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Description: | The collection includes material that has been in use in the University of Aberdeen, primarily for the purpose of teaching and research and was brought together by a distinguished line of past Professors of Natural Philosophy. Included amongst these are Patrick Copland, William Knight, James Clerk Maxwell, David Thomson, Charles Niven and Nobel Prize winning GP Thomson, John Carroll and R.V. Jones. The collection includes a wide range of items relevant to optics, from quite early 18th century mirrors to late 20th century lasers. As a result of its continuity the collection provides an important material record which Aberdeen University Senior Lecturer Dr B Marsden describes as "charting the change in practical and popular scientific culture". Topics covered within optics include reflection, refraction, polarisation, interference, diffraction, spectrometry, microscope, photometry, photography, light sources and seeing. Telescopes are included under Astronomy. Any mention here of specific items will omit others of equal interest but the 19th century demonstration equipment includes impressive pieces for exhibiting polarisation phenomena; 20th century equipment of note includes an Ernst Leitz lens measuring optical bench, an impressive Leitz epidiascope, a Vicker's bench microscope. Spectrometers include a 19th solar spectrum taken with one of Rowland's gratings, various spectrometers and two different Grubb Parsons' wide-band spectrophotometers. The modest collection of photographic equipment ranges from a 19th century Kodak bellows camera, a rare auroral plate camera, a few representative 20th century cameras used in the University, two studio enlargers of different vintages and a range of dark-room accessories. The collection includes a modest number of microscopes and a fine example of an early Japanese electron microscope. The Natural Philosophy collection is supported by an informative and detailed webpage which includes links to articles related to the collection, information pages for selected items and documentation for an exhibition 'Precisely' which featured the connections between the museum collection of Natural Philosophy and documentation held in the University's Special Libraries and Archives. Access to the collection is restricted and all enquires should be sent to Dr J Reid, the honorary curator. Information compiled in consultation with the Honorary Curator.
Super collection: Natural Philosophy Collection.
Objects: Abbe Refractometers; aircraft camera; binocular eyepiece; binocular microscope; bulls eye lens; bulls-eye lens on telescopic stand; carbon arc; carbon arc dropping resistor; carbon arc lamp; device for illuminating slides; direct vision spectroscope; epidiascopes; EPROM; folding plate camera; Geisler tubes; glass spectrum negatives; gunsight camera; hand held polariser; He/Ne lasers with detached power supply; He/Ne laser tube; heliostat; Hilger spectrometer; horizontal microscope; hydrogen arc; infra-red detector; ionisation demonstration accessory; laboratory microscope; lamp and collimator; laser polarimeter; Leitz microscope; light activated switch; light interrupter; magic lantern slides; mazda bulb; microscope box with accessories; microscopes calibration slide; microscope objectives; microscope stage; miniature microscope; model gimballed polarization sphere; model of cornea and lens of eye; monochromatic auto collimator; MRC photometer; optical angular measurer; optical range finder; oscillator; oscilloscope; photodiodes; photoelectric demonstration accessory; photomultiplier tubes; Pointolite resistance box; polarizing microscope, bench model; puch switch; quartz prism; range of light bulbs from the carbon filament bulb, through metal filament bulbs of various designs and powers to the Ediswan Pointolite; range of projectors for glass - plate slides more modern visual aids; Rayleigh scatterer; reflection grating; scale expansion unit; scanning infrared detector; sensitive photo-detecting tube; set of preparations for spectroscope; sextant; signal generator; simple microscope; solar microscope; spectrometer; Spekker photometer; spot galvanometer; student microscope; Swift microscope; travelling microscope; twin prism spectrometer; Vickers projection microscope; Vinten studio TV Camera. | Source: | University of Aberdeen | Address: | King's College,
AB24 3FX | Identifier: | ABDNP:CLD10 | Go to resource |
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