws air into the device, creating a pressure differential that triggers the key action. Air is admitted by the perforations in the paper as it is pulled over a tracker bar, with the position of each row of holes corresponding to a note on the keyboard. Additional sets of perforations enable reproducing pianos to capture the elements of expression, or dynamics (the varying loudness or softness of individual notes or chords), that define a pianist’s style and interpretation of a musical piece.

Nearly all the major pianists of the early twentieth century made rolls for the reproducing piano. Sergei Rachmaninov first issued music rolls for Ampico in 1919. For this reason, the Ampico collection of music roll recordings form an important historical repertoire of romantic piano music - an era which effectively ended with broadcasting, electric recording, and the Great Depression.

This is not a player piano. Player piano mechanisms lack the expression controls that reproduce the subtle dynamics of the pianist’s original performance. In addition, the suction pumps on player pianos are foot-operated.

Music roll playing machines borrowed their technology from industry, most notably the Jacquard loom of the early 19th c. century, which used punched paper cards to determine the design woven by the machine.

Canada Science and Technology Museum

Synthetic Cornea Display

2011-04-21T17:41:59Z

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Artefact No.: 2010.0110
Date: 2010
Source: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Canadian researchers have created the world’s first biomimetic cornea. In the laboratory of Dr. May Griffith of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), researchers moulded recombinant human collagen into the shape and consistency of natural corneas. These were then transplanted into patients at the Linköping University Hospital in Sweden.

Historic artifacts are also on exhibit, such as a display of the steps to fabricate artificial glass eyes from circa 1920s.

Canada Science and Technology Museum

Minimoog Model D Synthesizer

2011-04-21T17:36:35Z

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Minimoog Model D Synthesizer

Artifact no.: 2005.0095
Manufacturer: Moog Music Inc., Williamsville, NY, USA
Date: c. 1971
Source: Mr. Paul Hoffert
Introduced in late 1970, the Minimoog Model D quickly became an icon of the 1970s progressive rock and jazz rock scenes.

While not as versatile as the larger Moogs used in studios, the Minimoog was compact and affordable and better suited to the life of a touring musician. Incorporating a number of modules controlled by knobs, switches and wheels, players could make adjustments to the sound output in real time.

Used by such musicians as Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman and Chick Corea the Minimoog became the first synthesizer ever to become a "classic." Over 12,000 were made between 1970 and 1981.

Part of a collection of electronic equipment for musical composition, performance and recording, this example was owned and used by Canadian Paul Hoffert. Hoffert is a founding member of the Canadian jazz-rock band Lighthouse, and for a time worked in Hugh LeCaine's electronic music lab at NRC. He has been inducted into the Canadian Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is a Member of the Order of Canada.

Canada Science and Technology Museum

The NoonSolar Handbag

2011-04-21T17:34:29Z

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Artefact no.: 2011.0004
Manufacturer: NoonSolar
Chicago, IL, USA
Date: 2010
Source: Purchased

The NoonSolar handbag features built-in solar technology used to power devises such as iPods or cell phones. Designed for a person that walks to work or spends time outside, the bag is carried over a shoulder with the solar panel exposed to allow the solar cell to charge a battery.

The panel is based on organic solar cell technology developed at the National Research Council (NRC) in Ottawa. The organic cells are printed on thin films using the same printing technology as Polaroid film.

In the early 2000s, the NRC was approached by Konarka, a US company that wanted to produce solar cells based on NRC’s technology. The thin, flexible solar cells were further developed and tested for Konarka who prints the solar cells. Other manufacturers incorporate the cells in a variety of products such as laptop bags, handbags, backpacks, umbrellas, clothing including military applications.

Canada Science and Technology Museum

1965 Ford Thunderbird Hard Top Coupe

2011-04-21T17:30:37Z

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Artifact no. 2011.0003
Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company, Wixom, Michigan, USA
Date: 1965
Source: M. Randolph (Randy) Bachman

First introduced at the 1954 Detroit Auto Show to compete against General Motor’s Chevrolet Corvette (1953), the Thunderbird was marketed as a new type of vehicle for the North American market. It was a personal luxury car, mass produced that spoke of comfort, style and aesthetics.

This ‘65 hard top coupe is powered by a 300 HP V-8 engine that is equipped with luxuries such as power brakes, power steering, swing-away steering wheel, power windows, conditioned air, AM/FM tape player and power bucket seats. It is also an example of a car that had cultural influences reflected in music, movies and television.

