Science in the 18th Century

The Science in the 18th Century gallery students will discover how science spread beyond the elite circles of the Royal Society to reach large sections of the population during this remarkable period in our history.

The objects on display combine the magnificent and unrivalled collection made for King George III, side by side with the apparatus of science lecturer Stephen Demainbray, whose collection became entwined with the king's after he was employed to run the observatory at Kew.

Both collections were intended to explain scientific principles in this age of Enlightenment where wealthy members of society took an avid interest in the workings of science.
Key objects on display include:

1. Orrery planetary model - one of the first mechanical models of the solar system, made for the Earl of Orrery, which became popular during seventeenth century after Sir Isaac Newton published his universal theory of gravity.

2. Electric chimes - a common feature of 18th century lecture courses, where charge is made to stream from metal points creating an electric wind. In this case the wind turns the fly so that a brass clapper strikes the bells in turn, sounding the notes of an octave.

3. The Duke of Cumberland's theodolite - a surveying instrument that measures both horizontal and vertical angles. A new invention in the eighteenth century, the theodolite was not in fact widely used until the nineteenth.

4. A reconstruction of the Boyle-Hooke vacuum pump of 1659 - where Boyle demonstrated that the sound of a bell in the vacuum chamber faded as the air was removed, proving that air was necessary for the transmission of sound.

This gallery supports themes covered in MSc and History of Science and BA (Hons) History of Science, Technology and Medicine.

Use the gallery to explore the following ideas:

a) the role of instruments in the history of science and technology
b) collecting and the place of museums in the history of science