Coming to a bookstore near you soon!  Or, to pre-order, go to Amazon.

Science for the Nation is a unique look at the history of a great national institution as well as a study of the changing roles of museums and the perceived public role that a museum of science and technology plays within larger society. It illuminates the ways in which we think about the collecting and display of scientific objects, and explores the changing and often difficult relations between the state, business and industry, and museum funding. The essays also examine the Science Museum in the context of other national museums in London, and show the key differences affecting their chosen paths and individual development.

This is a great new volume … okay, I am partial because I helped to write it (see Chapter 3, entitled “The Science Museum and the Second World War”).  A perfect gift for anyone who is interested in the history of museums, especially during the 20th century.

Currently, I am working on the Museum of the History of Science’s Heaven on Earth online exhibition.  Last year, a selection of the prints went on display as part of the Museum’s contribution to the UK’s ‘China Now’ festival.  Now, all 105 prints from Ferdinand Verbiest’s Xinzhi Yixiangtu (1673) are available online and I am completing the job of captioning and tagging all of them!

The Xinzhi Yixiangtu is based on Verbiest’s work at the Beijing Observatory.  He was a Jesuit missionary who went to China during the Qing dynasty (mid-17th century) to spread both Christianity and Western astronomy.  During his time in China, he proved the accuracy of western methods and instruments, corrected the Chinese calendar, became close friends to the emperor, did cartography, and, at times, worked as a diplomat, teacher, and translator.  The 105 prints that the Museum has put online cover a variety of subjects, ranging from astronomy to mechanics to construction techniques.

All of the captions and tags are not up yet … still a work in progress, but it will hopefully be done soon.

On a recent rete discussion, the topic of whether small animal guillotines had been collected at any of the various collections of scientific and medical instruments.  This was raised because one had been recently been added to the collection at the University of Copenhagen.  One would not expect them to be common, but it appears that they were/are still very wide-spread.  There is one at the Smithsonian and in many other collections, according to the responses on the list.

This message also garnered a bunch of responses, including some very interesting ones from actual users of similar equipment … including how to instantly kill a small animal by whacking it against the edge of a table.

Just in case anyone was wondering, they are still available for purchase.

Spiral staircase with ultra thin carbon treads, stainless steel pole & handrail, and glass balustrade.

Saw an example of these at the Science Museum in their F1 special exhibition last week and thought that they were interesting.  The example on loan to the Museum from Ee Stairs was not as elegant as the image above, but they were a very interesting combination of carbon fiber, stainless steel, and glass.  The various designs make what could be very chunky designs, like the spiral above, nearly invisible and the perfect addition in a minimalistic home or office.  Read more »

Beagle Journal Portrait (1889)

In this year of Darwin, there is a new resource from the Lloyd Library and Museum, called Darwin by Post.  According to its press release and about page, it was designed to be a fake Facebook page for Darwin and his friends.  But, in this special year, doing an exhibition about Darwin needs to have a really good hook and narrative.

Unfortunately, this exhibit seems to be put together in a hurry and without much thought for how it was going to work together and be used.  It provides no new information and highlights no new connections within his work or life.  Compared to some of the other recent exhibitions (like the Sedgwick Museum’s Becoming a Geologist exhibit), this is very basic.  That being the case, it is a very easy to use resource covering the basics of Darwin and his ‘friends’ but the most useful part of the exhibit has to be several of the images that have been included in the exhibit.

Either way, this little exhibition is worth a browse.

This is a new exhibition opening at the Museum of the History of Science and it will then be going to the Yale Center for British Art.  It is focused on the role of geometry in the early modern period of English history, touching on major figures such as King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth, and George III, plus practicioners, such as Christopher Wren.

The exhibit will open on 16 June and run until 6 Sept in Oxford.  For more information, click here.

A new history of medicine website has just gone live today … brought to you by the Science Museum, Brought to Life: Exploring the History of Medicine.  It is intended to provide information for those students who are just starting to learn about the history of medicine.

It currently contains 2,500 newly-made images of objects from the history of medicine collection together with historical interpretations, interactives, and thematic introductions.  According to those who have worked on it, it will grow to 4,000 images over the next year.

This video has been produced as part of the larger program of the IOP that includes the exhibition at the Science Museum, that I posted about earlier. There is also a whole website, aimed at teachers and students, for the Cracking Ideas program … but it does not have a lot of content yet!

More Wallace & Gromit videos have been posted on YouTube in the Cracking Contraptions Series … check out the Autochef.

Yes, you read it correctly, from 28 Mar to 1 Nov 2009, the Science Museum is presenting a special exhibition called “A World of Cracking Ideas”. It is going to be ‘presented’ by Wallace & Gromit (for those who don’t who they are, see their Wikipedia entry). Read more »

The Scientific Instrument Society’s 25th Anniversary Exhibition is currently on exhibit at the Museum of the History of Science until 26 September 2008. It is a loan exhibition from members of the SIS of 50 items from 20 private collectors. The web version of the exhibition contains images of all the items plus the descriptions written by the collectors and the exhibits two curators. Read more »