Two previous owners, both from Manitoba, are internationally known Canadian iconic celebrities of the rock world - Burton Cummings (The Guess Who), and Randy Bachman (The Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive). Influenced by the Beach Boys in their youth, they considered the T-Bird synonymous of California, beach, sun and girls – “fun, fun, fun, til her daddy takes the T-Bird away”, and dreamed of having one.

A demo tape recorded by the two in British Columbia (the only one in existence) was discovered years later in the car and a decision was made to record the music on disc. This T-Bird is featured on the cover of the CD, Bachman Cummings - The Thunderbird Trax (2006).

Theodolite

2011-04-21T17:24:47Z

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Theodolite
Artefact No.: 2011.0002
Manufacturer: Thomas Cooke and Sons, York, England
Date: 1910
Function: precise survey instrument to determine horizontal and vertical angles

Provenance: Robert Scott / British Antarctic Expedition of 1910-1913

The British Antarctic Expedition (aka the Terra Nova Expedition) of 1910-1913 was under the leadership of Capt. Robert Scott. The expedition became as infamous in the annals of polar exploration, as had the Franklin expedition to the Canadian Arctic, both because Scott’s team was beaten to the South Pole by Norwegian Roald Amundsen and because of the fate of Scott and the four members who accompanied him to the South Pole

The theodolite was assigned to one of the expedition members, Charles Seymour (Silas) Wright. Wright was a Canadian studying for his PhD in physics at Cambridge. He delayed his studies to join the expedition and served as the physicist and glaciologist. Wright was also the navigator for the sledge team that, in Nov 1912, found the tent containing the bodies of Scott and his two of his companions.

This theodolite was used by Wright to map the regions of the Antarctic near the landing area and the western mountains of Victoria Land. The theodolite was presented to him at the end of the ill-fated voyage. It passed to his daughter, Patricia Wright, when he died in 1975 and then to his grandson Adrien Raeside.

Wright wrote that the sundial was given to him by “Edward Wilson on the top of Beardmore Glacier” just as Scott, Wilson and 3 others pressed on towards the South Pole. Wilson and Scott died on the way back to camp after the disappointing trip to the South Pole just a few kilometers from the base camp.

Electron Microscope

2011-04-21T17:14:30Z

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Artefact No.: 2010.0153
Made by: James Hillier and Albert Prebus, Department of Physics, University of Toronto
Date: 1938
Source: Department of Physics, University of Toronto

A Student Project

This electron microscope was the first in North America. It was built in 1938 by two Canadians, Albert Prebus and James Hillier, when they were graduate students in the Physics Department, University of Toronto.

Only a decade earlier, “electron optics” had been a theory in Germany; using local resources during the Great Depression, Prebus and Hillier were able to produce this elegant, homemade instrument – one of the most powerful microscopes in the world at the time.

How it Works

The electron gun (top) sends a beam of electrons through a series of magnetic lenses and then through the specimen. A magnetic projector lens focuses the beam onto a photographic plate.

Cold War Control Room

2010-09-30T21:03:37Z

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SAGE AN-FSQ-7 Right Arithmetic unit,
1960,
International Business Machines Corp.,
Acc. no. 1983.0012.001,
Canada Science and Technology Museum

With the sheer number of and weight of components in each command centre and throughout the NORAD system, the SAGE computer represented faith in grand military technologies of the Cold War era. Movies such as Dr. Strangelove presented large control rooms that loomed over military personnel. In fact, the SAGE system, with its large gray units, round yellow consoles and multi-coloured command elements, had a large influence on popular culture up until the 1980s. SAGE parts served as props in dozens of Hollywood films.

sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Q7/

Photos and text by Laura Gurnham, volunteer with the Centre for Community Service Learning, University of Ottawa. Undertaken for the 4th year history seminar, HIS 4151A, United States at War Since 1898.

Canada Science and Technology Museum

Rudolph Koenig’s Sound Analyzer

2010-09-30T20:37:15Z

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Artifact no. CSTM 2009.0004
Date: 1878
Source: Physics Department, University of Western Ontario

In the 1860s, the Koenig sound analyzer revolutionized musical and scientific worlds by making sound visible. It demonstrated visually that musical notes and voices were in fact made up of simple sounds. Just like Newton’s prism that spread white light into a spectrum of colours, the analyzer broke complex sounds into its basic sounds. These sounds, amplified by the spherical brass resonators, and then transferred as vibrations through the tubing, created intense bands of flickering flame in a rotating mirror.

The sound analyzer was a marvel of the age, captivating scientific figures such as Alexander Graham Bell, who used it for his pioneering work on "visible speech" for the deaf. Today, from digital recording to the study of bird song, the “pictorialization of sound” has become central to every aspect of modern acoustics.

