News of the Scientific Instrument Commission
(from Newsletter No. 20 May 1999)
Changes
The previous Newsletter, which appeared in June 1998, announced a complete change of officers of the Scientific Instrument Commission. After many years, Robert Anderson and Gerard Turner stepped down as Chairman and Secretary on 1 January 1998, handing the torch to a triumvirate, Jim Bennett, Paolo Brenni and Peter de Clercq.
Unexpectedly, we once again have to announce a change in the group of officers. Peter de Clercq will resign from the Museum Boerhaave and take up residence in London, where he will continue to act as Secretary. As it was considered important for the Commission to maintain close ties with the Museum Boerhaave, Marian Fournier, Assistant Director, was invited to join in a newly created position of treasurer. The Commission was gratified that she accepted and looks forward to a pleasant and fruitful cooperation.
Minutes of the Plenary Session of the Scientific Instrument Commission
Held at Sorø, Denmark on 24 July 1998.
In the Chair: Dr J.A. Bennett. Present: some 90 Corresponding members.
1. Apologies for absence
Apologies were received from Dr S. Débarbat and Dr A.D.C. Simpson
2. Minutes of the last meeting
The Minutes of the 16th Plenary Session held in Liège on 22 July 1997 had been circulated in Newsletter No. 19 and were accepted.
3. Report of activities, 1998
Newsletter No. 19 was published and distributed in June 1998. As the Commission has no formal membership, the Secretary Dr De Clercq asked for assistance in keeping an address list. Members could suggest to those interested in receiving the Newsletter and Bibliography to send him their address.
The Fourteenth Bibliography of books, pamphlets, catalogues and articles on or connected with historical studies on scientific instruments was also published and distributed in June 1998. Dr De Clercq invited all to send him books, offprints, photocopies or titles for the next Bibliography, which will cover 1998. Urged by Dr S. Ackermann not to be too selective in compiling the Bibliographies, he confirmed that he had received other similar suggestions and would take all in consideration.
In spring 1998, the Commission issued a Supplement by A.V. Simcock to the Classified Bibliography on the History of Scientific Instruments by Prof G. L'E. Turner and Dr DJ Bryden published in 1997.
The Commission has established its own website at http://www.sic.iuhps.org, where the Newsletter and the several Bibliographies can be accessed. The Commission's thanks were recorded to Giles Hudson, Jan Tapdrup and especially Dana Freiburger for their work in creating the website. Mr. Freiburger has agreed to maintain the site.
4. Financial Matters
Newsletter No. 19 and the Fourteenth Bibliography were published and distributed with the generous support of the Museum Boerhaave.
The IUHPS made a grant of $2000, mostly in support of the 17th Scientific Instrument Symposium.
The Commission has requested a similar grant from the IUHPS toward meeting the costs of the 18th Scientific Instrument Symposium in Russia, 1999.
5. Publications
Prof M. Dorikens, Gent, explained that the Proceedings of the 16th Scientific Instrument Symposium, held in Liège in July 1997, would appear as volume 14 of a projected set of Proceedings of the XXth International Congress of the IUHPS. Entitled 'Scientific instruments and scientific and technological museology', it will contain a plenary lecture delivered by Prof D. King and papers presented at two sessions held at Liège, one on 'National Inventories', one on sundials.
6. Future Activities
The Commission has accepted the offer of the Russian Academy of Sciences to organize the 18th Symposium in Moscow and St. Petersburg, 20-25 September 1999. The Chairman of the National Organizing Committee, Academician Prof Yu. Gulyaev, introduced the Vice-Chairman Dr V. Sitsev and the Secretary Dr V. Borisov, and commented on the proposed order of events. A first circular was distributed during the 17th Symposium and will be distributed by post to absent members. Respondents are to receive the second circular before the end of 1998.
The 19th Symposium is to be held in 2000 at Oxford, probably in September.
