SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION o/«*« IUHPS 1.1 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / litre Sir William Logan's Petrographic Microscope? Author / Auteur Peter H. von Bitter Affiliation / Affiliation Department of Palaeobiology, Royal Ontario Museum Address / Adresse 100 Queen's Park Toronto ON M5S 2C6 Canada Abstract / Resume A petrographic microscope with rotating stage signed Nachet, 17 rue St. Saverin, Paris, in the collections of the Geological Survey of Canada, has, in recent years, been identified and publicized as having belonged to and been used by Sir William Logan, the founding director of that organization. This interpretation of ownership and/or use by Logan seems unlikely. 1) Although polarizing features began to be added to microscopes in the 1830 s and 1840s and 2) H. Clifton Sorby, F. E. Zirkel and others pioneered the study of the optical characteristics of minerals in thin rock sections in the mid-1800s and 3) M. Des Cloizeaux developed a polarizing mineralogical microscope as early as 1864, the modern petrographic microscope with a rotating stage was not constructed by R. Fuess of Berlin for H. Rosenbusch until 1873. Jean Alfred Nachet (1831-1908), famous Parisian instrument maker, probably adapted the ideas that were being disseminated by the mineralogical community of Germany and France in the 1870s to develop a petrographic microscope with unique Nachet design features. That this development did not take place until the mid- to late 1870s is shown by the 1876 publication date of Rosenbusch's design, by the earliest published descriptions of Nachet s petrographic microscope dated 1880 and 1881, and by the fact that the earliest available Nachet sales catalogue to show petrographic microscopes was for the year 1881. Sir William Logan resigned from the Geological Survey of Canada in 1869 at the age of 70 and died in 1875. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION «/«« IUHPS 1.2 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES deUOJPS Title / litre A 19th Century Surveyor's Compass Author / Auteur I.E. Kennedy and Mark MacKenzie Affiliation / Affiliation resp.: University of Saskatchewan and Saskatchewan Western Development Museum Address / Adresse Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada Abstract / Resume During the 19th century, surveying in many regions of Canada was carried out with a surveyor's compass (circumferentor) and chain. A number of surveyors could not afford either the more expensive engineer's level or an engineer's transit. Scientists in the latter half of the century became aware of and concerned with the inherent errors associated with the field use of the surveyor's compass. W.B. lack at Fredericton and W.F. King at Ottawa established "standards laboratories" to assist surveyors in overcoming some of the difficulties associated with the use of.the compass in the field. The number of circumferentors to be found today in Canada s museums is not excessive. Prior to 1980, the late Dr. B .W. Currie made a gift to the Physics Department, University of Saskatchewan, of an early 19th century surveyor's compass. A limited conservation treatment is required for this compass before displaying it to the public as an artifact. This circumferentor was designed and manufactured as a practical instrument for use in field surveying. A close examination of this compass yields details of small volume production of utilitarian scientific instruments of the early 19th century. Physical scars and marks may be the result of field repairs. The combination of organic hair in the sighting reticules, as well as the materials used in the degree dial and jewel bearing, broadens the composite materials nature of this artifact and places constraints on the preservative treatments considered feasible. Contamination on the needle in the form of finger print patterns is an example of "patina vile" which should be removed and stabilized. The best process for doing so may jeopardize future field trials of this artifact. Such considerations must be evaluated prior to finalizing conservation treatment. Though relatively simple, the treatment will be decided upon by assessing the academic potential offered by this compass, along with its eventual curatorial exhibit possibilities. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION <>/*« IUHPS 1.3 LA COMMISSION DBS INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / Titre Direct and Indirect Methods of Measurements: Invention and Development of the Analytical Plotter in Canada. Author / Auteur Teodor I. Blachut Affiliation / Affiliation National Research Council of Canada (retired) Address / Mresse 61 Rothwell Dr. Gloucester ON K1)7G7 Canada Abstract / Resume When discussing measurements we usually have in mind direct measurements in "natural space". This means that, using appropriate tools, we perform measurements of the actual object to establish its form and dimensions. In many cases the object may be very complex and direct measurements may not provide a satisfactory answer, e.g. the human body. Precise determination of its shape through direct measurements is almost impossible. Other examples of difficulties in direct measurement includes an object that is changing shape, is in motion, or is inaccessible, e.g. steep mountains, clouds, wave, etc.. Applicability of direct measurements is therefore very limited. Indirect measurements are made when a physical or abstract model of the actual object is submitted to precise measurements. I am referring to techniques and processes that together constitute the discipline of Photogrammetry. The main application of photogrammetry is in mapping. However, the definition of photogrammetry as "the use of aerial photographs for mapping" is wrong and damaging to photogrammetry. Rather, the construction of virtual or physical models is based on the use of photographic images of precisely known geometry. The instruments used for measurements or plotting of the models require very high accuracy, i.e. of the order of single microns (micro- millimetres). Analogue plotters. Characteristics, performance and limitations. Reaching the limit of practical possibility. Analytical photogrammetry. To overcome the limitations of the analogue instruments the historical concept of analogue solutions was abandoned and an analytical plotter, based on computations was developed at the National Research Council (Ottawa). In this instrument the basic inputs are known constants and coordinates of points corresponding in stereo photographs, observed and measured in the instrument. This represented a real breakthrough in photogrammetric technique and marks a new era in further development in the field. Only a few characteristics will be mentioned: use of any images as long as they are geometrically well defined (arbitrary geometric characteristic of cameras), basic operations based on the judgment of an operator are replaced by mathematical computations (partial automation), time of these operations drastically reduced, errorless transfer of parameters, enormous simplification of instruments, unlimited possibility in introducing corrections including corrections for constant instrumental errors, choice of reference surface, type of projection, etc. