The Leiden Cabinet of Physics: A Descriptive Catalogue

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Reviewed by: The Leiden Cabinet of Physics: A Descriptive Catalogue * Deborah Jean Warner (bio) The Leiden Cabinet of Physics: A Descriptive Catalogue. By Peter de Clercq. Leiden: Museum Boerhaave, 1997. Pp. 198; illustrations, bibliography, index. Fl 95.00. This catalog describes some three hundred objects that once belonged to the Cabinet of Physics at the University of Leiden and are now housed in the Museum Boerhaave in that city. All were made between about 1660 and 1810; many were used by Leiden’s famous and influential physicists Willem Jacob ‘sGravesande and his successor, Petrus van Musschenbroek. Their elegant designs and finishes are indicative of their eighteenth-century origins, but the basic forms are still seen in science classes and science museums around the world. The bulk of the objects (including the air pumps and electrical machines) would generally be considered scientific instruments, but a surprising number represent technologies common in the Netherlands in the eighteenth century. These include a hoist, a capstan, a windlass, a winch, a pile driver, a corn and hulling mill, a sawmill, a drainage mill, a dredger, various pumps, and steam engines after Savery and Newcomen. The artifacts are organized into the categories of mechanics, fluids, pneumatics, optics, heat, magnetism and electricity, machine models, and “other apparatus.” As the first university to introduce courses in the new experimental natural philosophy, Leiden is understandably proud of its scientific heritage. In [End Page 136] keeping with this tradition, the Museum Boerhaave has filled its historic building with informative and accessible exhibits and has sponsored a series of catalogs that enable us to analyze and appreciate its objects from afar. The catalog at hand is intelligently organized and handsomely produced. For each object, there is a clear photograph and a succinct description, enriched with information about its date, dimensions, maker, and user(s), and references to publications concerning it and/or similar objects. Deborah Jean Warner Ms. Warner is curator of the physical sciences collection at the National Museum of American History and editor of Rittenhouse, a quarterly journal of the American instrument enterprise. Footnotes * Permission to reprint a review published here may be obtained only from the reviewer. Copyright © 1999 the Society for the History of Technology