TOOLS FOR INVESTIGATION, TOOLS FOR INSTRUCTION:

POTENTIAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF INSTRUMENTS IN THE

TRANSFER FROM RESEARCH TO TEACHING
Peter Heering

INTRODUCTION

Recent studies on scientific instruments have revealed that instruments can have a
variety of purposes within the practice of science: they can serve to produce or
investigate phenomena; check other instruments; determine material or natural
constants; analyse aspects of technical artefacts; etc. However, instruments can
also have very different purposes that are often overlooked: they can be used in
science education to familiarise novices with the practices in a field or to train
them to work with a particular device. On a more general levei, they can produce
data that shall enable learners to accept facts or improve their ability to memorise
certain details; they can serve motivational purposes, etc. Both purposes seem to
differ significantly even though there appears to be some overlap. On a general
leve!, the former criteria can relate to research activities whilst the latter apply
mostly to educational purposes. 1 As instruments are created purposefully, and are
supposed to be adequate for the respective tasks, it should not be a matter of
surprise that instruments that were designed for research purposes differ from
those that are rneant to be used in teaching situations. This poses a question that is
central to this paper: some types of instmments appear in research as well as in
teaching situations.2 Moreover, some experiments from the history of physics

1 These characterisations are not completely distinguisbable: researchers might take measures
to familiarise themselves with new instruments and create strategies to develop the skills that
are necessary to use these instruments. Consequently, the respective experiments correspond
to some of the characteristics pointed. out for tbe educational use of tbe instrument, even
though they are carried out in a research context. Yet, as this paper forrns a first attempt to
discuss tbe relation between research and educational uses of instruments, some
generalisations may occur wbere a more differentiated discussion would be useful. This,
however, is beyond the scope ofthis paper.
2 There are also purely educational <levices which have no predecessors nor relatives in
rescarch-modem examples are the so-called Dynamot which has become in the last decade
very popular in GerI11an schools for teachiog electricity and energy, or experiment kits (see
Beek, 2009; Sue8, 2009). By tbe early eighteenth century, Willem Jacob 's Gravesande and
Picter Vall /v1usscbenbroek developed devices for tcaching Newtonian physics in the Leiden
course on natural philosophy (see Clercq, 1997; 's Gravcsande, 1737).
16 Peter Heering
have become canonical in science education. To give but three simple examples:
Jean Bernard Léon Foucault's determination of the speed of light with a rotating
mirror, Henry Cavendish's gravilational balance, and August Kundt's tube to
measure the speed of sound and demonstrate standing waves.
Yet, even though the experiments in education bear names that create a rela­
tion to the historical ones, it appears questionable whether the instruments were
identical. 3 Moreover, even though some of the instruments (such as the Cavendish
balance) still bear the name that relates them to lhe historical instrument, they are
obviously not identical.
Even a brief look reveals some aspects that are similar (if not identical) and
others that differ. The most obvious similarity lies within the scientific content:
Foucault's speed of light experirnent still aims at determining the speed of light,
Cavendish's gravitational balance is still used to determine the mass of the earth,
etc. However, even these examples show that the similarity within scientific con­
tent is only on the surface and is in some sense misleading: Cavendish's balance
determines the attractive force between gravitating masses; however, his intention
was not to determine the mass of the earth but actually to measure its density
(Cavendish, 1798; Clotfelter, 1987). And in Foucault's case it was an important
detail that he was able to determine the velocity of light in an optical dense rne­
dium, thus being able to support either the wave or the corpuscle theory of light.
An obvious difference can be seen in the materials-modem ones such as
plastic and steel are found where brass, glass and wood were used; sealing wax is
no longer the choice of fixing different materials. This is true mainly with respect
to contemporary teaching instruments, which even as teaching devices have a long
history and underwent severa! transformations. What about the devices that were
used when the experiment was transferred from research to teaching at some point
in history?
I am far from able to give a final answer to this question. Thus, the aim of this
paper is to clarify potential connections and meanings of educational versions of
research instruments and experiments. ln this respect, I focus on four categories
that are relevant with respect to a comparison of research and educational ver­
sions: simplification, downscaling, stabilisation and iconisation. By using these
categories I am not implying that an individual characterisation gives a complete
account of the particular relation, nor am I suggesting that only one transforma­
tion for a research <levice is possible. Yet, these four categories appear to be more
than just keywords for individual cases. From my understanding, they are to be
found in a variety of cases and periods. ln this respect, these categories may serve
as a first step towards a fuller understanding of how research instruments were
transformed into teaching <levices. Together with this, an understanding of lhe
meanings that were ascribed to the instruments and ex.periments in lhe teaching
process should be developed. From these insights, it should become possible to
3 RieJ:l (2007) givcs cxamples where didactical experiments bear historical □ames but are
somethi ng completely differenl - this is howcver not the topic of this paper.
Tools for lnvestigation, Toais for Instruction 17
discuss questions with respect to the influence of experimental training on !ater
research strategies, experimental preferences, and finally even teaching priorities.
