Interpretive Banners
High Voltage Heads Underground
Underground cables have provided a necessary substitute for the transmission of power through overhead lines for over 140 years, especially in urban areas and underwater.
American Landmarks in Renewable Energy
Americans made important contributions to the origins of renewable energy. Hydroelectric power goes back to Edison’s electric plants. Wind power achieved grid interconnection prior to WWII. The silicon solar cell followed in the wake of the transistor.
Powering Up: The GE and Westinghouse High Voltage Laboratories, from local to transnational grids
The GE and Westinghouse high voltage power engineering laboratories made possible safe, cost-effective long-distance power transmission at extra high voltages up to 765kV. This fabric wall charts their inception during the 1920s, when major cities became electrified, to their closure during the 1980s—in part owing to the demise of the US transformer and power circuit breaker markets.
Under the Waves: Insulating Transatlantic Communications
From the telegraph to the telephone, the development of our global undersea communications network depended critically on natural and then synthetic insulating materials.
Spotlight on the Electret Condenser Microphone
Electret condenser microphones make up 90 percent of some 2 billion microphones built into devices like cellphones, hearing aids, and headsets each year.
Crime and Conflict: Developing Land Mobile Radio
The early development of land mobile radio depended crucially on police and military innovations.
Calling on the Road: Mobile Communication in America, 1948–83
Two-way voice communications in automobiles developed in two major phases that culminated in the invention of the handheld cellphone.
Electric Vehicles and the Environment
For over 135 years, electric vehicles have offered a green and sanitary alternative to other forms of transportation.
The Rise and Fall of Early Electric Cars
Around 1900, the emerging automotive industry expected steam, electric, and gas-powered vehicles to all play a role in transportation.