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Thomas Jefferson's Theodolite
In 1774 Thomas Jefferson resigned from the position of Albemarle County surveyor, but he used this highly sophisticated instrument for the rest of his life. In The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, Lucia Stanton, Monticello's Senior Research Historian, wrote that Jefferson "fixed the true meridian of Monticello, calculated the position of features of the Monticello landscape and surrounding mountains, and may have used it in his observation of the solar eclipse in June 1778. In 1815, in one of his most elaborate trigonometric exercises, he used the theodolite to determine the elevation of the Peaks of Otter in the Blue Ridge Mountains."
This sophisticated scientific instrument is on display in Jefferson's Cabinet, or study, and it takes on a special meaning during this year's special exhibition, "Framing the West at Monticello: Thomas Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition." The theodolite suggests Jefferson's lifelong interest in science, particularly as a means of expanding the range of knowledge and improving the condition of mankind. This and other scientific instruments fill the Cabinet, which was the epicenter of Jefferson's Enlightenment activities.
Jefferson's captivation with science was only one aspect of his pursuit of the ideals of the Enlightenment, an eighteenth-century intellectual movement also known as the Age of Reason. Jefferson and other Enlightenment thinkers believed that knowledge was power and that human reason could be applied to improve the condition of mankind.
Although Jefferson used this theodolite locally, he cast his ever-inquisitive vision across the American West. "Framing the West at Monticello" commemorates Jefferson's stewardship of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Documenting the inhabitants, flora, and fauna of the American West was one of the primary purposes of the Lewis and Clark expedition. "Framing the West" also commemorates the two hundredth anniversary of the beginning of this transcontinental voyage of discovery.
The theodolite and other scientific instruments in the Cabinet vividly reflect Jefferson's passion for science and for its practical application. For example, Jefferson wrote to another scientist in 1817 that "I have been drawn by the history of the times from physical and mathematical sciences, which were my passion, to those of politics and government towards which I had naturally no inclination." (Jefferson to Dr. Caspar Wistar, 10 June 1817)
John Rudder
Associate Curator for Interpretation
May 2003