INSTRUMENTS FOR RESEARCH AND TEACHJNG
The first instrument I am going to discuss is (at least in some respects) excep­
tional; it is a device that was very arnbivalent with respect to its use in research
and education. One of the most popular instruments of the second half of the
eighteenth century was the solar microscope, an instrument which can be charac­
terised as a projection microscope that uses sunlight as a light source.4 Most
instrument makers had the <levice in their catalogues, and the number of still
existing solar microscopes can be taken as an indication of its popularity. Even
though it has been questioned whether it was actually a scientific device,5 it can
be argued that solar microscopes were fairly typical instruments for natural
philosophers. They appear in most textbooks, they were listed by instrument
makers as 'philosophical' instead of entertaining, and they were used in some
experimental researches such as the ones by Albrecht Wilhelm Roth (1797).
Moreover, modified solar microscopes were also used for different experimental
purposes such as the researches by Thomas Young on ultraviolet light (1804) and
by Jean Paul Marat (J 779) on heat.
Yet, it has to be pointed out that there was not the solar microscope. The
instrument underwent severa! modifications, even though in the 1780s some sort
of a standard <levice evolved that was mainly sold by London instrument makers
such as Benjamin Martin, the Dollond workshop, and Jesse Ramsden (Figure 1).
ln 1791, a different type of solar microscope appeared in the market. It was
advertised by the rnilitary chaplain Friedricb August Junker who sold a <levice that
was-at least from the technological point of view-significantly less sophisti­
cated than the state-of-the-art instruments. Instead of having a toothed wheel
mechanism and a worm gear to readjust the min-or, Junker's instrument realised
the working principle with a wooden disc and a cord. Technically speaking, the
instrument regressed two steps in comparison with the instruments that were es­
tablished. However, the instrument appears to have been a success anyway and
several ofthem are still kepl in museums (Figure 2).6
4 For a detailed discussion oftl1e solar microscope, see Heering (2008).
5 The British microscopist Charles R. Goring pointed out in the nineteenth century that the
solar microscope is a mere toy, "fit only to amuse women and children" (Goring in Bradbury,
1967, p. I 59). This characterisation has been taken up by severa[ h istorians of science.
However, a closer analysi s reveals tbat this criticism is notjustified (Heering, 2008).
6 T1vo Junker instruments can be found at the Deutsches Museum Munich, two at the Utrecht
Universiteitsmuseum, one in lhe Billings collection, Washington, D. C. (see Ey, 1974) and
one in tl1e :Museum Bocrhaave Leiden (see Foumier, 2003). For a technical discussion of the
i nstrumcnls of John and Peter Dollond and Junker as well as the resulting consequences for
the practices with tbesc <levices, see Heering (2010).
18 Peter Heering
Fig. 1: Dollond's solar microscope. Photo: Deutsches Museum München.
This becomes comprehensible if one Iooks at the motivation Junker had to de­
velop and market this instrument: in a leaflet he published to advertise his solar
microscope (Junker, 1791 ), Junker stated explicitly that his instrument was in­
tended to be used in schools. For this reason, he tried to make the instrument as
cheap as possible so that as many schools as possible could afford the <levice. The
consequence of its technical weakness-the instrument was not as user-friendly as
the instruments by the London makers-appears to have been of little importance
as the teachers who were supposed to use the instrument could develop the skills
to handle it. In this respect, a school teacher had a different social status than a
gentleman: consequently, the teacher could be expected to develop skills neces­
sary to practice successfully with the solar microscope. This was not necessarily
the case with the gentleman who would use the instrument to entertain himself
and his guests with some demonstrations in natural philosophy.7
The instrument was also discussed in a research context: Johann Samuel
Traugott Gehler mentioned the <levice (and its price) in his Physikalisches
Worterbuch (Gehler, 1795, p. 856). Moreover, a favourable review of the instru­
ment was published in the 1791 issue of the Magazin für das Neueste aus der
Physik und Naturgeschichte (Anonym, 1791). Both publications focused not so
much on education but on research; consequently, the instrument seemed to have
7 For the role of gentlcmen in cighteenth-ccntury natural philosophy see Schaffer ( 1983).
Tools for Jnvestigation, Toais for lnstruction 19
been noteworthy also for researchers. 8 This example illustrates that instruments
are not necessarily used either in a research context or in an educational context,
but that specific instruments can be used in both. Even though research instru­
ments are more likely to bc specialised <levices and thus serve only one purpose,
there are certain examples where similar instruments can be found in the educa­
tional field as well.9
Fig. 2: Junker's solar microscope. Photo: P. Heering.
Though the demarcation between research and educational activities was not as
clear as it is nowadays, it appears to be remarkable that even in this period eco­
nomics played an important role: Junk:er stated explicitly that his instrument was
about one-tenth the price of a London instrument. Moreover, he even offered a
discount if a sovereign would order a larger quantity of instruments for the
schools in his country. This policy is not unusual for instruments that are to be
8 The solar microscope is not uni que with respect to this ambivalence; severa! of the eighteenth
century electrical instruments c an be found in teaching as well as research contexts. One may
argue that this can be at least in p art exp!ained by lhe experimental approach in the
Enlightenrnent age, which gave importance to collective experimenting and discourse on the
experimental findings among lay persons a!so (Walters 1997). However, this issue requires a
more thorough analysis which goes beyond the scope ofthis paper.
