Philosophy society displays tools that built a nation

PHILADELPHIA -- Early colonists needed more than just high ideals to build a government; they needed the practical instruments to create a nation.

They needed the devices that could gauge the depths of ports, draw property boundaries and standardize money.

As the founding fathers crafted the documents that would guide the nation at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, colonists collected and stored the devices to craft the country in an adjacent building at the Philosophical Society of America.

"It really was the federal repository for science before the government moved to Washington, D.C.," said Sue Ann Prince, curator of the society's first ongoing public exhibition program in 190 years.

The society, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1743, opened its doors to the public recently with "From the Laboratory to the Parlor."

In true philosophical fashion, the exhibits that are part of "From the Laboratory to the Parlor" range from historical documents to scientific inventions and tools and art. All are related by their ability to detail the development of a nation.

The exhibit's homemade astronomical clock, a battery made with jars that store electricity created by friction, period books, catalogs, engravings, maps and even translations of Native American languages depict the role that that "natural philosophy" played in creating America.

"Their idea of philosophy was useful knowledge, what was practical -- very American in that sense," Prince said.

The devices in the show also include an early barometer used to record the weather, surveying instruments like those that helped draw the Mason-Dixon Line and optical devices used to magnify objects or see the stars.

While the instruments were used for serious pursuits in the colonies, telescopes, globes, scales and microscopes also became entertainment at gatherings.

"You could have people over and show them what a flea looked like blown up," said Prince, an art history professor at the University of Pennsylvania. "It was scientific, but how do you get that across to the people? You make it fun as well."