Microscope   Octant   Orrery   Sikes' Hydrometer   Telescope   Vacuum Balance  BACK  HIDE DESCRIPTION Microscope MANUFACTURER Unknown, British INVENTOR/DESIGNER Edmund Culpeper (c.1670-1738), British DATE c.1750 MATERIAL Brass, glass, leather DIMENSIONS 440x160x160 PROVENANCE Transfer from Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery in 1970 LOCATION Thinktank BACK  HIDE DESCRIPTION Octant MANUFACTURER Spencer Browning & Co, London, Britain INVENTOR/DESIGNER John Hadley (1682-1744), British DATE after 1842 MATERIAL Wood, brass, ivory DIMENSIONS 80x250x310 PROVENANCE Private gift in 1956 LOCATION MCC BACK  HIDE DESCRIPTION Orrery MANUFACTURER Robert Brettell Bate, London, Britain INVENTOR/DESIGNER George Graham (c.1673-1751), British DATE c.1812 MATERIAL Brass, steel, ivory PROVENANCE Private purchase in 1956 LOCATION Thinktank BACK  HIDE DESCRIPTION Sikes' Hydrometer MANUFACTURER Ludwig Oertling, London INVENTOR/DESIGNER Bartholomew Sikes (1731-1803), British DATE c.1880s MATERIAL Steel, copper alloy, glass, ivory, wood, print DIMENSIONS 53x75x195 PROVENANCE Gift from Board of Trade in 1956 LOCATION MCC BACK  HIDE DESCRIPTION Telescope, marked 'James Short London 1738 2/196' MANUFACTURER James Short (1710-1768), London, Britain INVENTOR/DESIGNER James Gregory (1638-1675), Scottish DATE 1738 MATERIAL Brass, steel, glass, ivory, liquid DIMENSIONS 525x500x95 PROVENANCE Private purchase in 1954 LOCATION Thinktank BACK  HIDE DESCRIPTION Vacuum Balance MANUFACTURER Ludwig Oertling, London, Britain INVENTOR/DESIGNER Dmitrii Mendeleev (1834-1907), Russian DATE c.1890s MATERIAL Glass, brass, copper alloy, stee, textile, plastic DIMENSIONS 350x320x290 PROVENANCE Gift from Board of Trade in 1956 LOCATION MCC   BACK Scientific instruments form an interesting, attractive and informative part of the collection. From the earliest times people have wanted to measure the earth, to observe space, to identify fundamental particles, to analyse nature. But it was the 17th century, the Age of Science, which introduced scientific instruments to explore the infinitely tiny and the infinitely great. Various scientific artefacts dated from the 18th century to the modern period are to be found in the collection: telescopes and orreries, microscopes and measuring devices. Among them there is an early telescope dated 1720; an orrery made by Bate of London, the most prolific maker of the early 19th century; a microscope belonged to Francis Fry of Bristol (1803-1886), the head of the famous chocolate factory and the greatly-respected English Bible collector and historian; a special duty microscope from the1920s made by the world-famous Carl Zeiss (Germany). These objects can be seen on display at Thinktank, and also at MCC by appointment.

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