9 ln the nineteenth century, gas discharge tubes were popular both among researchers and
popular lectUiers. This is not just a historical development-currently astronomers encourage
amateurs to classify objects in images (a research task); at lhe sarne time, these images can be
used for cducational purposes. Likewisc, the project Hands-on Universe encourages students
to participate in rescarch projects (http://www.bandsonuniverse.org/, last accessed 15 October
2D 10). However, it should be understood that activities whicb combine research and
cd ucation are exceptional in contemporary science.
20 Peter Heering Too Is for Jnvestigation, Tools for lnstruction 21

used in public services.10 However, it has some consequences for educational
instruments. As already argued, the Jun.ker solar microscope is technically simpler
than the English instruments. Simplification appears to be a key to price reduc­
tion; consequently, this is an issue that can be found in many teaching instru­
ments.
tenninated, yet it became in a way as canonical as the ones with Charles Augustin
Coulomb's torsion balance or the ice-calorimeter of Antoine Laurent Lavoisier
and Piene Simon Laplace. Consequently, textbooks such as the Müller-Pouillet
(Pfaundler, 1905-14) still described the experiment many years !ater; however,
the instruments look completely different.

DOWNSCALING AND SIMPLIFYING THE RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

A distinctly different approach can be identified when looking at the example of

the experiments carried out by Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss and Wilhelm Eduard
Weber in order to determine the earth's magnetic field in absolute measures.
Gauss and Weber established an intemational network of experimenters who col­
laborated in order to map the magnetic field of the earth. ln arder to enab]e other
researchers to carry out the observations and produce useful data, Gauss and We­
ber tried to give a very detailed account of their procedures while working with
the magnetometer. ln doing so, and in providing other researchers with an access
to instruments that were technically identical to their own <levices, they atternpted
to make these measurements comparable.
Yet, measurements of the magnetic field of the earth were relevant not just in
this context. A few years after the initial measurernents, the young student Gustav
Kirchhoff complained in a letter about his training as a physicist which included
"boring observations and even more boring calculations. Of the former, I had re­
cently a little sample; I sat from 10pm until 2 am in the Albertinum behind a tele­
scope, observing at a temperature of only 1 º every 15 seconds a magnet, whose
11
position I had to write down." Fig 3. Moses Kiirn and his reconstruction ofthe Gauss-Weber magnetometer.
From the description of the experiment it is evident that Kirchhoff took Photo: F. Müller.
measurements that were very similar to the ones with the magnetometer. How­
ever, it seems questionable whether he really worked with a large instmment as
Whilst the initial magnetometer was almost 3 metres high,12 the educational ver­
had been used by Gauss and Weber (see Figure 3). Their experiment had been
sio11 was of a size that enabled an individual to handle it and take measurements.
Thus, the rnagnetometer probably fulfilled a completely different role: the actual
1O Economic arguments can also be found with respect to eighteenth century medical electricity measurement ofthe magnetic field ofthe earth was not the only relevant issue. At
(Berthollon, 1788; Kühn, 1783). The stress on financial aspects in the fields of education and least another purpose was to familiarise students witb the procedures required to
health is thus not a modem phenomenon. become physicists. ln this respect, the idea offormation is crucial. Students are to
11 Gustav Kirchhoffto Otto Kirchhoff, presumably 1843--44, quoted in Kam (2002, p. 49). Kãm leam how to carry out an experiment adequately. The interesting part in this re­
refers to "E. Warburg: Zur Erinnerung an Gustav K..irchhoff, Die Naturwissenscbaften 13
spect is the question, what can be accounted as being adequate-this is certainly
(1925), Heft 11, S. 205-212" (ibid., p. 51). A remarkable aspect of this episode is lhe
characterisation of the initiation that a student had to pass in o rder to become a physicist. no stable category, it may vary with time as well as with place and the levei of
Observations and calculations which appeared boring to the students were part of the education. Consequently, understanding what adequate means on different leveis
sy!labus, resulting in developing sufficient self-discipline. Consequently, one should ask what ofeducation would enable a better understanding of the formation of researchers
the purpose of the magnetic observations was-was the data still relevant for any sort of in a specific place, at a specific time. In doing so, a more thorough understanding
research, or was the procedure just a lesson in observations, where the data served rnerely as ofthe similarities of researchers (which may result in their retrospective descrip-
an indicator of tbe students' ability to make boring observations that were reliabl e? The
educational concept wbich structured such practical tasks needs further attention in order to
dcvelop a better understanding of the role that was ascribed to experirncnts ia thc fonnation
of scientists. 12 For a discussion oftbe rnagnetorncter ofGauJl and Weber , see Kam (2002).
22 Pcter Heering Tools for Jnvestigation, Toais for Instruction 23

lion as being pari of a 'school') as well as specific limitations can be achieved. ent clesigns of the paddles (see Figure 4) with four of them cormected to the axis.
The latter appears to be as relevant for a hislorical analysis as the fom1er, as lbis Each of the otber four padclles is attached to supports that connect two of tbe pad­
may help to understand why certain experimental approaches appeared to be in­ dles which are fixed to the axis (see Figure 5). This differs from the design tbat is
adequate in the view of severa! researchers. ln terms of Ludwik Fleck's concep­ foLmd in Joule's central publication (1850) where ali padclles are clirectly con­
tion of style (Cohen and Schnelle, 1986), it can be argued that not only is a slyle nected to th.e axis.
of lhought formed through lhe formal training of a student, but also the style of
experimenlation.