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION o/nu IUHPS 1.4 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES ifaUIHPS Title / Titre Surveying in the Cold War Author / Auteure Deborah Jean Warner Affiliation / Affiliation National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution Address / Adresse 5128 NMAH, Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC, 20560 USA Abstract / Resume As World War II came to an end, many people became aware that only a small portion of the Earth's landmass had been surveyed with the accuracy needed for economic development, military preparedness, and scientific understanding. The need to know the exact size and shape of the Earth increased with the introduction of intercontinental missiles, artificial satellites, and planned flights to the Moon in the 1960s. Americans responded to this need in many ways, and with massive amounts of funding. The U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey initiated a first-order transcontinental traverse of the United States, agencies in the various states sponsored the control surveys needed for the Interstate Highway Act of 1956, and the U. S. Army Engineers and the Army Map Service conducted and/or sponsored third-order surveys of many remote areas of the globe. At the same time that government leaders were facing this rising demand for ever more precise surveys, even in areas where the terrain was rough or the temperatures extreme, scientists and engineers (often with the help of public funds) were revolutionizing instruments used to accomplish these tasks. One important set of the new ground-based instruments were those which measured distances electronically (that is, with visible light, microwaves, lasers, or infrared radiation). I will discuss these EDMs as both products and tools of the Cold War, suggesting ways in which the technologies were related to other products of the military-industrial complex, and indicating some of the new tasks to which they were applied. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION »/*« IUHPS 2.1 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES ifeUIHPS Title/ Titre 'Spirit of Place': geographical implications of the English provincial instrument trade, 1760-1850 Author / Auteure Alison Morrison-Low Affiliation / Affiliation National Museums of Scotland and the University of York Address / Mresse Chambers Street Edinburgh EH 1 1JF Scotland Abstract / Resume Although London remained the largest and the pre/eminent (and indeed world) centre of the scientific instrument trade during the time of the classic Industrial Revolution and beyond, this period also saw a significant growth in other localities. Birmingham, Liverpool and Sheffield were all to some extent manufacturing centres of these specialized products for topographic and demographic reasons. This paper will examine some aspects of local conditions, and also attempt to explain why some earlier centres of population, such as Bristol and York, failed to develop their trade beyond their immediate markets. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION «/<*« IUHPS 2.2 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / Titre A non-technical analysis of air pumps Author / Auteur Anne C. van Helden Affiliation / Affiliation Museum Boerhaave Address / Adresse Postbus 11280 NL-2301 EG Leiden The Netherlands Abstract / Resume The adage 'form follows function' is likely to apply to the utilitarian kind of objects that scientific instruments are. But nevertheless, the instrument makers had significant freedom in designing the details. Often they will not have been aware of the choices they made. Therefore the non-technical details are likely to reflect, at a subconscious level, the cultural preoccupations and the attitude of the maker toward his instrument. An analysis of non-technical design elements may reveal some of the unconscious input. Seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century air pumps provide a good case-study to give this kind of research a try. After all, the air pump certainly was important culturally, at least in the scientific niche. Moreover, in this case we can confront our data with documentary sources and with a technical analysis of the same objects. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION of the IUHPS 2.3 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / litre Medical Instrument and Medical Epistemology: Forgotten Applications of Laennec's Stethoscope Author / Auteure lacalyn M. Duffin Affiliation / Affiliation History of Medicine, Queen's Univ. Address / Adresse Kingston ON K7L 3N6 Canada Abstract / Resume It is well known that with the invention of the stethoscope in 1816-1817, Laennec became one of the first physicians to accurately predict organic lesions in the lung and the heart. As many scholars have shown, this achievement made him a "hero" of anatomical pathology, because it was now possible to link all diseases to their accompanying organic changes. The Laennec manuscripts contain unpublished clinical case records and several thousand pages of lecture notes on clinical medicine. These sources make it clear that the inventor himself conceived of a wider application of his stethoscope to an assessment of human physiology, temperament, and nervous make-up. These under-appreciated aspects of Laennec's epistemology led him into the midst of a debate between mechanistic and vitalistic explanations of life. This paper will explore the role of the stethoscope and early 19th century notions concerning physiology and pathophysiology. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION of the IUHPS 2.4 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / litre Measuring Goodness: Eudiometers from Priestley to Pepys Author / Auteur Trevor H. Levere Affiliation / Affiliation Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science & Technology, Univ. of Toronto Address / Mresse 73 Queen's Park Cr. East Toronto ON M5S 1K7 Canada Abstract / Resume Once chemists had arrived at the concept of different kinds of air, they had a chemical basis for interpreting the way in which air varied in its goodness for respiration. Priestley was the pioneer in devising ways to measure differences in goodness, and soon afterwards Landriani gave the name of "eudiometer" to the instrument that he invented for this purpose. Combination with nitrous air was the key to their instruments, as it was of Priestley's. Virtually at the same time, Fontana devised a series of eudiometers, and one of his instruments was for several years the most accurate available. Cavendish produced his own eudiometer as an improvement on Fontana's, but both Fontana and Cavendish obtained results whose accuracy depended at least as much on experimental technique and skill as on the design of their instruments. Early in the nineteenth century, Hope and Pepys both devised eudiometers that would give good results in the hands of less gifted practitioners. In the event, electric spark eudiometers were to become the nineteenth/century standard instruments. