Development Of Scientific Instruments Research Articles

International Scientific Cooperation – Approaches to the Analysis of the Situation

The directions of analysis of international cooperation in science are considered including access to foreign financing, access to modern scientific equipment, exchange of ideas, access to potential customers for R&D, independent examination of scientific results and the organization of scientific research management. The analysis of approaches to the organization of international cooperation in science under sanctions pressure is given and proposals for priority actions in this matter are formulated: clarification of priorities for theorganization of scientific research; development of scientific instrumentation and production of consumables for scientific research; provision of access to foreign scientific and technical information; organization of presentation of the results of Russian scientific research primarily for Russian consumers of information.

Инновационное направление развития научного приборостроения — времяпролетные масс-спектрометры (на англ. яз.)

Инновационное направление развития научного приборостроения — времяпролетные масс-спектрометры (на англ. яз.)

‘OF THE TEMPERAMENT OF THOSE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS’: CONSIDERING TIBERIUS CAVALLO AND THE SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATION OF MUSICAL SOUNDS IN LATE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY LONDON

The connection of music to scientific exploration in late Enlightenment London can be considered from various perspectives, perhaps most evidently through the binary of amateur–professional. These two realms intersected within natural philosophical observation, a practice that often served concurrently as entertainment and as study. The development of scientific instruments for the observation of various phenomena appeared in both professional and amateur contexts, contributing to technological growth and research. Natural philosopher Tiberius Cavallo (1749–1809) and his 1788 article on musical temperament (‘Of the Temperament of Those Musical Instruments, in Which the Tones, Keys, or Frets, are Fixed, as in the Harpsichord, Organ, Guitar, &c’) provide a captivating example of amateur interest overlapping effectively with the professional domain; as an amateur musician and professional scientist, Cavallo observed equal temperament in both mathematical and aesthetic terms. Consideration of his work promotes a more nuanced view of London as a place where scientific and musical ideas could meet and be ‘instrumentalized’, emphasizing the city's status as a vibrant arena for the interaction of scientific exploration, artistic endeavour and professional identities. In this sense, Cavallo's work on temperament was not merely a scientific activity; it reflected technological change during a stimulating period of scientific and musical progress in late eighteenth-century London. For example, instrument builders were actively developing ways to improve pitch control and tuning stability, as witnessed by numerous British patents for harp mechanisms, the addition of flute keys and keyboard construction.

The Life Cycle of a Radiosonde

The development of scientific instruments was, only a few years ago, confined to universities and electronics companies having highly specialized human and/or technical resources. With the advent of open hardware initiatives, engineers, scientists, hobbyists, and even people with limited electronic skills have been able to tinker with complex electronic systems. Taking advantage of these inexpensive and widely available tools and in the context of an engineering project class for undergraduates, the authors set about building a working radiosonde prototype from the ground up, based on an open hardware platform and easily accessible components. As a result, a fully functional radiosonde has been built that measures, records, and transmits pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind, plus a small camera that stores images on a flash card. A release system was also developed so that the radiosonde can be detached from a balloon upon reaching a certain height, pressure level, or flight time. Once it is released, one can attempt the recovery of the radiosonde with the help of a precalculated trajectory using a numerical mesoscale forecasting model and visualization software. The performance of the sonde was compared with two commercial radiosondes using climate chambers and two field launches. This paper also discusses some of the more interesting capabilities foreseeable for such a platform: 1) collaboration between meteorology and engineering departments in both education and research, and 2) development of a flexible hardware platform that allows for an effective way to compare different commercially available sensors and to easily integrate new prototype sensors.

Peter Godwin Embrey (1929–2010)

Peter Embrey passed away on 24th December 2010 at Charing Cross hospital. He was an inspiration to many of those who knew him and especially to those who worked with him and formed part of his team at the British Museum (Natural History) now the Natural History Museum, London. Classically educated, he was revered as a fount of knowledge on historical, taxonomic and topographic mineralogy and crystallography. He was a noted bibliophile and built up a vast collection of books on crystallography, mineralogy, scientific instruments, the history of science, the geology and mining history of southwest England, mathematics and computing. He was fascinated by the craftsmanship and development of scientific instruments and in their practical use in mineral optics and goniometry, and also kept up with the latest developments in computational methods until well into his retirement. In respecting the contributions made to science by amateur mineralogists and the collecting fraternity, Peter was at the forefront in the development of the National Collection of Minerals, partly through encouraging donations from his many contacts and also through a series of exchanges at a time of low or non-existent acquisitions budgets. Peter Godwin Embrey was born on 31 January 1929 in Edgbaston, Birmingham into a family that was well known at the time for its bakery business in Stoke-on-Trent. He was educated at Denstone College preparatory school and then at Oundle school in Northamptonshire, where he developed a strong interest in mathematics and science, before going up to Oriel College, Oxford University, in 1947, to read chemistry and mineralogy. His tutor at Oriel was the famous research chemist Dalziel Hammick FRS who had a lasting influence on him. At Oxford, he met Arthur Kingsbury who had just been appointed Research Assistant in the University Museum and Peter wrote: “It was at this …

Crystal growth.