Yel, there are some aspects in the downscaling thal are also relevanl and inler­
esting. First of ali, downscaling is most likely related to simplificalion; yet, there
are often difficulties involved in downscaling and miniaturisation. Therefore, a
downscaled apparatus is not per se simpler or cheaper, even though this is proba­
bly the case in many examples from educalion.13 The case ofthe Gauss and We­
ber magnetometer shows that there are advantages to downscaling: handling a 3
metre inslrnment is by no means easy; moreover, one needs sufficient space for
handling such an apparatus. ln this respect, the advantage of the educational ver­
sion is that the instrument can be used in a standard laboratory. Thus, one aspect
of simplification and downscaling can be related to the additional requirements.
Requirements of special rooms or other special conditions (such as sunshine)
make it more difficult to include formal training as a part of the syllabus. Thus,
downscaling can be related (at least in some cases) to making a measurement less
dependent on externa! resources or circumstances.14
Simplification is not always related to downscaling; in olher words,
simplification is not just a question of the dirnensions of the research apparatus.
An example can be James Prescott Joule's experiment on the mechanical equiva­
lent ofheat. Joule's set-up has been reconstructed at the Universitat Oldenburg
(Sibum, 1995); recently, Paolo Brenni demonstrated an educational version by the
instrnment maker Max Kohl that was part of the cabinet of the Istituto Tecnico
Toscano in Florence.15 On first look, both apparatuses are fairly similar, but a
closer examination reveals that the two paddle-wh.eels are significantly different.
One clifference is the material-Joule's device was rnacle ofbrass, the vessel being
macle of copper, whilst the Kohl device seems to be steel. More rernarkable ap­
pears to be the design of the paddle-wheels: Joule's instrument consists of four
leveis ofpaddles with eight paclclles on each level. Moreover, there are two differ-

13 Downscaling can also be a topic in research, particularly with respect to nano technologies.
However, downscaling is nol a new concem at least in technology.
14 Another example appears to be the educalional versions or Cavendish 's gravitational bal ance.
The original masses in Cavendish's experiment were more than 150 kg each, certainly not
what a teachcr w ants to set up once a year. Consequently, in the educatiornl version, the
masses are about l per cenl ofthe original value (see Lauginie, 2007).
15 A video ofthis attempt is available ai
Fig 4: Joule 's padd/e wheel, side view. Photo: W Gol/etz.
hllp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PThq8rJpCLw&featurc=related, las! accesscd 15 Septem­
ber 20!0. The emails I q,1ote from in the following discussion were posted 011 the mailing lisl
"rele"; lhe archive of this mailing list is available at http://maillisl.ox.ac .uk/ezrnlin-cgi/2357,
lasl accesscd 15 September 201 O
24 Peter Heering
In case ofthe educational <levice, there are only two leveis ofpaddles, ali ofwhich
are connected to the axis and have the sarne design. ln the discussion that
followed the publication of the video Paolo Brenni pointed out, " ... J was ex­
tremely surprise [sic] of the speed of the paddle wheel!" (4 March 2010). Actu­
ally, lhe design of the paddles appears to be crucial for the terminal velocity, as
experiments with different versions of the reconstmcted paddle-wheel showed
(Siburn, 1995; see also Heering, 1992). Consequently, this sirnplifíed version of
the paddle-wheel should have an influence on the friction and thus on the terminal
velocity ofthe weights.
Fig. 5: Jou/e's paddle wheel, bottom view. 1-'hoto: W Golletz.
There are other modifications: Whilst in the Joule apparatus the therrnometer has
to be removed during the experiment when the wheel is rotating, this is not lhe
case with the educational version. Though this also seems to be a simplification,
there is one detail tbat deserves more attention as its modification appears to result
in a more sophisticated design in the educational version. ln Joule's apparatus, the
rolkr is simply attached to the axis ofthe paddle-wheel after the weights had bcen
Tools for lnvestigation, Toais for fnstruction 25
16
wound up. ln the educational version, a mechanism connects and disconnects
these parts; even though this is design is more elaborate, it is at the sarne time
much simpler in perfonnance. Thus this can be seen as an example where sim­
plicity lies not in the apparatus itself but in the performance with tbe educational
version of the apparatus-in this respect it can be interpreted as an inversion ofthe
solar microscope example.
STABILISING AN EXPERIMENT
As the example ofthe Gauss-Weber experiment seems to indicate, simplification
and downscaling is an issue in severa! educational versions of historical experi­
ments. Yet, there is another aspect which is higblighted when Robert Andrews
Millikan's experiment on the determination of the elementary charge is analysed.
This experiment can be seen as being among the 'classical' experiments in science
education; consequently, it is to be found in most textbooks and almost every
company selling educational set-ups offers the instrument as part of their product
range. However, taking a closer look at the printed materiais reveals that in most
examples, the experiment is de-contextualised (Niaz, 2000; Rodriguez and Niaz,
2004). 17 However, it is not only the description of the experiment that is changed
and simplified (Parlow and Heering, 2009); in case of the oi! drop experiment, it
is also the experimental apparatus itself. This is not the sarne as saying that the
apparatus is downscaled and simplified, which it is. One of the central ideas of
school experiments (at least in the context of German science education) is that
lhe experiment 'has to work'; in other words, the experimental outcome has to be
consistent with tbeory and thus contribute to the content knowledge of the stu­
dents. This has to be realised in ao efficient manner, as teaching time is precious.
