SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS
CONTENTS ? INTRODUCTION FAILED HISTORICAL SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS?1 1 AN ARCHIVE OF FAILED INVENTIONS THE MUSEUM OF THE ADMIRALTY COMPASS OBSERVATORY?6 2 THE DIFFUSION HYGROMETER A COMMERCIAL FAILURE?21 3 EXTREMELY POOR AN EQUATORIAL MOUNT THAT FAILED?38 4 A TELESCOPE S LACK OF FORTUNE THE NEWALL TELESCOPE?57 5 NOT ALL BAD REHABILITATING PHRENOLOGY IN MUSEUMS?77 6 FINDING WAY AT SEA ALTERNATIVES TO THE LOG LINE AND SAND GLASS THE BRITISH EXPERIENCE IN THE HANOVERIAN ERA CONSERVATIVE NAVIGATIONAL PRACTICE OR TECHNOLOGICAL FAILURE ?84 7 THE TRANSMISSION X RAY MICROSCOPE SUPER MICROSCOPE FOR BIOLOGY OR YET ANOTHER NICHE INSTRUMENT ?132 8 FROM COMPLEX TO SIMPLE THE EXAMPLE OF QIBLA INDICATORS?148 9 PEDRO NUNES TYCHO BRAHE AND ORAZIO BORGONDIO TWO FAILED SCHEMES TO READ ANGULAR SCALES ?167 10 THOMAS YOUNG S ERIOMETER WRONG TIME WRONG INVENTOR WRONG USERS ?178 11 BLACK AND WHITE IMAGES IN A GREY AREA OF FAILURE THE PHOTO THEODOLITE AT THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY IN THE 1920S?193 12 A FAILURE AN ICON OR BEYOND THE CLOUD CHAMBER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PADUA?209 13 FAILURES AN INSTRUMENT MAKER S PERSPECTIVE?226 INTRODUCTION FAILED HISTORICAL SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS HISTORIANS AND PHILOSOPHERS OF SCIENCE HAVE LONG RECOGNISED THAT FAILURES ARE AN INTEGRAL PART OF SCIENTIFIC PRACTICE BUT SCIENCE IS STILL GENERALLY PRESENTED TO THE PUBLIC AND IN SCHOOLS AS A ONE WAY SERIES OF SUCCESSES MADE OF GREAT DISCOVERIES AND RELEVANT RESULTS NEGATIVE OUTCOMES DISCARDED HYPOTHESES DIF FICULTIES ERRORS STEPS BACKWARD AND DEAD ENDS ARE BARELY MENTIONED IF NOT TOTALLY NEGLECTED IN SCIENCE TEACHING AND POPULARISATION IN SCIENCE CENTRES AND MUSEUMS EXHIBITS ALSO TEND TO SHOWCASE THE INSTRUMENTS INVOLVED IN SIGNIFICANT SCIENTIFIC OR TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVEMENTS THOSE WIDELY ADOPTED OR THOSE CONNECTED TO A FAMOUS SCIENTIST OR MAKER CURATORS OF COLLECTIONS OF HISTORICAL SCIENTIFIC APPARATUS KNOW THAT THESE DIS PLAYED INSTRUMENTS TELL ONLY PART OF THE STORY COLLECTION STORAGE AND ARCHIVES OFFER EXAMPLES OF QUIRKY INSTRUMENTS THAT NEVER CAUGHT ON PRECISION DEVICES THAT NEVER MEASURED UP AND TOOLS THAT HAD DISASTROUS SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES THIS BOOK WILL FOCUS ON THEM AND ASK WHAT CAN BE LEARNED FROM FAILURES OF COURSE IT IS FAR FROM EASY TO DEFINE FAILURE PRECISELY IN A SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL CONTEXT MIGHT IT BE A FAILURE WHEN A SCIENTIST TESTS A HYPOTHESIS BY MEANS OF EXPERIMENT AND FINDS IT FALSE OR WHEN DETECTION INSTRUMENTS GIVE INCONCLUSIVE RESULTS PERHAPS BUT NEGATIVE AND INCONCLUSIVE DATA ARE VALUABLE BRICKS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE BECAUSE THEY ENCOURAGE RESEARCHERS TO TRY NEW HYPOTHESES BUILD NEW INSTRUMENTS AND DEVELOP BETTER THEORIES FAILURE IS AN EXPECTED PART OF SCIENTIFIC PRACTICE AND A PROPOSITION HYPOTH ESIS OR THEORY THAT LACKS THE CAPACITY TO BE FALSIFIED OR PROVEN WRONG IS NOT CONSIDERED SCIENTIFIC EVEN SO EXAMPLES OF INSTRUMENTATION INVOLVED WITH THESE SORTS OF FAILURES OFFER ONLY A LIMITED VIEW OF HOW A SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT MIGHT FAIL AS A CATEGORY THE TERM FAILURE MUST BE MEASURED WITH