This report introduces briefly some concepts and materials on crystal growth presented by Dr. Zhen-yu Zhang from the Oak Ridge (TN) National Laboratory, and Dr. En-ge Wang from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in a session on crystal growth at the first Chinese-American Frontiers of Science Symposium. Crystal growth involves a variety of research fields ranging from surface physics, crystallography, and material sciences to condenser mater physics. Though it has been studied extensively more than 100 years, crystal growth still plays an important role in both theoretical and experimental research fields, as well as in applications. For example, how to growth ideal high Tc superconductor crystal has become an dominant subject both for testing of superconductor theories and physical properties. Furthermore, carbon 60 and carbon nano-tubes have opened a new field to both condensed mater physics and chemistry. From the recent discoveries in high Tc superconductors and C60, which brought the Nobel prize to the pioneer researchers in this field, one can understand the importance of crystal growth today. As the development of scientific instruments and analytical methods, such as x-rays, electron microscopy, NMR, and scanning tunneling microscopy continues, research on crystal growth and structure characterization has entered an atomic level, which makes it possible for further understanding of the physical, chemical, and other properties of the structure nature of various crystals. Especially for the crystals with low dimension and nano-structures, such as carbon nanotubes, blue-light emitting GaN thin films, and magnetic multilayers with giant magneto-resistance, their abnormal properties that have great potential in application can be understood only with the knowledge of structure at the atomic level. Moreover, a further improvement of crystal quality also depends on the structure characterizations. Based on its importance described above, crystal growth had been chosen as one of the topics …

Lack of cash for instruments ‘threatens ESA science missions’

munich Future scientific missions of the European SpaceAgency are under threat because member states are notmaking sufficient money available for the development ofscientific instruments.

Prospects for improving voltage standards based on the Josephson Effect

The rapid development of scientific instrumentation, ratio engineering, mlcroelectronics, etc. has made it necessary to increase the accuracy and reliability of voltage measurements. Analysis of studies directed at the improvement of existing domestic voltage standards shows that in the near future quantitative changes will be made in the components used in these standards. First of all, normal elements will be completely eliminated from the apparatus of the primary (national) voltage standards. Second, the increasing use of cryogenic systems (SQUID) superconducting comparators, etc.), suggests that the entire procedure of comparing voltages will be performed at helium temperatures with the help of a cryogenic scheme. This is probably the only way to overcome the relative-error "barrier" of 10 -9 , when the change in the contact resistances~and the thermo-emf (TEMF), including the intrinsic noise of the measuring circuit, become the main factors limiting the accuracy of the standard.

Scientific Instruments in Art and History

H. Michel (trans, by R. E. W. Maddison and F. R. Maddison)London: The Barrie Group of Publishers. 1967. Pp. 208. Price £5 5s. In this sumptuous volume Henri Michel, of Brussels, a pioneer student of the development of scientific instruments, presents 103 coloured plates showing historical instruments from eighteen European museums and other institutions. The plates are arranged in five groups entitled, respectively, Basic elements, Measuring the earth, Measuring the heavens, the Measurement of time, and Physical measurements.

The influence of industrial research on the development of scientific instruments

The influence of industrial research on the development of scientific instruments

News and Views

THE Council of the Physical Society has awarded the Duddell medal for 1927 to Dr. F. E. Smith, Director of Scientific Research at the Admiralty. This medal is given annually for work in connexion with the development of scientific instruments or of materials used in their manufacture. Dr. Smith's work at the National Physical Laboratory on the development of electrical standards is too well known to require emphasis. He was trained at the Royal College of Science, 1895–1900, under the late Sir Arthur Reker, entering the National Physical Laboratory in 1900. There he formed one of the band of pioneers who, under Sir Richard Glazebrook, did so much to raise the scientific work of the Institution to its present high level. His earliest work was concerned with modifications of the Wheatstone and Kelvin bridges for precise measurements of resistance, and the development of bridges for accurate platinum resistance thermometry. A classical piece of work followed on the current balance, by means of which it was found possible to evaluate a current of the nominal value of 1 ampere to within 1 part in 50,000. In the course of this work he developed the silver voltameter which bears his name and is generally accepted as the most trustworthy form of voltameter, in that there is no envelope between the anode and cathode. The successful development of the modern mercury-in-glass resistance standards is largely due to Dr. Smith's work. His specification for the Weston normal cadmium cell is the one generally followed. It is now no uncommon experience for a batch of twenty standard cells to be made commercially in which the E.M.F. given by the cells agrees to 1 part in 10,000. Dr. Smith was also responsible for the design of the Lorenz apparatus (the Viriamu Jones Memorial) installed at the National Physical Laboratory. He has also developed various magnetometers for the measurement of the magnetic intensity of the earth's field; one of his instruments now forms the standard for the measurement of the horizontal intensity at the Magnetic Observatory at Abinger. In 1920, Dr. Smith left the National Physical Laboratory to take up his present post at the Admiralty. He was president of the Physical Society for 1923–24. As one of the honorary secretaries of the British Association, his organising ability is being devoted in a striking manner to the advancement of science.