Corrsequently, a criterion for the quality of the set-up is the reliability of data pro­
duction, in particular with respect to the independence of the user of the instru­
ment. To put it differently, an ideal educational version of Millikan's apparatus
produces theory-consistent values even when operated by an unskilled experi­
menter. ln order to make this possible, experimental set-ups and procedures are
stabilised in a manner tbat makes the actual manipulation of the apparatus
straightforward and controlled. Consequently, this is no longer an open experi­
ment but just an experimental demonstration. This results in a modified meaning
and in requirements that result in a simplified version of the apparatus, since not
16 The rol ler has to be disconnected from tbe axis as tbe weights are wound up; otherwise, the
problem 1vou !d be how to measure lhe eoergy transfer into the water during this procedure.
17 By de-contextualisation I am rcferring to the Jack of context of the cxperiment; most
descriptions of educational vcrsions of historical experiments are limited to a 'scientific
content' oftheexpcriment, which is dissociated from its historical and othcr contexts.
26 Peter Heering
ali parameters need to be varied or controlled. 18 To give an example: Millikan
placed his apparatus in a container full of oil in order to secure a constant tem­
perature; in the educational version, the instrumenl simply remains at roam tem­
peralure.
In some sense, these relalions betwcen the educational and the research ver­
sion of an instrument are just the inverse in comparison with lhe solar microscope.
ln lhal example, lhe instrument maker Junker could assume that lhe user would
take thc trouble to develop the required skills in arder to use the apparatus ade­
quately. The genllemen, however, would not necessarily need lhe skills as the
<levice ofDollond would have already undergone a stabilisation process.
INSTRUMENTS AS ICONIC OBJECTS IN THE LECTURE ROOM
The eighteenth century was lhe period when natural philosophy experimenting
was open to amateurs (in the positive sense of lay persons who are interested in
participating in scientific knowledge). Things began to change at lhe end of the
century. A professionalisation of experimental practice took place, whicb, among
other aspects, also included the exclusion of lay persons from the production of
scientific knowledge. Two instrnments, which are in some sense related to this
development, show that they can have a comp!etely different meaning in science
education compared to what we have discussed so far. The two instruments are
Coulomb's torsion balance and the ice-calorimeter described by Lavoisier and
Laplace. Both instruments became canonical <levices during the nineteenth cen­
tury; the plates which show the instrnments are still reproduced in many modem
textbooks on physics or chemistry.
Yet, whén working with tbe <levices, it becomes obvious that both instruments
are not suited for demonstrative experiments in a classroom or lecture hall. Cou­
lomb's torsion balance is extremely sensitive, and thus also very error sensitive
(Heering, 1994). The measurement of an amount of heat with the ice-calorimeter
takes severa! bours; during the measurement, a temperature between 4º C and 0º C
is required; and there is notbing to be seen except an instrument whose lid is
covered with ice (Heering, 2005 ). Yet, both instruments appear in the catalogues
of-instrument makers, and bolh instrnrnents were seemingly used in lectures. The
queslion that arises is what could be done with the instruments, as the study ofthe
initial experiments seems to suggest thal they cannot be demonstrated to an audi­
ence. 19 A clue to lhis question is provided by an instrument kept ai lhe Norwegian
18 There might be an implicit control of some parameters due to the techn ica I design of lhe
apparatus. Howcvcr, this means that the experimenter does not have to take any measures to
contrai these parameters.
19 Duc to the error-sensitivity, the torsion balance is hardly sui ted for lccture demonst rations.
Thercfore, it is not surprising that, in 1807, lhe Berlin lecturer Paul Louis Simon complained
that the torsion balance is ali too unrcliable to be used in lecturcs. Consequcntly, he
dcvcloped a new apparatus (Simon, 1807).
Toais for lnvestigation, Tools for lnstruction 27
University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. 20 With this instrument thc
torsion rnicrometer tums oul to be a dummy as it cannot move in the sleeve and is
thus useless in the sense of being a measuring <levice. From this detail it is evident
that the instrument was not intended lo be really used for measurement-its
quality lies on a cjifferent levei. Apparently, what can be done with the instrnment
is to show it to an audience, to point at every detail in order to illustrate the
working principie, and lhus to familiarise the audience with the concept of the
measurement. Even though no actual data can be taken with the instrument, it
appears to be possible that Coulomb's data can be used in the lecture together
with the <levice, thus familiarising sludents witb cetiain aspect of tbis conceptual
approach towards physics. A similar purpose can be ascribed to the educational
versions ofthe ice-calorirneter-they appear to be too small to be used in a proper
21
meas urement. However, they can be used as a demonstration <levice that is sup­
posed to support the conceptual familiarisation of students with calorimetry as a
quantitative approach. ln this respect, the apparatus can be taken as the materiali­
sation ofa central device to the establishment of this concept-the ice-calorimeter
is not to be perceived as a measuring <levice, but serves as a material representa­
22
tion of the ice-calorimeter by Lavoisier and Laplace.
