Beyond the Glass Cabinet: The History of Scientific Instruments
Keywords:
scientific instruments, material culture, museums, methodsAbstract
The study of scientific instruments has always been a branch of the history of science, but in recent years, its character and scope have been changing. Two examples (a 1870s spectroscope and a 1920s geo-physical torsion balance) are discussed in order to sketch possibilities in artefact-centred study and to show how recent methodological debates about instruments and material culture, including their display in contemporary settings, intersect with current themes in history of science.
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