58 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 64 



shop of about 1855 equipped with some of the oldest machine tools 

 in the collection. Silvio Bedini, curator-in-charge of the division 

 of mechanical and civil engineering, and his predecessor, Eugene S. 

 Ferguson, selected the machines and planned the case exhibits in this 

 hall with the cooperation of exhibits designers Bright Springman, 

 Harry Hart, and John Clendening. William Henson installed the 

 machines and placed them in operating condition. 



A major portion of the Hall of Light Machinery illustrates the 

 evolution of timekeeping. The introductory exhibit, through a 

 revolving globe bearing small sundials on its surface, demonstrates 

 the basic importance of the daily cycle of the earth's rotation as the 

 foundation of man's timekeeping systems. The series of timekeeping 

 exhibits illustrates the gradual developments from early sundials, 

 sandglasses, and waterclocks to the most precise modern electronic 

 clocks. In the center of the hall is a reconstruction of a Renaissance 

 clock tower, the four sides of which will display a sun dial and civil, 

 astronomical, and automation dials actuated by an American tower 

 clock of 1786. Both the sun dial and civil time dials have been in- 

 stalled, the former by museum specialist Dorothy Briggs and the lat- 

 ter by its maker, Thwaites & Reed of London, England. The exhibits 

 in other sections of this hall show machines derived from the skills 

 developed by clock and instrument makers. One series traces the 

 development of the phonograph from Thomas Edison's original in- 

 vention through the work of Alexander Graham Bell's Volta Labora- 

 tory and the more recent talking machines. Exhibits on the evolution 

 of the typewriter include early original machines and patent models. 

 Exhibits in this hall were planned by associate curator Edwin A. 

 Battison in cooperation with hall designer Bright Springman and 

 exhibits designer Barbara Bowes. 



At the close of the year installation of exhibits in the Hall of Civil 

 Engineering was nearing completion. This hall interprets the story 

 of bridge- and tunnel-building through the ages. It shows how the 

 use of new materials enabled bridge builders to construct longer spans 

 and illustrates through scale models many of the classic bridges of 

 history. The tunnels section features a series of cut-away scale 

 models illustrating the development of methods in both soft-ground 

 and hard rock tunneling and depicting men at work constructing some 

 of the major tunnels in which new drilling methods and mechanisms 

 were employed. Associate curator Robert M. Vogel prepared the 

 technical specifications for this hall. Exhibits layout and design are 

 the work of exhibits designers John Brown and Harry Hart. 



Considerable progress also was made in the design, production, and 

 installation of exhibits in the Hall of Heavy Machinery. Exhibits 

 interpreting the early development of the steam engine — including a 