Yet, in both cases, one should ask wby it had been so important for these par­
ticular instruments to be present in the lecture. lf one examines the development
of experimental practice in the late eighteenth and early nineteentb centuries, it is
evident that both instruments had a particular meaning. They were staged as <le­
vices that represent a new style of experimentation wbich characterised (among
other aspects) ex.periments by the claims of precision and sensitivity. 23 Thus, the
instruments used in lectures were not only as representations, they were also es­
tablished as icons of a new way of doing science.
20 1 am indebted to R. Wittje who made me aware of this instrument and its peculiarities.
2 1 As already mentioned, lhe experiments with the calorimeter take at lcast severa! hours, and
tltey need to be carried out in a temperature below 5 º C. As the ice-calorimeters for
educational purposes are substantially smaller than the one of Lavoisier and Laplace, it
appears impossible to carry out proper experiments with them in a classroom or lecture
tlieatre at room tcmperature.
22 Paolo Brenni comes to a similar conclusion with respcct to the educational version of thc
Joule apparatus: "But I am sure that our Joule apparatus made by Max Kohl was not intended
to do any measurement but simply to show how one could do it" (4 March 2010).
23 On lhe concept of style of experimentation (which is used as an expansion of Fleck's conccpt
of style of t hought and thought collective) see Hecring (2007). Thc relevance of the torsion
balance can be in ferred (among other details) from its crucial role for French rescarchers to
idcntify the Voltaic pi1c as an electrical <levice (sce Brown, 1969; Sutton, 1981 ). On the
relevance of lhe ice-calorimeter for establishing new standards of experimental practices scc,
in particul ar, \Vise (1993) and Roberts (1991), but also thc respcctive contributions in Bcrclta
(2005).
28 Peter Heering
CONCLUSION
These examples make evident thal the relation between research and educational
apparatus and experiments can be very diverse and in some cases rather complex.
Yet, the examples also indicate that some criteria appear to be useful to describe
the relation between research instruments and the respective teaching equivalent.
Aspects such as simplification, downscaling and stabilisation appear to be identi­
fiable in severa! examp.les. An open question remains with respect to the iconisa­
tion; here one has to ask whether this is still relevant nowadays or whether other
24
methods of visualisation have replaced these devices. Yet, one should be cau­
tious about judging the aspect of sirnplification just from the technical point of
view: both the example of the solar rnicroscope and the one of the paddle-wheel
make evident, in specific detail, that a more sophisticated apparatus can result in a
much simpler performance. Consequently, strategies of simplification can also
focus on aspects of performance with the instrument and not on the instmment
itself.
It seems questionable at the moment whether these categories are sufficient to
describe ali transformations; one may also ask whether these categories are help­
ful for an analysis of the process of transforrnation. Yet, they appear to be at least
an adequate too! for describing the relations between two set-ups that are related
in a very specific manner.
Of course, there are certain aspects that are important with respect to such a
relation and which are not discussed in this paper. To mention two of them: there
has been no discussion of educational conceptions and how tbey influence the use
of instruments in education (and one can also ask whether there are distinctions
between school education and university courses as well as between demonstra­
tion experiments and students experiments). Moreover, the discussion is only one
directional-from the research experiment to its educational rnatch. It would cer­
tainly be relevant to discuss how the formation of a scientist with respect to ex­
perimental practice has an influence on her or bis design of research experiments.
REFERENCES
Anonym. 1791. 'Nachricht von einem brauchbaren und wohlfeilen Sonnen-Mikroskop', Magazin
für das Neueste aus der Physik und Naturgcschichte, 7(3), pp. 84-87.
Beek, Viola van. 2009. 'Experimental Spaces Outside the Laboratory: Experimcnt Kit s and
Jnstruction Manuais around 1900'. Tbe Virtual Laboratory,
http://vlp.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/references?id=art73
Beretta, Marco (ed.). 2005. Lavoisier in Perspective. München: Deutscbes Museum.
24 lt would probahly be an oversimplification to argue that tbese material iconisations of sorne
experimental set-ups are just a result of thc lack of adcq uate rnetbods of vi sualisation -magic
lantem projections were already common before the nineteenth century.
Too Is for lnvestigation, Tools for Jnstruction 29
Bertholon, Pierre. 1788. Anwendung 1111d Wirksamkeit der Ele/..1rizita/ zur Erhaltung und
fViederherste//ung der Gesundheit des mensc/zlichen Kihpers. Translated and expanded by
Carl Gottlob Kühn. Vol. 1, WeiBenfels und Leipzig: Friedrich Severin.
Bradbury, Savilc. 1967. T/ze Evo/11/ion ofthe Microscope. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Brown, Theodore M. !969. 'The Electric Current in Early Nineteenth-Century French Physics',
Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences, 1, pp. 61-103.
Cavendisb, Henry. 1798. 'Experiments to Determine the Density of lhe Earth', Philosophical
Transactions ofthe Royal Society of London, 88, pp. 469-526.
Clercq, Peter R. de. 1997. The Leiden Cabine/ of Physics: A Descriptive Catalogue. Leiden: Mu­
seum Boerhaave.
Clotfelter, B.E. 1987. 'The Cavendish Experiment as Cavendish K.new it', American Journal of
Physics, 55, pp. 210-13.