The 20th Symposium could be held within the XXIth International Congress of the History of Science, which will take place in Mexico City from 8-14 July 2001. However, Dr Bennett expressed concern about this location. Travel costs will be high, and the Commission is not aware of potential national organizers in Mexico, nor that there are museums and collections of sufficient specific interest. No decision was taken on the subject.
Dr G. Vlahakis of the National Hellenic Research Foundation at Athens read an invitation, also on behalf of Balkan colleagues, for a Scientific Instrument Symposium to be held in Athens in 2002. This invitation was gratefully accepted.
Increased activity can be effected by lending the Commission's support to workshops and symposiums which other bodies will organize under the auspices of the Scientific Instrument Commission. Two such events are presently being planned.
(1) Dr P. Brenni announced that a workshop on Conservation and Restoration of Scientific Instruments: Issues of Principle will be organized by the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza and is to be held in Florence, 14-15 December 1998.
(2) Dr P. de Clercq announced that a symposium on Scientific instruments: fakes, forgeries, replicas, copies will be organized by the Museum Boerhaave as part of the Anton Mensing Scientific Instrument Project and is to be held in Leiden, 15-16 October 1999.
7. Any other Business
The following resolution was proposed and carried unanimously:
The Scientific Instrument Commission recognises the international importance of the Hauch collection of scientific instruments at Soroe Academy. The Commission congratulates the Soroe Academy Trust on the efforts it has made so far, most successfully, to conserve and display the collection. The Commission urges the Trust to continue this work in a manner worthy of the collection's importance, ensuring its proper study and conservation.
Dr Bennett drew attention to the existence of a bulletin board for the scientific instrument community, which is operated from the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford and can be subscribed free via e-mail under rete@maillist.ox.ac.uk
Dr Bennett commented on the earthquake, which earlier in 1998 inflicted severe damage to the collection of historical scientific instruments at Urbino in Italy. He was authorized to send a formal expression of the regret of the Commission.
A Note on the Sorø Meeting
More than one hundred delegates took part in the XVII International Scientific Instrument Symposium, which was held in Denmark from 20 to 25 July 1998. The location was the idyllic Sorø Academy, some fifty miles west of Copenhagen, surrounded by a lake. The Commission had the good fortune to have an ambitious and efficient Local Organizing Committee, chaired by Jan Tapdrup, with Jørgen From Andersen acting as General Secretary. Accommodation was offered in student housing on the grounds, which resulted in a 'summer course' atmosphere enjoyed thoroughly by most delegates.
Forty-two papers were read, partly in parallel sessions, and there were two special guest speakers. Owen Gingerich gave a pre-conference talk on Tycho Brahe, while John Heilbron admonished the gathered instrument historians to be more assertive about their field of research and delectation.
There was a full-day excursion to Copenhagen with visits to instruments at Rosenborg Castle, the Rundetårn, the Medicin Historisk Museum and National Museet. There was also a post-conference tour to Aarhus, with a visit to the Steno Museum.
The papers were grouped into three sessions: 'Instruments in Scandinavia'; 'Cabinets of Physics'; 'Other Subjects'. The second theme was inspired by the presence in a separate building on the grounds of Hauchs Physiske Cabinet, the collection of physical and chemical instruments built up between c. 1787 and c. 1820 by the Danish gentleman scientist Adam Wilhelm Hauch (1755-1838), and donated to Sorø Academy by the Danish king in 1827. As recorded in the Minutes of the Plenary Session, a Resolution was carried to urge the Sorø Academy Trust to continue its efforts to conserve and display this important collection.
In a special session, Jim Bennett and Giles Hudson, both of the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, explained and demonstrated the On-line Register of Scientific Instruments, on which more information is given elsewhere in this Newsletter.