See David Pantalony. Altered Sensations: Rudolph Koenig’s Workshop in Nineteenth Century Paris. Springer, 2009.

Canada Science and Technology Museum

1975 Bricklin SV-1

2010-08-18T15:10:56Z

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Bricklin Canada Limited
Date: ca. 1975
CSTM

Canadians remember the Bricklin with mixed emotions. In 1974, American Malcolm Bricklin used funding from New Brunswick’s government to set up two manufacturing plants—in Saint John and Minto, New Brunswick. Despite its unique design and special features, the Bricklin was actually built with Ford and American Motors components.

Though it was assembled in Canada, the Bricklin was only sold in the United States. Bricklin Canada closed its doors in 1976, after manufacturing fewer than 3,000 cars.

Canada Science and Technology Museum

1984 Plymouth Voyager SE

2010-08-17T18:37:32Z

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Chrysler Canada Inc.
Windsor, Ontario
Date: 1984
Artifact no.: 1992.2661

The Voyager minivan arrived on the scene in 1984, overshadowing the station wagon as Canada’s favourite family vehicle.

The Plymouth Voyager was assembled in Windsor, Ontario along with the near-identical Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country. These minivans handled like regular cars, but had much more seating capacity—and as much cargo space as small trucks! This versatility made them very popular with families. In 2001, the Dodge Caravan was Canada’s top selling vehicle.

Canada Science and Technology Museum

1903 Le Roy

2010-08-17T18:29:40Z

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Le Roy Manufacturing Company
Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario
Date: ca. 1903
Artifact no.: 1975.0215

The Le Roy was produced by the Le Roy Manufacturing Co., founded in 1899 by Nelson and Milton Good of Kitchener (then Berlin), Ontario.

The Canadian-made Le Roy was actually a close copy of the popular American Oldsmobile—note the curved dash. The Le Roy was the first gasoline-powered automobile to be manufactured in quantities for sale in Canada. At this time, electric and steam-powered cars were still more popular than cars with internal combustion engines. The Le Roy company remained in business until 1907.

Canada Science and Technology Museum

1914 Ford Model T

2010-08-17T18:29:40Z

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Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited
Oakville, Ontario
Date: 1914
Artifact no. 1967.0029

Once Canada’s best-selling car, the Model T made car ownership a reality for many Canadian families.

Henry Ford wanted to “build a car for the great multitude.” With the affordable, reliable Model T, he certainly succeeded! Ford pioneered assembly line mass production—key to the car’s low price. Canadian-built Model Ts, produced from 1908 to 1927, were sold throughout the Commonwealth. By 1927, over 15 million Model Ts had been produced worldwide, making it the first true ‘world car.’

Canada Science and Technology Museum

Space Sled, Space Physiology Experiment

2010-08-13T18:29:47Z

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Source: McGill University, Montreal, Quebec.
Manufactured in early 1990s for space travel in 1992
CSTM 1992.0029

It looks like an uncomfortable seat with an attached polka-dotted umbrella, but really it is the experimental sled for the study of how well we adapt – or not -- to the microgravity environment of space.

In January 1992 the space shuttle Discovery flew Mission STS-42. This was the first International Microgravity Laboratory Mission (IML-1). One of the experiments aboard was the Space Adaptation Syndrome Experiment devised by Dr. Douglas G.D. Watt of McGill University. When an astronaut was seated on the ‘sled’, the umbrella would spin and a series of experiments would measure changes in how their body adjusted to effects that affected their balance. Roberta Bondar, Canada’s first female astronaut flew on that mission. She performed experiments in the Spacelab and on the space shuttle’s middeck using this sled and other related equipment.

Note: There is a more detailed description on the Museum’s web site at: Space

Canada Science and Technology Museum

Reaction Cell

2010-08-13T18:25:20Z

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Chemistry Department, University of Toronto
Date: 1956-7
Artifact No.: CSTM 1991.0395

John C. Polanyi and Ken Cashion used this equipment to produce chemical reactions between hydrogen atoms and chlorine molecules and to then determine the distribution of energy in the products resulting from the reaction. These experiments gave insight into the nature of the forces operating in chemical reactions when chemical bonds break and new ones form. This field of research is called reaction dynamics.

John C. Polanyi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1986.
He is one of the members of the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame, where the reaction cell may be found in our Innovation Canada exhibition.