Cohen, R. S. and Thomas Schnelle (eds). 1986. Cognilion and Fac/: Materiais on Ludwik Fleck.
Dordrecht; Boston; Norwell, MA: D. Reide!.
Ey, John A. (ed.). 1974. The Billings Microscope Collection of the Medical Museum Armed
Forces Jnstitule ofPathology, second edition. Washington, D.C.: American Registry of Pa­
thology.
Fournier, Marian. 2003. Early Microscopes: A descriptive Catalogue. Leiden: Boerhaave.
Gehler, Johann Samuel Traugott. 1795. Physikalisches Worterbuch, Vol V. Leipzig: Schwickert.
Heering, Peter. 1992. 'On J.P. Joule's Deterrninalion of the Mechanical Equivalent ofHeat', in
Skip Hills (ed.), The History and Phi/osophy of Science in Science Education, Vol.1. King­
ston, Ontario; The Facully ofEducation Queen's University, pp. 495-505.
---. 1994. 'The Replication ofthe Torsion Balance Experiment: The lnverse Square Law and
its Refutation by early 19th-Century German Physicists', in Christine Blondel and Matthias
Dõrries (eds), Restaging Coulomb: Usages, Controverses e/ Réplications Autour de la
Balance de Torsion. Firenze: Leo S. Olschki, pp. 47-66.
---. 2005. 'Weighing the Heat: The Replication ofthe Experiments with the Ice-Calorimeter of
Lavoisier and Laplace', in Marco Beretta (ed.), Lavoisier in Perspective. Müncben:
Deutsches Museum, pp. 27-41.
---. 2007. 'Das Konzept des Experimentierstils zur Beschreibung bistorischer Experimental­
praxis', in Bozena Choluj and Jan C. Joerden (eds}, Von der wissenschaftlichen Ta/sache zur
Wissensproduktion: Ludwik Fleck und seine Bedeutung fiir die Wissenschaft und Praxis.
Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang, pp. 361-85.
---- 2008. 'The Enlightened Microscope: Re-enactment and Analysis of Projections with
Eighteentb-Century Solar Microscopes', British Journal for the History of Science, 41, pp.
345-68.
---. 2010. 'Materialisiertes Handlnngswissen - die Praxis mit dem Sonnenmikroskop', in Olaf
Breidbach, Peter Heering, Matthias Müller and Heiko Weber (eds), Experimentei/e Wissen­
schaftsgeschichte. München: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, pp.155-70.
Joule, James P rescott. 1850_ 'On the Mecbanical Equivalent ofHeat', Philosaphical Transactions
ofthe Royal Society ofLondon, 140, pp. 61-82.
Junker, Friedrich August. 1791. Ueber das Sonnenmicroscop. Magdeburg: Publisber unknown.
!Gim, l\1oses. 2002. 'Das erdmagnetische Observatorium in der Scheune: Messungen mit dem
originalgetreuen Nachbau eines Magnetorneters von Gauil und Weber', Mittei/ungen der
Gauss-Gesellschaft Gotlingen, 39, pp. 23-52.
!Cühn, Karl Gottlob. 1783. Geschichte der medizinischen une/ physikalischen Elektricitat zmd der
neueslen Versuche, die in dieser niitz/ichen Wissenschaft gemacht worden sind, Vol. 1. Leip­
zig: Weygandsche B uchbandlung.
Lauginie, Pierre. 2007. 'Weighing the Earth, Weighing the Worlds: From Cavendisb lo Modem
Undergraduale Demonstrations', in Peter Heering and Daniel Osewold (eds), Constmcting
Scientific Understa11ding through Contextual Teaching. Bcrlin: Frank & Tirnme, pp. 1 19-48.
30 Pcler Hecring
Marat, Jean Paul. 1779. Découver/es sur /e Feu, l 'Électricité et la Lwniere, co11statées par une
Suite d'Expériences 11011velles qui vienne11t d'e/rc vérifiées par 1vf/11. les Co111111issaircs ele
/ 'Académie des Sciences, Seconde Edilion. Paris: Clousier.
Niaz, Mansour. 2000. 'The Oil Drop Experimenl: A Ralional Reconstruction of lhe Millikan­
Ehrenhaft Contrnversy and its Implications for Chemistry Textbooks', Journal ofResearch i1 1
Science Teaching, 37, pp. 480-508
Parlow, Valentina and Pcler Heering. 2009. 'Das Mil!ikan Experimenl und seine Behandlung in
der Schule', in Petcr Heering (ed), Der Millikansche Dltropfche11vers11ch zur Bestimmung der
Elemen/arladung. Oldenburg: Didaktisches Zentrum, pp. 35-46.
Pfaundler, Leopold (ed.) 1905-14. Mü!ler-Pouil!ets Lehrbuch der Physik und Meteorologie. ln
vier Biinden, 10th edition. Braunschweig: F. Vieweg & Sohn.
Riel3, Falk. 2007. 'Short History ofthe Use of historical experiments in Gennan physics lessons',
in Peter Heering and Daniel Osewold (eds), Constructing Scie11tific Unders/anding through
Contextual Teaching. Berlin: Frank & Timme, pp. 219-26.
Roberts, Lissa. 199 J. 'A Word and the World: The Significance ofNaming the Calorimeter', !SIS,
82, pp. 198-222.
