Abstracts
Abstract
The methodology of experimental reenactment has typically been used by historians to better understand landmark experiments. In this paper, we apply this approach to the galvanometer, an instrument so fundamental to the study of electricity that we may consider it infrastructure underlying the teaching of physics and engineering through the 19th century and well into the 20th centuries. We study a selection of galvanometers from the University of Toronto Scientific Instruments Collection, using them to explore their institutional context. Finally, we operate a representative galvanometer to explore several of the teaching experiments undertaken by engineering and physics students of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Keywords:
- Galvanometer,
- University of Toronto Scientific Instruments Collection,
- Metrology,
- Physics,
- Engineering,
- Education,
- Experimental reenactment
Résumé
La méthodologie de la reconstitution expérimentale a généralement été utilisée par les historiens pour mieux comprendre les expériences marquantes. Dans cet article, nous appliquons cette approche au galvanomètre, un instrument si fondamental pour l'étude de l'électricité que nous pouvons le considérer comme une infrastructure sous-jacente à l'enseignement de la physique et de l'ingénierie tout au long du XIXe siècle et pendant une bonne partie du XXe siècle. Nous étudions une sélection de galvanomètres de la collection d'instruments scientifiques de l'Université de Toronto, en les utilisant pour explorer leur contexte institutionnel. Enfin, nous utilisons un galvanomètre représentatif pour explorer plusieurs des expériences d'enseignement entreprises par les étudiants en ingénierie et en physique à la fin du XIXe siècle et au début du XXe siècle.
Mots-clés :
- Galvanomètre,
- Collection d’instruments scientifiques de l’Université de Toronto,
- Métrologie,
- Physique,
- Ingénierie,
- Éducation,
- Reconstitution expérimentale
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Appendices
Biographical notes
Erich Weidenhammer (erich.weidenhammer@utoronto.ca) received his PhD from the University of Toronto in 2014. He is curator of the University of Toronto Scienctifc Instruments Collection and adjunct curator at Ingenium: Canada’s Museums of Science & Innovation.
Victoria Fisher (victoria.fisher@utoronto.ca ) was awarded her PhD in the History of Science in March 2023 and is Historian in Residence at the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Toronto.
Chen-Pang Yeang (chenpang.yeang@utoronto.ca) received his PhD and ScD from MIT. He is a professor at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, University of Toronto.
Ava Spurr (ava.spurr@mail.utoronto.ca) is an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto majoring in History and Philosophy of Science and minoring in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Material Culture and Semiotics, and Science, Technology, and Society.
Patrick Finnigan (Patrick_Finnigan@ieee.org) is a Professional Engineer in Ontario. He holds a M.Math degree from the University of Waterloo, and is Life Senior member of IEEE.