11th Gerard Turner Memorial Lecture 2023 and SIS Ruby Jubilee Celebration: ‘The Zuylenburgh Collection & the reminiscences of an antiques dealer’
Royal Automobile Club 89 Pall Mall, St. James's, London, United KingdomBy Bert Degenaar, Netherlands, with an introduction by Huib Zuidervaart, Netherlands. Part 1: Collecting scientific instruments over time: the Zuylenburgh Collection in context Huib Zuidervaart Retired Senior Researcher at the Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands Member of the Scientific Instrument Society Collecting scientific instruments as objects demonstrating the history of science is …
Fireside Chat “Antique mineralogical instruments – the Medenbach collection”
On-line, for SIS-members only.Presented by Olaf Medenbach. Synopsis 3 petrographic microscopes by Nachet & Fils, Paris, ca. 1920, ca. 1880 and 1914 (from left). Mineralogy is a classical natural science and deals with the physical and chemical properties of minerals and synthetic crystals and materials. Though it might be defined as a branch of solid-state physics, the scientific …
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Fireside Chat ‘About Rare Masters of Nuremberg Ivory Diptych Dials’
On-line, for SIS-members only.By Alexander Thekale Synopsis Numerous ivory diptch sundials are known in the standard literature and can be found in various museum collections. Most of them are made by members of the well-known families Karner, Miller, Tucher, Troschel and Reinman, and a few others with a limited number of surviving pieces. This is not, of course, …
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Scientific Instrument Society AGM 2023
British Optical Association Museum 42 Craven Street, London, United KingdomAn opportunity to enjoy a curator-led tour at the British Optical Association Museum, courtesy of incoming SIS Chair, Neil Handley, PhD, AMA, FRSA The British Optical Association Museum at the College of Optometrists is the oldest museum of ophthalmic optics (optometry) in the world, established in 1901, and since its move almost adjacent to the …
Fireside Chat ‘Russian exploration and British navigational instruments in the beginning of the 19th century’
On-line, for SIS-members only.By Feliks Gornischeff Synopsis Eight-day marine chronometer by Barrauds, London, c.1822 (Science Museum, inv.no. L2015-3494). My presentation will look at the use of British navigational instruments by Russian explorers in the beginning of the 19th century. In the talk, I will cover different British makers and their instruments, look at the role of Russian diplomatic …
Long Study Tour to Boston and New England, USA
Boston Harbour (Photo by Mohan Nannapaneni, Pexels.com) Our Long Study Tour for 2023 will be an opportunity to discover historic collections and sites across Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. We are investigating visits to the following places (also available as a flyer): - Harvard Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments - Harvard College Observatory, including …
Fireside Chat: Restoring Scientific Instruments – Aims and Methods
On-line, for SIS-members only.A petrographic microscope No. II made by R. Fuess, Berlin/Steglitz before and after the restoration. The authentic restoration of scientific instruments is a technique, which needs comprehensive knowledge of technical methods and genuine recipes as well as craftsmanship and professional machinery. This talk presents the different degrees of restoration beginning from gentle cleaning to complete …
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Fireside Chat ‘Exponential ex machine – a quest from history to action’
On-line, for SIS-members only.By Pietro Milici and Frédérique Plantevin. Abstract: In the late 17th century, scholars like Huygens and Leibniz sketched some machines to justify the existence of transcendental curves by solving inverse tangent problems. Some decades later, Giovanni Poleni (1683-1761), an Italian polymath and professor at the University of Padua, designed the first effective machines for the …
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Fireside Chat ‘From Galvanometers to Oscilloscopes: The development of instruments to detect and record electrical signals 1850 to 1970’
On-line, for SIS-members only.Duddell double beam oscillograph, 1909. By Robert Whitworth. SynopsisThese days life is so dependent on electrical devices that we take them for granted. This chat will use instruments from the historic collection at the University of Birmingham to illustrate the challenges faced by early workers on electrical systems. We start with detecting direct currents with …
Fireside Chat ‘Alva Mason, Philadelphia Instrument Maker, 1824-1860’
On-line, for SIS-members only.A brass plaque signed "A. MASON PHILADELPHIA". Presented by Steve Beare, USA. Abstract The first instrument that inspired the author to collect and study scientific instruments, an inclined plane, was purchased in 1984. It has a brass plaque signed "A. MASON PHILADELPHIA". No other examples of signed Mason instruments were located at the time. In …
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Fireside Chat ‘A Case for Curiosity’
On-line, for SIS-members only.Henry P. Bowditch's “artificial waterfall” from c. 1893 (CHSI-WJ0216). Presented by Sara J. Schechner, the David P. Wheatland Curator of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University. The microscope of a literary legend; a philosopher’s bathing suit; stolen chemicals; and the nose cone of a missile given as a Valentine’s Day gift. These curiosities …
10th Gerard Turner Memorial Lecture 2022 ‘Two Enlightenment collections of scientific instruments in Hanoverian Britain’
Society of Antiquaries Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, United KingdomPresented by Dr Alison Morrison-Low, National Museums Scotland Variable microscope, in silver, by George Adams the Elder, signed by C.W. Dixey, associated with John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute. NMS.T.1987.344 (c) National Museums Scotland. Portable silver compound astronomical device, unsigned, probably owned by Archibald Campbell, 1st Earl of Ilay and 3rd Duke of Argyll. NMS.T.2007.54 …