Forthcoming Meetings
* XVIII International Scientific Instrument Symposium
* Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia: 20-25 September 1999
After the presentation and distribution of a First Circular during the XVIIth Scientific Instrument Symposium held in Denmark in July 1998, a Second Circular was sent out in January 1999. Copies of the Second Circular may be ordered from the Conference Office at:
XVIII International Scientific Instrument Symposium
Institute of the History of Science and Technology, RAS
Staropanski per., 1/5 Moscow, 103012, Russia
Telephone: (095) 921 8061
Fax: (095) 925 9911
E-mail: borisov@history.ihst.ru
The programme and registration details can also be found on the SIC Website at http://www.sic.iuhps.org
The Russian Academy of Sciences has chosen the year of the 275th anniversary of its foundation to invite instrument historians to participate in academic sessions and excursions to museums and institutions in Moscow, with an optional two-day excursion to St. Petersburg. The main theme of the symposium is Historical relations between Russia and other countries in the field of scientific instruments, but papers on other themes will also be welcomed. The closing date for papers and posters is 30 April, but this date may be flexible.
The conference will take place in Moscow at the Conference Hall of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Registration fee including three nights hotel accommodation in Moscow (19-22 September), meals, receptions and excursions in Moscow: $ 500 if payment is made before 1 June, $ 550 after 1 June. For students a special reduction fee applies of $ 420.
Although the two-day excursion to St. Petersburg is optional, many delegates will consider this a vital part of the Symposium. The train to St. Petersburg leaves from Moscow on the evening of 22 September, allowing two full days for excursions on 23 and 24 September. Participants can return to Moscow by train, arriving there on Saturday 25 September, or travel home directly from St. Petersburg. The cost for the excursion is $275 including hotel accommodation, meals and excursions, plus a single train fare Moscow-St. Petersburg, or $350 if a return train journey is required.
Payment can be made in US Dollars to Donau-Bank AG, Vienna. Beneficiary: Union of Scientific and Engineering Associations, Moscow. For details see the Second Circular. For the convenience of delegates, it has been decided to allow payment of equivalent sums in Pounds Sterling to the Scientific Instrument Commission, Oxford, or in Euros to the Scientific Instrument Commission, Leiden. Details about payment, and the equivalent sums, will be announced on the SIC Website.
* XIX International Scientific Instrument Symposium
* Oxford, Great Britain: 4-8 September 2000
The XIX Scientific Instrument Symposium is to be held at Oxford, 4-8 September 2000, in Wadham College. This will include a visit to the Museum of the History of Science, which is presently undergoing major building work and gallery refurbishment. Details to follow.
* XX International Scientific Instrument Symposium
* Mexico City, Mexico, 2001
As it may prove difficult to organize the XX International Scientific Instrument Symposium within the XXI International Congress of the History of Science in Mexico City in the summer of 2001, alternatives are being considered.
* XXI International Scientific Instrument Symposium
* Athens, Greece, 2002
The XXI International Scientific Instrument Symposium is scheduled to take place in Athens, at the invitation issued by Giorgi Vlahakis during the Sorø meeting.
Workshops and Symposiums held under the auspices of the Scientific Instrument Commission
Florence, Italy: 23-24 November 1998
Workshop on Conservation
This workshop was organized by the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza and the Opificio della Pietra Dure, both in Florence. It was very well attended and clearly touched the concerns of many people working with collections of scientific instruments. There were ten speakers from museums in Italy, Great Britain, Germany, France and The Netherlands, and there followed a discussion chaired by the Scientific Instrument Commission's President, Jim Bennett. Howard Dawes gives an impression of this meeting in the Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 60 (1999), p. 27. The report of the round table discussion will be added to the SIC Website. The full proceedings will be published by the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza. Further meetings, perhaps on twentieth-century instruments, are anticipated.
Leiden, The Netherlands: 15-16 October 1999
Scientific Instruments: Originals and Imitations. The Mensing Connection.
