The Whipple Museum of the History of Science

The diverse objects of The Whipple Museum of the History of Science’s internationally renowned collection are brought into sharp relief by a number of highly regarded historians of science in fourteen essays. Each chapter focuses on a specific instrument or group of objects, ranging from an English medieval astrolabe to a modern agricultural ‘seed source indicator’ to a curious collection of plaster chicken heads. The contributors employ a range of historiographical and methodological approaches to demonstrate the various ways in which the material culture of science can be researched and understood. The essays show how the study of scientific objects – including instruments and models – offers a window into cultures of scientific practice not afforded by textual sources alone. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Joshua Nall is Curator of Modern Sciences in the Whipple Museum. His first book, published in 2019, is News from Mars: Mass Media and the Forging of a New Astronomy, 1860–1910.

Liba Taub is Curator and Director of the Whipple Museum, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, and a Fellow of Newnham College. She received the Joseph H. Hazen Education Prize from the History of Science Society and a Pilkington Teaching Prize from the University of Cambridge, recognising her collections-based teaching.

Frances Willmoth† (1957–2017) was Archivist at Jesus College, Cambridge. She edited the three-volume edition of John Flamsteed’s correspondence.