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION of the IUHPS 3.1 LA COMMISSION DBS INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES «feUIHPS Title / li Some Gems from a 14th Century Syrian Treatise on Instrumentation Author/ Auteur Francois Charette Affiliation / Affiliation Institut fur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, lohann Wolfgang Goethe-Universits Address / Adresse Robert-Mayer Str, 1 D-60054 Frankfurt am Main Germany Abstract / Resume Shihab al-DTn Ahmad ibn AbT Bakr, known as IBN AL-SARRAJ, was the constructor of the most sophisticated astrolabe ever made before the early modern period (now preserved in the Benaki Museum, Athens). He was active in Aleppo (Syria) during the first half of the fourteenth century. Numerous of his short treatises on specific instruments he invented are known. In 1982, a comprehensive treatise on astronomical instrumentation attributed to him was identified. This text, in which IBN AL-SARRA| describes, in about 120 chapters, the construction of all astrolabes, quadrants and sundials known to him, is currently being investigated and promises to add considerably to our knowledge of medieval astronomical instrumentation. The purpose of this paper is to present preliminary results from the analysis of this important work. After having briefly discussed the sources upon which the author relied, and the context in which he flourished, a few hitherto unknown instruments IBN describes will be presented. For each of them, illustrations from the manuscript as well as an attempted reconstitution will be shown. Specific instruments that will be discuss include: • the azimuthal quadrant called "ai-sukkar al-manbat" (the candied, or silvery, sugar); • some new non-standard astrolabes retes in the manner of S11ZT and BlRfJNT, in particular, a modification of the plate of the "melon-shaped" astrolabe; and • one example of a sophisticated sundial. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION «./<*« IUHPS 3.2 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES de UIHPS Title / Tttre The Path of the Moon Engraved: Lunar Mansions on Scientific Instruments Author / Auteure Silke Ackermann Affiliation / Affiliation Medieval and Later Antiquities, British Museum Address / Adresse Great Russell Street, London WClH 3DG Great Britain Abstract / Resume In the same way as the ecliptic is divided into the twelve zodiacal signs, the lunar orbit can be divided into sections.- the lunar mansions. Usually there are 28 lunar mansions, one for each day of the lunar cycle. As the zodiacal signs are constellations close to the apparent path of the Sun in the sky, so the lunar mansions are formed by groups of stars close to the lunar orbit. The names or shapes of these groups of stars are often to be found on instruments, especially astrolabes, but neither the origin of the underlying concept nor their appearance on instruments has ever been investigated. The paper will discuss the history and use of lunar mansions, based on both European and Islamic instruments and manuscripts. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION o/au IUHPS 3.3 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES ifeUIHPS Title ITiire Sunlight and Shadows: Or, What's the Point of Big Sundials? Author / Auteur Allan A. Mills Affiliation / Affiliation Astronomy Group, The University Address / Adresse University Rd. Leicester, LEI 7RH Great Britain Abstract / Resume The Sun is the only star that does not appear as a point of light in the sky. Instead it presents an obvious disc, subtending approximately 1/2" of arc. Therefore the Sun does not throw sharp shadows, and the longer the 'throw' of a shadow the fuzzier is its edge. Thus, the apex of a tall pillar (or a rod projecting from it) can not be resolved at all in the shadow of such a structure. Nevertheless, monumental sundials and meridian lines have been built by most cultures, e.g. Egyptian, Roman, Chinese and Indian, with the obvious intention of delineating small intervals of time by virtue of the long projection distance from the gnomon. But would not the increasing uncertainty in the 'edge' of its shadow frustrate this intention? If so, why was their expensive construction so often repeated? Quantitative investigations have been made of how the human eye/brain system perceives the edge of a solar shadow - a topic strangely neglected since the 19th century! It has been found that the situation is not as bad as simple geometry would indicate / but is still far from precise. Fortunately, a 12th century Chinese document provides an answer: a clever auxiliary device that acts as a 'shadow sharpener'. This will be demonstrated, for its use has been forgotten over the centuries. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION «./«*« IUHPS 4.1 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / Titre An Early Tychonic Astronomical Instrument: The Large Azimuthal Quadrant of the Leiden Observatory Author/ Auteur Robert H. van Gent Affiliation /Affiliation Museum Boerhaave Address / Adresse Postbus 11280 NL-2301 EG Leiden The Netherlands Abstract / Resume The large azimuthal quadrant (2 meter radius) which the Leiden University acquired in 1632 from the heirs of the Leiden professor of mathematics Willebrord Snel van Royen (Snellius, 1580-1626) forms the basis of the important collection of astronomical instruments of the Leiden Observatory. The quadrant was made sometime between 1598 and 1615 by the well known Amsterdam globe and instrument maker Willem Jansz Blaeu (1571-1638) and it is an almost exact copy of a similar instrument used by Tycho Brahe in Hven. A full description will be given of this unique instrument, now preserved in Museum Boerhaave (Leiden), and the following questions will also be addressed: what was the connection between Tycho Brahe and Blaeu, why and how did Snellius obtain this costly instrument and to what use did he put it, why were the Leiden astronomers keen on acquiring this instrument, and what kind of observations did they perform with it? SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION ofau IUHPS 4.2 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES rfeUlHPS Title / litre Assessing the optics of an 18th century Gregorian reflector Author / Auteur Randall C. Brooks Affiliation / Affiliation National Museum of Science and Technology Address / Mresse PO Box 9724, Term. T Ottawa ON K1G 5A3 Canada Abstract / Resume We know relatively little about the specific grinding or testing methods used by 17th-18th century opticians. It has been presumed that sets of optics were combined until satisfactory performance was achieved. We do know something of the materials used but the surface characteristics of the speculuum mirrors have not been investigated or analyzed with modern equipment. A reflector made between ca. 1740-1760 by Joseph Hurt of London has been analyzed using a Zygo MK 4 interferometer of the Optics Division of the National Research. Council of Canada. The results provide wave front information accurate to better than l/20th wave for the system. The surfaces of the mirrors were also subjected to a scanning electron microscope analysis as well as an analysis of the composition. This paper presents the results of the studies. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION of** IUHPS 5.1 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / litre The Musschenbroek Trade Catalogues Author / Auteur Peter de Clercq Affiliation /Affiliation Museum Boerhaave Address / Adresse Postbus 11280 ML-2301 EG Leiden The Netherlands Abstract / Resume Some 1500 printed trade catalogues of European and American instrument/making companies prior to 1914 were located by R.G.W. Anderson, J. Burnett and B. Gee in their Handlist of Scientific Instrument-Makers Trade Catalogues (1990). For the Musschenbroek workshop in Leiden, they list three catalogues, which were bound with various editions of a physics text/book by one member of the family, Petrus van Musschenbroek (1736, 1739, 1751). My research into the history of this workshop has shown that the workshop issued more catalogues. I know the contents of a further six such documents which survive as manuscripts (1694, 1714), in single printed copies (ca. 1730, 1748) or in transcription in contemporary travel journals (Erndtl 1707, Uffenbach 1711). The series makes it possible to analyze in detail the development of the repertoire of one of the most important instrument/making workshops in Europe. I also found the administration of the Leiden publishers and book-sellers Luchtmans, who printed the Musschenbroek trade catalogues. This allows us to reconstruct the production, number of pages and circulation figures of all the workshop's catalogues, including those of which no copies have as yet been located. As a warning against overconfident use of this type of document, I shall also discuss two deceptive Musschenbroek trade catalogues. One was published by B.M von Valentini in a compilation work Museum museorum in 1714. The other is the 1751 version mentioned in the Handlist, which was in fact printed after the last proprietor of the workshop had died. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION of a* IUHPS 5.2 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / litre Scientific instruments and mechanical war machines in the Ducal Palace of Urbino Authors / Auteurs Roberto Mantovani, Flavio Vetrano Affiliation /Affiliation Gabinetto Di Fisica dell'Universita Address / Mresse Piazza della Repbulica, Universita1 degli Studi 1-61029 Urbino (Ps) Italia Abstract / Resume The age of the Duke of Urbino, Federico da Montefeltro, is famous in Italian Renaissance. His Palace, probably built between 1455 and 1485, is still great evidence of the generous patronage of the Duke in many fields (painting, architecture, sculpture and science). In particular, science in the Palace is well symbolized by a series of marble relief panels of mechanical war machines (the application of the new techniques of the military art) based on designs by Roberto Valturio, Francesco di Giorgio Martini and Mariano di lacomo Taccola, probably realized by Ambrogio Barocci and by some scientific instruments drawn on the walls of the "studiolo" (the duke's study) paneled with marquetry creating perspective illusions. Further, in the hanging palace garden a fountain sundial, an extremely rare type of refractive sundial made between 1574 and 1631 during, therefore, the "della Rovere" dynasty, is still visible. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION »/<*« IUHPS 5.3 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / Titre Topographical and Geological Surveying Instruments Used by Sir William Logan in the Early Exploration of Canada Author / Auteur Peter H. von Bitter Affiliation / Affiliation Department of Palaeobiology, Royal Ontario Museum Address / Adresse 100 Queen's Park Toronto ON M5S 2C6 Canada Abstract / Resume When William Logan returned to Canada in 1842 to found the Geological Survey of Canada, he was faced with the daunting task of surveying a growing country geologically for which few accurate maps existed. As a result, Logan spent as much time in the field mapping the topography as he did examining and recording the geology. He achieved considerable and remarkable accuracy and speed in his topographical and geological surveys, generally using only the most basic equipment. Logan paid for many, or most, of the topographical and geological instruments of the early Geological Survey of Canada out of his own pocket; his methods and choices of instruments varied according to his purpose and the terrain. Most of his long distance traverses involved dialling along coasts or river using a prismatic compass, manually pacing and counting distances and measuring the height of various features with a barometer. Logan also used a Rochon s micrometer telescope and a simple target to effectively and quickly measure long distances; distances between surveyed features such as river systems were measured and tied together by triangulation using mountain or hill tops. Several of the Rochon's micrometer telescopes were apparently supplied to Logan and his staff by Jones of London. On rare occasions when accuracy rather than speed and distance was the main criterion, Logan used a theodolite to determine both bearings and distances; he may also have used the theodolite for differential levelling of elevations. Finally, Logan apparently used both a waywiser and a carriage or buggy-odometer to measure distances. One of each of these, the first with a counting mechanism signed GSC #1, A. Ross, Maker, Montreal, and the second engraved Sir W. E. Logan, G.S. of Ca No. 2, survives. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION ofou IUHPS 5.4 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / litre The Optical Museum in Jena Author / Auteure Helga Beez Affiliation / Affiliation Optisches Museum Carl Zeiss Jena, Ernst - Abbe - Stiftung Address / Mresse Carl - Zeiss - Plate 12 D - 07743 Jena, Germany Abstract / Resume The exhibition shows in a small place, a high concentration of instruments from the 17th century to modern devices. One of Europe's largest collections of spectacles illustrates along with illustrative graphics, the history of eyeglasses. Other main points of the exhibition are microscopes, telescopes, cameras and ophthalmic instruments. There are also optical toys such as magic lantern and peep shows in connection with hand-painted slides and pictures displaying surprising light effects. The remarkable combination of optical instruments and graphic material is quite unique and very valuable for scholars. Furthermore, the museum provides information about the founder of Jena's optical industry and the tradition of the Zeiss company. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION «/<*« IUHPS 6.1 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES «feUIHPS Title / litre DeWitt Bristol Brace: Professor, Instrument Maker, Innovator Author / Auteur M. Eugene Rudd Affiliation / Affiliation University of Nebraska Address / Mresse Lincoln, NE 68588-0111 USA Abstract / Resume After doing graduate work in physics under Rowland at Johns Hopkins and completing his doctoral work with Kirchhoff and Helmholtz at Berlin, DeWitt Bristol Brace came to the University of Nebraska in 1887. Lincoln was still a frontier town with unpaved streets, the university had been open for only 16 years, and many Nebraskans still lived in sod huts. But by the time of his premature death in 1905, he had not only founded the Departments of Physics and Electrical Engineering, he had published twenty research papers, most of them at the forefront of physics at the time. He devised several highly innovative and imaginative instruments and techniques in his research. He was able to answer an important question about the Faraday Effect with clever instrumentation and he developed a widely used spectrophotometer. His greatest achievement was the construction of an apparatus which enabled him to measure the effect of the "ether drift" on double refraction to the unprecedented precision of 7.8 x 10'13 which was over 100 times greater than that of the famous Michelson-Morley experiment which was also designed to measure the ether drift. At the time of Brace's death, Ernest Rutherford, then at McGill University, wrote of "his experimental skill and boldness of attack on the most difficult questions." Some of Brace's instruments will be described and the relationship of his research to the development and verification of Einstein's Theory of Relativity will be briefly discussed. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION of a* IUHPS 6.2 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES .feUIHPS Title / litre Reflection of Microwaves from the Moon, 1946 - Hungary Author / Auteur Laszlo Kovacs, Jr. Affiliation / Affiliation J6zsaf Attila University Szeged Address / Adresse H-9700 Szombathely Martfrok tere 5/C Hungary Abstract / Resume Zoltan Bay (b. Gyuiavari, Hungary, 1900-d. Washington, D.C., 1991) was one of the outstanding Hungarian born experimental physicists. He taught at several universities both in Hungary and in the USA. He led a research group in Hungary and later worked for the National Bureau of Standards in the USA. His most important results were using the electronmultiplier as a particle counting device (1938); developing the first European Moon radar (1946); measuring coincidence in the Compton effect with an accuracy of 10-11 s (1954); creating a new definition of the metre (1983). Bay developed certain technical details that enabled his measurements and which make even recent space radar more effective. The most important of these was the repetition of the 0.06 s long signal for a thousand times, which increased the signal/noise ratio when cumulated by a oxyhydrogen coulometer. Combined with further improvements, Bay opened up the way towards high tech radar astronomy. During, my presentation 1 am going to show pictures of the original apparatus, take a look at its technical details and share information on the whole process of the Hungarian Moon radar experiment. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION of the IUHPS 7.1 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / T/tre Rutherford's apparatus for the study of radioactivity at McGill University Author / Auteur Montague Cohen Affiliation / Affiliation Physics Dept. and Rutherford Museum, McGill University Address / Adresse 3600 University St. Montreal QC H3A2T8 Canada Abstract / Resume Ernest Rutherford was a Professor of Physics at McGill University from 1898 to 1907. During these years he designed and used a large variety of apparatus for investigating the properties and nature of radioactivity. The apparatus was sophisticated in concept but simple in design and could be readily constructed in the machine shop of the Physics Laboratory. Four examples of his equipment will be illustrated and discussed: (1) Apparatus for studying the radiation produced by thorium emanation (1900); (2) Apparatus for determining the molecular weight of radium emanation (radon) (1901); (3) Apparatus for measuring the heating effect of radium and its emanation (1904); and (4) apparatus for measuring the velocity and ratio of charge/mass of the alpha particle (1906). In each case the experiment yielded a quantitative answer to a single question. These instruments are displayed in the Rutherford Museum in the Physics building on the McGill campus. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION of*e IUHPS 7.2 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / Titre A Physicist of His Time: Paul terrain and his Cockroft-Walton Accelerator at the Universite de Montreal, 1949-1954 Author / Auteur Jean-Francois Gauvin Affiliation / Affiliation Universite de Montreal Address / Adresse 4672 de Bullion Montreal QC H2T 1Y6 Canada Abstract / Resume In March 1943 the era of the Big Science began at the Universite de Montreal. Indeed, that year, Montreal—for its cosmopolitan characteristics-became the centre of the Canadian-British top secret project, code named Tube Alloy, to develop an atomic pile and to study the feasibility of an atomic bomb. In parallel to the Los Alamos Manhattan project, the Montreal secret laboratory, though, was never O la hauteur of its American brother. Nevertheless, it gave the necessary impetus and forced the Universite de Montreal into action by putting together, after the war, the Institut de physique directed in the beginning by the French physicist, Marcel Rouault. The latter recruited Paul Lorrain in 1946, a veteran of the Montreal secret lab. Born in the metropole of Quebec in 1916, Lorrain later became one of the best known physicist in the province. He knew at the time that his university was far behind McGill and Laval in the field of physics; but he knew also what had to be done to stop and reverse this situation. Aided by his war experience and a two and a half year stay at Cornell, where he managed to build a linear accelerator, Lorrain, from 1949 to 1954, worked on a pressurized high frequency Cockroft-Walton accelerator for the Institut. By 27 February 1954, Lorrain reached the energy of 510 KeV. The race for the electron-volts had at last begun at the Universite de Montreal. This paper will try to retrace this particular episode focusing on the apparatus Lorrain developed and the numerous technical difficulties he had to solve to make it work. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION o/au IUHPS 7.3 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES deUlHPS Title / litre Development of scientific instruments within the Soviet Atomic Project Author / Auteur Vassili P. Borisov Affiliation / Affiliation Institute of the History of Science and Technology, Russian Academy of Science Address / Adresse Staropanski per. 1/5 103012 Moscow Russia Abstract / Resume Work on creation of nuclear weapons in the USSR stimulated development of various scientific instruments. The following kinds of instruments were made in the early stage of the Atomic Project: 1. For Vacuum techniques: high vacuum diffusion pumps with pumping speed to 20,000 1/s; forevacuum pumps with speed to 40 l/s; and vacuum gauges with a range from 10/5 to 10/7 Pa-, 2. Gas discharge detectors of ionizing radiation for geologic search; and control of work of nuclear reactors; 3. Mass spectrometric technique: leak detectors of high sensitivity; equipment for electromagnetic separation of isotopes; and devices for analysis of residual gas. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION of the IUHPS 8.1 LA COMMISSION DBS INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES ArUIHPS Title / Titre Equipping a Colonial University: Scientific Instruments for the University of Adelaide, 1876-1900 Author / Auteur Julian Holland Affiliation / Affiliation The Macleay Museum, University Of Sydney Address / Adresse Sydney, NSW Australia 2006 Abstract / Resume The University of Adelaide, founded in 1874, was very fortunate in attracting able staff in its early years. The Adelaide careers of three significant figures - Horace Lamb, W.H. Bragg and E.G. Stirling, all of whom were elected FRS - form the basis for documenting the acquisition of scientific apparatus for physics and physiology at a time of rapid scientific change. This study draws on the extensive and detailed archives of the University of Adelaide, supplemented with information from two company archives (Elliott Brothers and the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Co.) in England and other sources. Several points emerge from the study: the capacity of an infant colonial university to overcome the 'tyranny of distance' in attracting leading scholars and providing the resources for equipping them; the relatively minor role of local instrument retailers in meeting institutional requirements; the significance of Cambridge not just as a source of academic appointments but as a continuing source of advice in the purchase of instruments; and the importance of British intermediaries in the supply of continental instruments. The talk is illustrated with overhead transparencies showing orders from several English instrument makers. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION 0/0* IUHPS 8.2 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / litre Not Too Big, Not Too Small - Just Right Science: the Bevalac Story Author / Auteure Catherine Westfail Affiliation / Affiliation Lyman Briggs School, Michigan State University Address / Adresse East Lansing, MI 48824 USA Abstract / Resume Since the term Big Science was coined more than thirty years ago, scholars have focused on the most obvious characteristic of the phenomena — its bigness. The result has been a body of scholarship focused primarily on the examination of what happens when scientific equipment increases in scale. But is the development of big science shaped only by growth? This paper will argue otherwise, citing the example of the Bevalac, which began operation at California's Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in 1974 as the world's largest and most powerful heavy ion accelerator. The history of the Bevalac was shaped as much by the resistance to expansion as it was by the familiar impulse to enhance research potential through increasing scale. These contrary forces arose because the unique high energy, heavy ion beam was produced by joining two existing accelerators with contrasting research traditions, the high energy Bevatron and the heavy ion HILAC. At the Bevatron, one of America's most expensive basic research tools after its construction in 1954, accelerator builders and scientists celebrated the tightly organized, meticulous, large-scale effort that resulted in dozens of elementary particle discoveries and Nobel Prizes. At the HILAC, a machine of relatively modest expense and scale built in 1957, researchers valued the family-style organization and freewheeling atmosphere that led to the creation of many new transuranic elements. Creating the Bevalac required a melding of these traditions so that researchers could work together to make the necessary accelerator innovations, modify detectors, and develop the necessary conceptual framework to understand a new type of physics. The story of how the Bevatron and HILAC traditions arose, side-by-side, and how they were melded as part of the joining of the two accelerators provides a particularly dramatic example of the variety and interaction of forces that shape Big Science. This story also suggests that the biggest challenge for those developing large-scale projects is finding a scale that is just the right — neither too big nor too small — to fit the available funding, the research agenda of users, and the bounds of existing technology. The paper will end with comments on how the insights of Bevalac history can lead to a more complete analysis of large-scale instruments and their role in the development of 20th century science. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION «/<*« IUHPS 83 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / litre Scientific Instruments and Aerospace Museums From the Soviet Experience Author / Auteur Nikolai Semenov Affiliation / Affiliation Russian Academy of Science Address / Adresse Flat 52, Block 7, Maslov Street Monino, Moscow Region, 141170 Russia Abstract / Resume The recent 35th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's first ever human space flight provides a good occasion to discuss the role of modern aerospace museums in collecting, analyzing, preserving and public presentation of corresponding scientific instruments including both the late 20th c ones used in space exploration itself and the earlier ones, taking an important part in creation of space-related sciences and technologies, pioneer cosmonaut training, etc. The variety of such instruments includes small single-user apparatus as well as huge global-scale structures and devices known to nearly everybody as well as still top secret "Black Box" technologies. The variety produces a number of problems for both museums and current instrument owners, while the undoubted importance of space exploration for human progress makes us study the already gathered worldwide experience avoiding mistakes or even losses on this field. The former USSR, now CIS, stands among the principle pioneers of space exploration. It also has vast experience in collecting, preserving and exhibiting of corresponding relics. In only a few decades, under the strongest pressure of extremely orthodox Communist ideology and of accordingly distorted "socialist economics", our country had created a network of aerospace museums and memorials with lots of rare, if not unique, scientific instruments. Founded and currently run by federal authorities, space related companies or groups of enthusiasts at schools, clubs, etc., those museums shows various approaches to exhibits. The museum network provides quite a flexible and effective way in preservation of not only space/related apparatus and instruments, but also of our valuable scientific and technical heritage in general. Unfortunately, some samples from the ex-USSR experience belong more to the past than to the present because of the general crisis in the whole post-Soviet area. But on the other hand, this principally new era opens many hopeful prospects for international cooperation as better living standards for the whole of humanity! SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION «./** IUHPS 9.1 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / litre Preserving the Work of the National Physical Laboratory Author / Auteure Anita McConnell Affiliation / Affiliation Independent scholar Address / Adresse 46 Defoe House, Barbican London, EC2Y 8DN Great Britian Abstract / Resume All measuring instruments base their scales on some agreed standard, be it local, national or international. Britain's National Physical Laboratory, now approaching its centenary, has a rich collection of old primary standards of dimension and weight, temperature, radiation, and time, of illumination, and of the properties of electrical currents. Many high-quality instruments were sent for test and certification by the NPL, to show that their measurements conformed to these standards, and the maintenance of international standards continues to be an important part of the NPL's work. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION o/au IUHPS 9.2 LA COMMISSION DBS INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / Titre Physics Teaching with Instruments: A Cataloguing Proposal Authors / Auteurs F. Acerenza, G. Boato, N. Robotti Affiliation / Affiliation Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita di Geneva Address / Mresse via Dodecanese, 33 16100Genova Italia Abstract / Resume A census of teaching instruments of historical interest has been initiated in the region of Liguria (Italy) by selecting a number of schools distributed through the entire region. The instruments, which number around 5,000, cover the period from the middle of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. We carried out our research as a means of linking the quality of teaching with the state of physical knowledge in the period when the instruments were used, and plan to create a specific data base. In this data base special care will be taken not only in describing the instruments but also in providing illustrations of them using reproductions of the figures in original books. One of our purposes is, in fact, to provide schools and physics teachers with a means of making cataloguing easier as well as the possibility of actually using these instruments. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION of** IUHPS 10.1 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / Titre Tools for Teaching and Research in an Early Nineteenth Century American Academy Author / Auteure Sara Schechner Genuth Affiliation / Affiliation University of Maryland at College Park and Smithsonian Institution Address / Mresse Committee on the History & Philosophy of Science Francis Scott Key 2115 Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-7315 USA Abstract / Resume At the turn of the 19th century, the Deerfield Academy in rural Massachusetts purchased many fine scientific instruments from W. and S. Jones of London with the help of the Reverend Dr. John Prince of Salem. In the first part of this paper, I will shed new light on Prince's business relationship with W. and S. lones, and his role as a vendor of scientific instruments to American colleges and academies. I will also discuss the synergy between Prince's own instrument making activities and his marketing interests. In the second part, I will indicate that the research quality of the apparatus bought by Deerfield was on par with the quality of instruments acquired by New England colleges of the day. Deerfield's purchase represented a considerable investment on the part of the school and one not easily recouped from tuition. This investment reflects the importance the school's trustees placed on the study of natural philosophy and raises questions about the mission of the Academy. These questions will be addressed in the third part of the paper, where I will compare the instructional goals of academies like Deerfield and contemporary colleges. Deerfield's doors were open to both young men and women. It saw itself as a seat of learning for those who could not afford a collegiate course or wanted instruction in the "business of real life." Historians of education have claimed that during the 19th century, the academies put pressure on the colleges to teach more modern, practical disciplines. I will argue, however, that this was not the case with science. Academies were not ahead of the pack when it came to instruction in science, but kept up with the pace being set by the colleges. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION »/*« IUHPS 10.2 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIHQUES Title / Titre Scientific Instruments in the Context of Colonial Williamsburg Author/ Auteur John L. McKnight Affiliation /Affiliation Department of Physics, College of William and Mary Address / Mresse PO Box 8795 Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795 USA Abstract / Resume Since the early 1960's there have been efforts to integrate some science into the presentations given to the public by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. This has resulted in the collection of relevant scientific instruments and their incorporation in exhibits and in presentations to visitors. Research has uncovered contextual and textual evidence of ownership and use of a variety of scientific instruments in colonial Virginia. From this, given the close connections of the governors and the more wealthy residents with England, it is possible to extrapolate to the range of instruments likely to have been in the colony before 1775. A catalog of the instruments in the Foundation's collections exists, but it was compiled by experts in 18th century material culture, furniture and furnishings. A catalogue of these objects as scientific instruments is being prepared for use as a reference work and as a guide for interpretation. This paper will present highlights from the new catalog and details on the use of scientific instruments in demonstrating the riddle of science in the 18th century to the general public. jflgjfc SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION of*e IUHPS 10.3 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES «fcUIHPS Title / litre Establishing a new science history museum: Glorification or Disneyfication? Author / Auteur Olov Amelin Affiliation /Affiliation Uppsala University Address / Mresse Lovbergavagen 33, 13239Saltsz6-BOO Sweden Abstract / Resume In 1997 a new University museum will be opened in Uppsala, Sweden. It will be situated in a building from 1622 that housed lecture halls and the university library for 300 years. The exhibition will contain manuscripts, works of art, parts of natural history collections, demonstration apparatus and a large number of scientific instruments. In my paper 1 will discuss different ways of building such an exhibition and relate them to our own specific problems and solutions. Two important issues to be discussed will be how artifacts can work as storytellers and how to apply modem technology in combination with museum pieces, especially scientific instruments. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION o/au IUHPS 10.4 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES d«UIHPS Title / litre How Far Can We Go? The restoration of scientific instruments: problems and suggestions Author / Auteur Paolo Brenni Affiliation /Affiliation Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza Address / Mresse Piazza Dei Gudici 1 1-50122 Firenze, Italy Abstract / Resume Restoration is a difficult and dangerous exercise. Even in the field of art, where the tradition is long and the literature very important, the experts" are often in disagreement. Scientific instrument restoration, which is a very young discipline, does not have any internationally recognized standards. Yet, many museums have their own conservation departments, which generally elaborate their own procedures and philosophy of restoration. Sometimes instruments are left almost untouched for preserving the "dust of the past. In other cases they are heavily restored and they look now "better than new". The spectrum of the possibilities is very wide. Scientific instruments, which were used in research, education, industry, etc, were made for performing a precise and defined function. A non/working apparatus is often a mute witness. Therefore the restoration of its functioning has to be a priority. But how far can we go? Should we use original or modern materials? Should we reconstruct the missing parts or simply stop the dilapidation? It is difficult, if not impossible, to give a series of standard rules. Every single artifact is a special case, but our choices have to be guided by a deep knowledge of instruments and by a special sensitiveness. In this paper I will present some of the recent Italian experiences in this field as well as some important examples of instrument restoration. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION o/au IUHPS PP1 LA COMMISSION DBS INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES deUIHPS Title / litre Armenian Astrolabes Author / Auteure Karen L. Balayan Affiliation / Affiliation Independent Scholar Address / Adresse Komitas 19/8 Apt. 5 Yerevan 12, Armenia Poster Paper Abstract / Resume One of the most remarkable instruments used in the ancient times was the astrolabe. In all probability they were invented by the Greeks, later adopted by the Arabs and then, with them, had come back to Europe. The most ancient astrolabes to survive are Arabian. The situation in the medieval Arabian East promoted the development of sciences. Scientists of different nationalities worked in large cities. They were united with a common language - Arabic. Later the Latin astrolabes transliterated the Arabian names in the Latin script. Armenians also used and made astrolabes. Three Armenian astrolabes are known. Two of them are Arab-Armenian. The first is one of the most ancient of that type of instruments that has reached us. It belongs to the late 9th century and was made by the Arab craftsman Khafif. The Armenian inscriptions have been added later. On the back of the astrolabe, the Armenian user added a shadow square with a scale to measure distance and height. The shadow square is generally present on all astrolabes known to us, except this one. There is a very interesting scale on the back of one of the astrolabes instead of the usual shadow square. No other astrolabe known to us has such a scale. It is a non-linear scale for measuring distance and height. This scale made the measuring more precise than a shadow square. The second astrolabe, of the early 10th century, has been partly preserved-only the Spider or the Rete the star map, also made by an Arab craftsman with later Armenian inscriptions, with 12 zodiac constellations and 17 brightest stars of the north part of the sky has survived. The Armenian inscriptions on both astrolabes had been made at the time of the Armenian Civilian Kingdom (11th-14th century) judging by the type of the Armenian inscriptions. Both astrolabes are kept at the Oxford Museum of the History of Science. The third astrolabe, of 17th century, is of Armenian origin. It has been made by Ghukas Vanandetsi and is kept in a private collection in Armenia. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION «/*« IUHPS PP2 LA COMMISSION DBS INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES deUIHPS Title / Tttre The Unique Reflecting Telescope of Wm. Herschel at Tartu Author / Auteur Vladimir Gurikov Affiliation / Affiliation Institut Istorii Estestvozn 1 Techniky, Russian Academy of Sciences Address / Adresse Ran Staropansky per., 1/5 RU-103012 Moscow Russia Poster Paper Abstract / Resume In the Astronomical Observatory of Tartu there is a reflecting telescope made by William Herschel. This instrument was constructed according to the scheme of Isaac Newton. It consists of an 8-sided wood tube with wooden support. The telescope has a construction for vertical adjustment. There is no diagonal mirror, ocular tube and tube grid in the instrument. In Tartu there are also other telescopes made by Herschel. It is possible to reestablish these details by comparing it to similar instruments in other museums of the World (for example in the Museum of Science in London). The paper also presents information about another 10 feet Herschel telescope. This instrument was transported to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. After the founding of the Observatory at Pulkova in 1839, this telescope was placed there. In the autumn of 1941 during the Second World War, this instrument was destroyed by the Germans along with all of the Pulkova Observatory. It is necessary to do everything possible for its restoration. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION »/«*« IUHPS PP3 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES deUIHPS Title / Titre The Birth of Radar Astronomy 50 years ago in Hungary Author / Auteur Laszlo Kovacs Affiliation / Affiliation Teacher Training College Szombathely Address / Mresse H-9700 Szombathely Mdrtfrok tere 5/C. Hungary Poster Paper Abstract / Resume Though the first Moon radar experiment was achieved by the American John H. DeWitt, recent radar astronomy uses the methods of a Hungarian-born physicist, Zoltan Bay. Z. Bay (b. Gyulavari, Hungary, 1900--d. Washington, D.C., 1991) was a prominent experimental physicist and an outstanding teacher. He was the first person in Europe, and the second in the world, to receive microwave reflections from the Moon (February 6, 1946). Besides several new technical aspects and solutions, he developed the idea of repeating the pulses and integrating them into a visible sign. The poster will show the important periods of Bay's life: particle counting with an electronmultiplier (1938); microwave reflections from the Moon (1946); simultaneity in the Compton effect with 10-11 second accuracy (1954); unified time-length measurement system, the new, universal definition of the meter (accepted in 1983). The poster also contains details of his Moon radar (aerial, switch, coulometer, notebook), photos and facsimile writings. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION »/<** IUHPS PP4 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES «feUTHPS Title / Titre The Collection of Scientific Instruments in Museum of the Moscow Medical Academy Author / Auteur A.N. Shamin and S.S. Krivobokova Affiliation / Affiliation Institute of Bio-organic Chemistry, Moscow Medical Academy Address / Adresse Mikiukho-Maklay Street 16/10 117871 Moscow, Russia Poster Paper Abstract / Resume The collection of medical and associated instruments and many documents amassed by the collective of the newly organized Museum of Moscow Medical Academy are being exhibited at this Museum. The Moscow Medical Academy is the former Medical Faculty of the Moscow University. The building of the old Dean's office of the Faculty has now been placed at Museum s disposal . This poster describes and considers the development of medicine and biology significance of several instruments of professors of Medical Faculty; I.M. Sechenov (the gasometer for blood's gases), M.N. Shaternikov (the analogue of Pettenkofer's apparatus) and others. Now we work on the reconstruction of these instruments and on the faculty's set of devices of 19th century for the lecture demonstrations. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMMISSION of the IUHPS PP5 LA COMMISSION DES INSTRUMENTS SCIENTIFIQUES Title / Titre The Instrumentation Or the Einstein Tower in Potsdam Author / Auteure Gudrun Wolfschmidt Affiliation / Affiliation Forschungsinstitut fur Technik-und Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Deutsches Museum Address / Adresse Museumsinsel D-80538 Munchen, Germany Poster Paper Abstract / Resume After World War 1, Germany made considerable effort to regain its former strong position in the field of science. The last impulse for financing a German solar observatory arose from the spectacular result of the English eclipse expedition in October 1919. Already in December 1919, Edwin Finlay- Freundlich (1885-1964) had started a successful fund raising effort ( Einstein-Stiftung ) among German industrialists. The first aim was to test Einstein's general theory of relatively. The company Zeiss in Jena was responsible for the instrumentation of the 20 m solar tower, built in 1920-22: they constructed a solar telescope (lens aperture 60 cm, focal length 14.50 m) with 85 cm coelostat mirrors producing a solar image of 14 cm diameter. Two high resolution spectrographs produced solar spectra from red to violet with a length of 4 m to 12 m. Furthermore, in 1925, they constructed a physical-spectrographical laboratory. The optical design of the Einstein tower, with respect to light intensity, surpassed all other observatories, even the famous Mt. Wilson solar observatory (30 cm lens aperture).