From the Test-tube to the Autoanalyzer:
The Development of Chemical Instrumentation in the Twentieth Century
11th-12th August, 2000
Science Museum, South Kensington
London, England
Joint Conference with the IUHPS/DHS Scientific Instrument Commission
and the Royal Society of Chemistry Historical Group
Sponsors include the Chemical Heritage Foundation, the Hans R. Jenemann-Stiftung
and the Fish Trust Fund of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
The conference will address the development of modern chemical instrumentation, one of the most serious lacunæ in the "new experimentalism" in history of science. The impact of chemical instrumentation in the latter half of the twentieth century has been both momentous and all-pervasive, and has not only brought about many significant scientific advances, including our understanding of the environment, both terrestrial and extra-terrestrial, but has also transformed the practice and the culture of chemistry, the biomedical sciences, and clinical medicine.
In the four sessions of the conference we seek to explore and assess this revolution in terms of the history of 20th century chemistry, using insights and tools obtained from the study of earlier periods. This conference will bring together twenty-five leading scholars in the field, mostly historians of chemistry, but also chemists, philosophers, sociologists, economic and business historians. The papers will be pre-circulated, in order to maximise the time for discussion.
Living accommodation at Southside, Imperial College.
Arrivals on Thursday, August 10; Departures: Sunday, August 13.
Sessions: Friday and Saturday, 9.30am to12.15pm and 1.30pm to 4.15pm.
Inquiries and registration: Peter Morris <p.morris@ic.ac.uk>
PROGRAMME
Thursday 10th August
7.00 onwards: Registration and reception with drinks and some food, Department of Physics Imperial College
Friday 11th August
Session 1: 9.30am to 12.15pm
I. Different Approaches to the History of Chemical Instrumentation
Chair: David Edgerton (London)
Davis Baird (Columbia): Chemical Instrumentation, Material Knowledge
Joachim Schummer (Karlsruhe):The Impact of Instrumentation on Chemical Species Identity
Terry Shinn (Paris): Instrumentation: Between Science, State and Industry
Commentator: Arnold Thackray (Philadelphia) and James Bennett (Oxford)
Session 2: 1.30pm to 4.15pm
II. Structures, Spectra, and the Quest for Precision: The Chemical Sciences
Chair: Charles Rees (London) Charlotte Bigg (Cambridge): Adam Hilger Ltd. and the Development of Spectrochemical Analysis
Carsten Reinhardt (Regensburg): Mass Spectroscopy and Structural Organic Chemistry
Leo Slater (Philadelphia): Organic Chemistry and Instrumentation: R.B. Woodward and the Reification of Chemical Structures
Commentators: Carl Djerassi (Stanford) and David Knight (Durham)
7.30 (for 8): Formal Dinner at the Polish Hearth Club, Exhibition Road. Speech by Dr Robert Anderson, Director, British Museum. Tickets still available at £35 each, please contact Peter Morris as soon as possible if you have not already booked.
Saturday 12th August
Session 1: 9.30am to 12.15pm
III. Detection and Control: The Environmental Sciences and the Chemical Industry
Chair: Jeffrey Johnson (Philadelphia)
Tony Travis (Jerusalem): Instrumentation in Environmental Chemical Analysis: Synthetic Organic Chemicals, Contaminated Water and Trace Metals
Peter Morris (London): The Evolution of the Electron Capture Detector and its Impact on the Monitoring of Pollutants
Stuart Bennett (Sheffield): Production Control Instruments in the Chemical Industry
Commentators: Ernst Homburg (Maastricht) and William H. Brock (Eastbourne)
Session 2: 1.30pm to 4.15pm
IV. Organisms, Automation, and Innovation: The Biomedical Sciences
Chair: Robert Bud (London)
Nicholas Rasmussen (Sydney): Bioassay: The Organism as Chemical Instrument
David Brock (Philadelphia): The Birth in the Clinic: The Story of the Autoanalyzer
Luigi Cerruti (Turin): The Impact of Chromatographic Techniques on Biochemistry and Life Sciences
Commentator: Christoph Meinel (Regensburg) and Pierre Laszlo (Prades)
5.00: depart for a meal before going to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Southwark, to see the opening night of "The Antipodes or, The World Turned Upside Down" by Richard Brome (pre-booked participants only).
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