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Science & Measurement Collection
Image: Microscope
Source: Museum Victoria
This diverse and selective collection represents significant aspects of Australian scientific research and applied science since the 19th century.
Significant items have been acquired directly from scientists or their institutions, including universities, government departments and the CSIRO. The collection also includes representative examples of laboratory equipment and scientific teaching and demonstration apparatus.
Apart from their scientific purpose, many items hold value as extraordinary examples of design and craftsmanship and as manifestations of the impact of science and technology on people's daily lives.
The collection particularly emphasises local scientific research and practical applications of science pertaining to the history of Victoria, but also includes objects from a broader history of science, such as objects from the Soviet and US space programs.
Significant items
- Scientific equipment developed by Australian scientists: Shephard Ruling Engine (1890s), Steele-Grant Microbalance (1909), Laby-Hercus apparatus for the determination of the mechanical equivalent of heat (1920s) and the first atomic absorption spectrophometer, developed by Alan Walsh at CSIRO (1952).
- Important examples of 19th and 20th century scientific equipment, including physics and chemistry laboratory equipment.
- Representative microscope collection, from Culpeper microscopes (1740s) to early electron microscope (1949).
- Astronomical equipment from the Melbourne Observatory (1860s-1946), including an eight-inch transit telescope (1884), and parts of the Great Melbourne Telescope (1868); associated archival material, photographs, and astronomical photographic plates.
- Original astronomical observations of Ernst Hartung.
- Primary weights and measures of Victoria from the 19th and 20th century, used for establishing standards and testing.
- Surveying equipment, including theodolites, telescopes and measuring rods used in the Geodetic Survey of Victoria (1858-72).
- Meteorological equipment, including items used in the Shackleton Antarctic expedition (1914-17).
- Equipment and personal effects from the exploration of Antarctica, from the early period (Shackleton 1907-09 and Rayner 1927-39) to the era of scientific exploration and establishment of permanent bases (1949-1960s).
See 'Collectors of Time', an essay on this collection from A Museum for the People: A history of Museum Victoria and its predecessor institutions 1854-2000.
Items per page: 10 50 (showing 51 - 60) 1633 items
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Negative - Erection of Great Melbourne Telescope, 1869
Erection of the Great Melbourne Telescope at Melbourne Observatory, 1869.
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 2 -
No Image Available
Photograph - Construction of Oddie Dome at Mount Stromlo Observatory, 1911
Workers completing the construction of the Oddie telescope dome at Mount Stromlo, 1911. A 9 inch refracting telescope by Grubb, Dublin, was donated in 1910 by James Oddie of Ballarat, ...
From: Mt Stromlo, Australia Images: 0 -
No Image Available
Glass Negative - Construction of Oddie Dome at Mount Stromlo Observatory, 1911
Workers completing the construction of the Oddie telescope dome at Mount Stromlo, 1911. A 9 inch refracting telescope by Grubb, Dublin, was donated in 1910 by James Oddie of Ballarat, ...
From: Mt Stromlo, Australia Images: 0 -
Glass Negative - Cloud Camera, Melbourne Observatory, South Yarra, Victoria, circa 1896
Cloud Camera erected in grounds of Melbourne Observatory, circa 1896. One of a pair of cloud cameras located at Melbourne Observatory and Parliament House to measure the height and velo ...
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 1 -
Glass Negative - Construction of Astronomer's Residence, Melbourne Observatory, South Yarr ...
Construction of Astronomer's Residence at Melbourne Observatory, 1889.
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 1 -
Glass Negative - Observing Site, Solar Eclipse Expedition, Goondiwindi, Queensland, Sep 19 ...
View of the observing site, Solar Eclipse Expedition, Goondiwindi, Queensland, Sep 1922, prior to erection of temporary huts. In 1922, Victorian Government Astronomer Joseph Baldwin le ...
From: Goondiwindi, Australia Images: 1 -
Photograph - by George Rayner, Antarctica, 1934
Part of a series of photographs created by George Rayner in Antarctica and sub-antarctic islands during the early 1930s.
Images: 1 -
No Image Available
Glass Positive - Stars, Melbourne Observatory, 1891
Experimental photograph of star cluster taken by Robert Ellery with the Astrograph telescope at Melbourne Observatory on 3 February 1891, soon after its installation.
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 0 -
Photograph - by George Rayner, Antarctica, circa 1920s
Photograph probably taken by George Rayner. The 'William Scoresby' was a purpose-designed research vessel built for the Discovery Committee by the East Yorkshire shipyard of Cook, Welt ...
Images: 2 -
Glass Negative - Man Standing on Mallee Fowl Mound, by A.J. Campbell, Mallee, Victoria, ci ...
Image taken by A.J. Campbell in preparation for his definitive work, 'Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds including the Geographical Distribution of the Species and Popular Observations ...
Images: 1