RESPECT TO SOMETHING ELSE JUST AS WITH TERMS LIKE SALTY OR TALL FAILURE DEMANDS A CONTEXT FAILURE WITH RESPECT TO WHAT FAILURE HOW FAILURE WHY IF WE ARE GOING TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND OR CATEGORISE FAILURES WE MUST EXPAND OUR FIELD OF VIEW AND GO BEYOND TECH NICAL DETAILS THE THIRTEEN PAPERS IN THIS BOOK WILL DO JUST THAT SHOWING HOW COMPLEX AND DIVERSE FAILURES CAN BE AN OBVIOUS PLACE TO START ARE INSTRUMENTS THAT FAILED BECAUSE THEY HAD FLAWED TECHNICAL OR MECHANICAL DESIGNS OR THEY LACKED ORIGINALITY AND USEFUL NESS RICHARD DUNN EXPLORES THESE IN HIS PAPER ON THE ADMIRALTY COMPASS 1 OBSERVATORY WHICH WAS ESTABLISHED IN THE 1840S IN THE UNITED KINGDOM IN ORDER TO COLLECT AND JUDGE ALL EXPERIMENTAL AND PROTOTYPE DEVICES IN THE FIELD OF MAGNETIC INSTRUMENTATION ITS COLLECTION THEREFORE INCLUDED DEVICES THAT WERE NOT SUFFICIENTLY PRECISE COULD NOT WORK WERE USELESS OR UNORIGINAL BY SUCH CRITERIA THE INSTRUMENTS WOULD CLEARLY SEEM TO BE FAILURES BUT DUNN STRESSES THAT THE FINAL ASSESSMENT OF AN INSTRUMENT WAS OFTEN THE RESULT OF HEATED DIS CUSSIONS AND MIGHT EVEN CHANGE OVER TIME NO CHANGES OCCURRED IN THE ASSESSMENT OF THE DIFFUSION HYGROMETERS DEVISED IN THE 1940S BY HEINRICH GREINACHER AND DESCRIBED BY JEAN FRAN OIS LOUDE IN THE SECOND PAPER OF THIS BOOK DIFFUSION HYGROMETERS SUFFERED FROM NUMEROUS TECHNICAL DRAWBACKS IN TERMS OF THEIR ACCURACY CLAIMS NOT BEING BACKED UP EMPIRICALLY THEIR LIMITED TEMPERATURE RANGE THE ABSENCE OF STUDIES ON HOW AIR PRESSURE AFFECTED THEIR OPERATION THEIR LACK OF PORTABILITY AND RESTRICTED USE TO INDOORS AND THE PROBLEMS IN MANUFACTURING STANDARDISED POROUS PLATES BUT ON TOP OF ALL THIS THE DIFFUSION HYGROMETER WAS A COMMERCIAL FAILURE BECAUSE IT DID NOT SURPASS PRIOR ART THE GOOD OLD SIMPLE HAIR HYGROMETER BUILDING ON TECHNICAL PROBLEMS CAUSING FAILURES JOHAN K RNFELT DISCUSSES THE FAILED EQUATORIAL MOUNT OF A HERSCHEL REFLECTING TELESCOPE WHOSE OPTICAL ELEMENTS WERE DELIVERED IN 1790 TO THE ROYAL SWEDISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES K RNFELT ATTRIBUTES THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS FAILURE NOT ONLY TO THE MOUNT MAKER BUT ALSO TO THE MANAGEMENT OF THE COMMISSION BY THE ACADEMY WHICH DID NOTHING TO RECTIFY THE SITUATION FOR FIFTY YEARS CONSEQUENTLY THE TELESCOPE WAS NEVER USED FOR RESEARCH BUT ONLY FOR PUBLIC DEMONSTRATIONS AND LATER AS AN EXHIBITION SHOWPIECE THE STORY OF NEWALL S TELESCOPE PRESENTED BY PANAGIOTIS LAZOS AND GEORGE N VLAHAKIS SIMILARLY INVOLVES A PERIOD OF FAILURE FOLLOWED BY SUCCESS IN A NEW ARENA BUILT BY THOMAS COOKE FOR ROBERT STIRLING NEWALL IN 1869 THE TELESCOPE WAS A TECHNOLOGICAL MASTERPIECE WITH SUPERIOR OPTICAL AND MECHANICAL PARTS BUT IT LANGUISHED UNUSED FOR TWENTY FIVE YEARS AND CONTRIBUTED NOTHING TO ASTRONOMY AS NEWALL HAD HOPED THE AUTHORS BLAME THE FAILURE ON NEWALL S MANAGEMENT OF THE INSTRUMENT HE SITUATED THE INSTRUMENT NEAR NEWCASTLE WHERE THE QUALITY OF SEEING WAS COMPROMISED BY POLLUTION FROM FACTORIES AND FOG RISING OFF THE RIVER TYNE WAS TOO BUSY AS AN INDUSTRIALIST TO MAKE TIME FOR HIS OWN USE OF THE TELESCOPE AND DID NOT HIRE AN OBSERVER IN HIS PLACE ONLY AFTER THE TELESCOPE WAS RELOCATED TO CAMBRIDGE DID IT BECOME A SUCCESS BEING USED FOR CUTTING EDGE OBSERVATIONS BY NEWALL S SON HUGH FRANK NEWALL BY THE LATE 1950S WHEN NEWALL S TELESCOPE WAS CONSIDERED