This symposium is part of the Anton Mensing Scientific Instrument Project, a joint venture of the Museum Boerhaave, Leiden, the Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum, Amsterdam, the Utrecht University Museum and the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, Chicago. It aims to trace, catalogue and research the instruments owned by Anton W.M. Mensing (1866-1936), director and owner of Frederik Muller & Co., auctioneers in Amsterdam. Ever since they were dispersed, there have been doubts on the authenticity of a section of the Mensing instruments; indeed, several have been proved to be forgeries. The symposium will address the problem of authenticity and historic scientific instruments (programme). The registration fee is f 200,- (approximately $95) and includes lunches and drinks and a copy of the proceedings, which will be edited by Peter de Clercq and published in the series of Museum Boerhaave Communications. For details and registration, contact the local organizer Agnes Rappard, Museum Boerhaave, Postbox 11280, 2301 EG Leiden, The Netherlands, tel. +31 (0)71 5214 224, extension 602, fax +31 (0)71 5120344.
Varia
The On-line Register of Scientific Instruments
This is a scheme to improve access to information on historic instruments, which involves the adoption of a common system of numbering instruments in historical collections (ISIN-numbers) and the creation of a shared electronic database. To judge by the extensive interest in the proposal when the plan was explained to the Scientific Instrument Commission at the Sorø meeting in July 1998, there is considerable enthusiasm for this idea. It would provide an on-line database, accessible via the Internet, which would direct queries to the collections holding instruments matching the interests of the enquirer. The best way to see what is proposed is to visit the working prototype at http://www.isin.org. A manual is being prepared by Giles Hudson and Jim Bennett and will be available before the Moscow Symposium. The scheme will be launched this year.
Epact
The database of early mathematical instruments at the British Museum, the Museum Boerhaave, the Museo di Storia della Scienza and the Museum of the History of Science, a project supported by a grant from the European Commission, is now complete. It comprises an electronic catalogue rich in images and technical descriptions, with a variety of supporting tools. So far, it is available only in the collaborating museums, but a version on the World Wide Web is planned.
The Scientific Instrument Commission Website
The Commission's website at http://www.sic.iuhps.org went into its second year. Thanks are due to Dana Freiburger, who maintains the website. It is considered to amalgamate all SIC Bibliographies published so far on the Website, which would result in an instrument bibliography covering almost two decades. The site will continue to be worth watching for future developments.
Hellenic Archives of Scientific Instruments
In March 1999 the first Newsletter for the History of Science in South-eastern Europe was issued by the History of Science Programme of the Institute of Neohellenic Research, National Hellenic Research Foundation, 48, Va. Constantinou Av., Athens 116 35. It reports among others on the Hellenic Archives of Scientific Instruments, set up within the N.H.R.F to contribute to the preservation and study of scientific instruments located in Greece. For details see the Archives' website at http://www.eie.gr/hasi
Derek Howse (1919-1998)
Lieutenant Commander Derek Howse, MBE, Dsc, Royal Navy, FSA, FRIN, FRAS, died on 26 July 1998. Following a naval career, he joined the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich in 1963, where he eventually became Keeper, and he remained active after his retirement in 1982. He was President of the Scientific Instrument Commission from 1977 to 1982. A productive writer on the history of astronomy and navigation, his books include The Tompion Clocks at Greenwich and the Dead-Beat Escapement (with B. Hutchinson, 1971), Greenwich Observatory, vol. 3: The Buildings and Instruments (1975), Greenwich Time and the Discovery of Longitude (1980, revised 1997) and Nevil Maskelyne: The Seaman's Astronomer (1989). An obituary appeared in the Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society vol. 58 (1998), pages 2-3.
Aldert J. Klut (1928-1999)
Known to many of his English friends as 'Big Al', the Dutch engineer and instrument collector Aldert J. Klut died on 1 January 1999. Always keen to share his passion for precision instruments, he helped to initiate a Dutch National Inventory of historic scientific instruments, currently in preparation. An obituary appeared in the Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society vol. 60 (1999), page 4.
Home | Back to News |