Rodriguez, Maria A and Mansoor Niaz. 2004. 'The Oil Drop Experiment: An Illustration of
Scientific Research Methodology and its Implications for Physics Textbooks', Instn,ctional
Science, 32 (5), pp. 357-86.
Roth, A.W. 1797. Bemerkungen iiber das Swdium der cryptogamischen Wassergewiichse. Han­
nover: Gebrüder Hahn.
's Gravesande, Willem Jacob. 1737. Mathematical Elements ofNatural Philosophy, Confirm'd by
Experimenls, or, An introduclion lo Sir Isaac Newton 's Philosophy. Translated by J. T. Desa­
guliers. 2 volumes. London: Printed for J. Senex ..., W. Jnnys and R. Maney ... , and T. Long­
man.
Schaffer, Simon. 1983. 'Natural Philosophy and Public Spectacle in the Eighteenth Century',
History ofScience 21, pp. 1-43.
Sibum, Heinz Otto. 1995. 'Reworking the Mechanical Value ofHeat: Instruments ofPrecision and
Gestures of Accuracy in Early Victorian England', Studies in the Histo,y and Philosophy of
Science, 26, pp. 73-106.
Simon, Paul Louis. 1807. 'Auszug aus einem Schreiben ... an den Professor Gilbert in Halle',
Anna/en der Physik, 27, pp. 325-27.
Sueil, Michael. 2009. 'Historische physikalische Experimenlierkãsten: Untersuchung der im
Schulmuseum Zetel vorhandenen Objekte und ibrer historischen Verwendung sowie die
Entwicklung eines Ausstellungskonzepts'. Oldenburg: MA Thesis.
Sutton, Geoffrey. 1981. 'The Politics of Science in Early Napoleonic France: The Case of the
Voltaic Pile', Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences, 11 (2), pp. 329-66.
Walters, Alice N. 1997. 'Conversation pieces: Science and Politeness in Eighteenth-Century Eng­
land', History ofScience, 35, pp. 123-154.
Wise, M. Norton. 1993. 'Mediations: Enlightenment Balancing Acts, or the Tecbnologies of
Rationalism', in Paul Horwich (ed.), Wor/d Changes. Cambridge, Mass. & London: M!T
Press, pp. 207-56.
Young, Thomas. 1804. 'The Bakerian Lecture: Experiments and Calculations Relalive to Physical
Optics', Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon, 94, pp. 1-16.
THE AUDIENCE IS LISTENING:
READING WRITING ABOUT LEARNING BY DOING. 1
Pele Langman
J 745 saw the publication of the second edition of the late Jean Theophilus
Desaguliers' A Course of Experimental Philosophy, a work which sought to ex­
plain Newtonian philosophy without recourse to Newton's complex, and often
intractable, mathematics. Now a full two volumes, the book represented a consid­
e rable evolution from the somewhat slimmer Physico-Mechanical Lectures of
2
1717. One ofthe leading exponents ofthe experimental lecture, an approach to
disseminating natural philosophical knowledge pioneered by John Keill at Oxford,
Desaguliers explained his rationale:
The Thoughts of being oblig'd to understand Mathematicks have frighted a great many from
tbe Newtonian Philosophy: [ ...] tho' its Truth is supported by Mathematicks, yet its Physical
Discoveries may be communicated without. [ ...] since machi.nes have been contriv'd to ex­
plain and prove experimentally what Sir Isaac Newton has demonstrated mathematically, and
severa! of his own Experiments are shewn in publick Courses; a great many Persons get a
considerable Knowledge ofNatural Philosophy by Way of Amusement;3
Demonstration, therefore, was to replace the mathematics ofNewton's Principia
mathematica (1687) and Opticks (I 704) for the layman.4 The fashion for experi­
mental philosophy reached the highest echelons of society over the course of the
century, creating a thriving industry of instrument makers, demonstrators and
lecturers. Perfonned in lecture theatres, coffee houses, and the lecturers' own
My thanks go to Matthew Dirnmock, Annie Janowitz, Laura Miller, Tim Pamell and Cathy
Relf for lhe provision of their proof-reading, draft-correcting, avenue-suggesting and
sounding-board services, without which this essay would have been much the poorer.
2 J. T. Desaguliers, Physico-Meclwnical Lectures. Or, An Accoun/ of what is explain 'd and
demonstrated in the course of mechanical and experimental phi/osophy given by J. T
Desaguliers, ele. (London: Printed for \he Author, and Sold by him at his house in Channel­
Row, Westminster, by Richard Bridger, 1717). For more on Desaguliers, see Larry Stewart,
The Rise of Public Science: Rhetoric, Technology and Natural Philosophy in Newtonian
Britain, I 660-1750 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), pp. 119-41.
3 J. T. Desaguliers, A Course of Experimental Philosophy, 2 vols (London: Innys, Longman et
ai, 1 745), li, A4r-v.
4 On reading the Principia, Gil bert Clarke, Cartesian natural philosopher and mathematician,
1vrote thal '1 confess I doe not as yet well understand so much as your first three sections,'
bclóre noling thal be practically 'despaire[d) of understanding' it (quoted in Mordechai
f'cingold, r1,, Newto11ia11 Moment: Isaac Newton and the Making of Modern C11/ture (New
York and Oxford: New York Public Library, Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 32).