Canada Science and Technology Museum

Quickfit Glassware Kit

2010-08-13T18:20:24Z

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Artifact no.: CSTM 1997.0461
Date: 1960s
Source: Mr. H. Chaplin

Quickfit kit of laboratory glassware can be configured for several different experimental set-ups. The box serves both for storage and for set-up. Replacement and additional components were available separately; if a piece broke, another could be ordered and the purchaser knew that it would fit properly. The small size of the glassware reduced the amount of chemicals required as well as reducing the impact on the environment.

Prior to 1850 glassblowers made equipment which was for one particular experiment. The pieces could be taken apart but their joints were all different.
Improved manufacturing allowed standardized joint sizes in the 1920s and 1930s. Pieces that could be put together in different ways and permitted the user to create many different set-ups from a single set of glassware. Mass production in the post-war period decreased cost of commercially made lab glassware, which was ideal for the chemistry departments catering to increasing demand for chemistry classes. Sets of glassware, such as those from Quickfit, are still popular due to their affordability and the number of different set-ups which can be made.

Canada Science and Technology Museum

Beckman pH meter, model G

2010-08-13T18:14:55Z

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Artifact no.: CSTM 1978.0006
Source: CN Rail, Montreal

pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a substance. The Beckman pH meter, model G, introduced in 1937, was the first compact, self-contained portable device of its kind. It did not have to be assembled and the electronics required only minimal adjustment before it could be used. Obtaining a reading was relatively simple and fast. Once the “null balance meter” was adjusted to read zero, the user could simply read the pH value from the pH dial. Its sealed glass electrode was an improvement over the one in common use at that time.

Their sensitivity of the Beckman model G, is comparable to modern instruments which use a sealed glass combination electrode, rather than separate glass and reference electrodes. Modern pH meters also benefit from elimination of vacuum tubes, miniaturization, and the introduction of battery power. The Chemical Heritage Foundation has indentified this pH meter among its finalists for the top 50 commercial chemical laboratory instruments that changed the world in the 20th century.

Canada Science and Technology Museum

Periodic Table Model

2010-08-13T18:11:26Z

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Artifact no.: CSTM 2000.0052
Date: 1999
Source: Fernando Dufour

Often, the image which comes to mind when the periodic table is mentioned is a large poster on the wall of a school laboratory classroom. Dimitri Mendeleev’s arrangement of the chemical elements is widely used to show the relationship between them, but it is not the only version. Fernando Dufour, Professor Emeritus at Ahuntsic College, Montréal, QC, conceived a different three-dimensional model, and in 1979 completed his MSc degree with a thesis entitled: “An attempt to unravel atomic structure with a three dimensional model of the periodic table”. After many prototypes, it went on sale in 1999. The “Elemen-tree” model is made of clear plastic with pink and green symbols. When assembled it does look a bit like an evergreen tree. It can be used with an overhead projector and is designed to improve students’ understanding of the relationships between different chemical groups. Students may find Mendeleev’s version helpful in learning about the nature of the elements, but it will never be confused with a festive table decoration!.

Canada Science and Technology Museum

Periodic Table Model

2010-08-13T18:08:32Z

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Artifact no.: CSTM 1995.0335
Date: 1940s
Source: National Research Council Canada

This white conical shape with fins is not an example of abstract 1950s art but rather a cyclical spiral concept of the relationship of the elements with hydrogen at the peak. It was imagined and built by Dr. Don Stedman at National Research Council of Canada in the 1940s. Stedman considered many factors and characteristics of the elements as he designed his models. While all of the usual groups of elements are found, changes from one group to another are represented and their origins are more easily understood. Stedman felt that his model gave more insight into “the orderly development and classification of the elements”. Stedman’s interests were diverse. During WW II he was involved in de-icing of aircraft propellers and, at other times, the separation of petroleum, as well as windshield rain repellants.

Ref.: D.F. Stedman, Can. J. Res. B 25, May 1947, 199-210.

Canada Science and Technology Museum

Mercury Meteor Montcalm

2010-08-13T16:58:51Z

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Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited
Oakville, Ontario
Date: 1961
Artifact no. 2008.0001

The Mercury Meteor, as a brand, was a hit in Canada. Canadians tend to prefer smaller, more economical cars than Americans do—needs that the Meteor fulfilled.

It’s common in marketing to use names and symbols drawn from a country’s history and culture. Mercury increased the Meteor’s appeal in Canada by giving distinctively Canadian names to each model, like Niagara, Rideau, and in this case Montcalm.

Introduced in 1949, the Meteor sold exclusively in Canada for eleven years.

Canada Science and Technology Museum