OBSOLETE IT WAS RELOCATED TO THE NATIONAL OBSERVATORY OF ATHENS AT THE EXPENSE OF GREEK SHIPPING MAG NATES NOT WANTED IN THE UK THE 90 YEAR OLD COOKE TELESCOPE WAS PRIZED BY GREEK ASTRONOMERS DOING PLANETARY AND VARIABLE STAR RESEARCH AFTER A DECADE OR SO NEWER INSTRUMENTS REPLACED IT BUT TWICE MORE THE TELESCOPE ROSE FROM 2 FAILURE TO NEW FOUND SUCCESS FIRST IN THE 1970S IN TRAINING STUDENTS OF PHYS ICS AND ASTRONOMY AND SECOND IN THE 1990S AS AN INSTRUMENT TO POPULARISE SCIENCE THUS THE COOKE TELESCOPE S LIFE EBBED AND FLOWED WITH WAVES OF FAILURE AND SUCCESS EACH MEASURED AGAINST DIFFERENT STANDARDS AND PROGRAMMES THE PAPERS ON THE HERSCHEL AND COOKE TELESCOPES REVEAL THE MULTIFACETED COMPLEXITY OF WHAT AT FIRST APPEAR TO BE TECHNICAL FAILURES IN DESIGN OR GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION TACYE PHILLIPSON TAKES UP THIS THEME BY FOCUSING ON INSTRUMENTS OF PHRE NOLOGY WHICH ARE TYPICALLY USED AS ILLUSTRATIONS OF BAD SCIENCE OF THE PAST SHOULD WE TREAT THE INSTRUMENTS OF A FAILED SCIENCE AS FAILURES THEMSELVES OF COURSE PHRENOLOGY HAD ITS PRACTITIONERS WHO THOUGHT THEIR WORK AND TOOLS WERE SUCCESSFUL IN THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY AND TODAY THE INSTRUMENTS AND IDEAS OF A FAILED SCIENCE MIGHT BE SUCCESSFUL IN EXHIBIT SETTINGS AS A MEANS TO HELP MUSEUM VISITORS BETTER UNDERSTAND THE METHODS LOGIC AND NUANCES OF SCIENTIFIC PRACTICES THAT CAN PRODUCE DEAD ENDS AS WELL AS LIVING BRANCHES OF THOUGHT AND CAN ALSO SOMETIMES RECYCLE IDEAS THE NEXT SET OF PAPERS IN THIS VOLUME TURN FROM TECHNICAL PROBLEMS AND MANAGERIAL ISSUES TO THE ROLES OF SOCIAL BIAS AND BEHAVIOUR E G THE HABITS AND ENTRENCHED PRACTICES OF THE USERS AND COMMERCIAL AND ECONOMIC REA SONS FOR FAILURE DAVID BRYDEN UNDERSCORES THESE IN HIS ANALYSIS OF NUMEROUS MECHANICAL LOGS THAT FAILED TO BE ADOPTED IN THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES ON ONE HAND THEY HAD MECHANICAL WEAKNESSES WERE EASILY DAMAGED AND WERE NOT DURABLE ENOUGH TO WORK AT SEA IN ROUGH CONDITIONS ON THE OTHER HAND THEY ALSO FAILED BECAUSE OF THE PREDISPOSITION OF THE JUDGES OR PURCHASING AGENTS INCLUDING THOSE OF THE BOARD OF LONGITUDE OR ROYAL NAVY AS WELL AS THE INNATE CONSERVATISM OF USERS WHO WOULD RATHER STICK WITH A FAMILIAR IF FLAWED WORKING DEVICE AS THE ADAGE SAYS BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW THAN THE DEVIL YOU DON T BRYDEN ALSO REMARKS ON THE COMMERCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE FAILURE OF MECHANICAL LOGS SUCH AS THE COST OF PRODUCTION AND PRICING DUE TO SUPPLY AND DEMAND AND THE LACK OF INVESTORS WILLING TO PUT TIME AND MONEY INTO PROTOTYPING TESTING AND PRODUCING THE DEVICES ON A LARGER SCALE FAILURES THAT ARISE FROM STRUGGLES TO APPEAL TO TARGETED USERS IS THE TOPIC EXAMINED BY ANDREAS JUNK IN HIS PAPER ON THE TRANSMISSION X RAY MICROSCOPE INTRODUCED TO SCIENTISTS IN 1967 SUCH A MICROSCOPE SHOWED GREAT PROMISE FOR BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH BUT BIOLOGISTS PREFERRED THEIR TRADITIONAL TOOLS BECAUSE THE INFORMATION GAINED BY USING THE NEW MICROSCOPE DID NOT SEEM TO JUSTIFY THE EXPENSE THOUGH A FAILURE IN THE CONTEXT OF BIOLOGY TRANSMISSION X RAY MICROSCOPES WERE SUCCESSFUL IN PHYSICS RESEARCH THUS ONE PERSON S FAILURE IS ANOTHER PERSON S SUCCESS ASSESSMENT DEPENDS ON THE TIME AND PLACE AND THE INDIVIDUALS MAKING THE JUDGMENTS 3