The Scientific Instruments of Charles Wheatstone and the Blending of Science, Art, and Culture

Abstract

Charles Wheatstone was a British scientist who is most often remembered for his association with the Wheatstone bridge for measuring electrical resistance. A painfully shy man in public, Wheatstone, in reality, possessed a vibrant personality and a wide array of personal interests from acoustics to electricity to optics and parlour tricks. In this paper, I look to the lifetime of Charles Wheatstone as a major influence in the blending of science, art, and culture. Most assuredly, Wheatstone’s influences were wildly extensive, yet poorly known. I’d like to pull back the curtain of some of the unique achievements of Charles Wheatstone and suggest that many of these accomplishments can be used in the teaching of science, especially in terms of the blending of science, art, and culture. As part of this illustration, I will uncover a unique connection of Wheatstone to surrealism.