H-Sci-Med-Tech 18th century electrical demonstrations LIVE at Cambridge Science Festival

Discussion published by Sara J. Schechner on Friday, April 15, 2016

Join the Harvard Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments and the Cambridge Science Festival on Patriots' Day, Monday, April 18, 2016 for a re-enactment of 18th century electrical demonstrations. Here are the details:

Revolutionary Science: Natural Philosophical Demonstrations circa 1775 Monday, April 18: 11:0am - 12:00pm Hall B, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge

Ever wonder what it was like to attend in the mid-1700s? Join Harvard’s Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments faculty to recreate some 18th century electrical experiments straight out of the lecture notes of Professor John Winthrop and the demonstrations at Faneuil Hall by Ebenezer Kinnersley, Benjamin Franklin’s friend. Witness the surprising effects of electrical attraction and repulsion! A fire lit by water! Bells rung by an invisible, imponderable fluid! And a warning to all who do not have lightning rods: the blowing up of the Thunder House!

Experiments will be performed with vintage and replica instruments by Sara Schechner and Daniel Rosenberg. Rare 18th-century apparatus from the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments will be on exhibit during the lecture.

Cost: Free

Sara J. Schechner, Ph.D.

David P. Wheatland Curator of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Lecturer on the History of Science Department of the History of Science, Science Center 251c, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 | Fax: 617-496-5932 [email protected] | @SaraSchechner http://scholar.harvard.edu/saraschechner http://chsi.harvard.edu/ Related date: April 18, 2016

Citation: Sara J. Schechner. 18th century electrical demonstrations LIVE at Cambridge Science Festival. H-Sci-Med-Tech. 04-15-2016. https://networks.h-net.org/node/9782/discussions/120603/18th-century-electrical-demonstrations-live-cambridge-science Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 1