A scientific instrument is a device or tool used for
scientific
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
purposes, including the study of both natural phenomena and theoretical research.
History
Historically, the definition of a scientific instrument has varied, based on usage, laws, and historical time period.
Before the mid-nineteent
centurysuch tools were referred to as "natural philosophical" or "philosophical" apparatus and instruments, and older tools from antiquity to the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
(such as the
astrolabe and
pendulum clock) defy a more modern definition of "a tool developed to investigate nature qualitatively or quantitatively."
Scientific instruments were made by instrument makers living near a center of learning or research, such as a university or research
laboratory
A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physic ...
. Instrument makers designed, constructed, and refined instruments for purposes, but if demand was sufficient, an instrument would go into production as a commercial product.
In a description of the use of the
eudiometer by
Jan Ingenhousz
Jan (or John) Ingenhousz or Ingen-Housz FRS (8 December 1730 – 7 September 1799) was a Dutch-born British physiologist, biologist and chemist.
He is best known for discovering photosynthesis by showing that light is essential to the process ...
to show
photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored i ...
, a biographer observed, "The history of the use and evolution of this instrument helps to show that science is not just a theoretical endeavor but equally an activity grounded on an instrumental basis, which is a cocktail of instruments and techniques wrapped in a social setting within a community of practitioners. The eudiometer has been shown to be one of the elements in this mix that kept a whole community of researchers together, even while they were at odds about the significance and the proper use of the thing."
[Geerdt Magiels (2009) ''From Sunlight to Insight. Jan IngenHousz, the discovery of photosynthesis & science in the light of ecology'', page 231, VUB Press ]
By World War II, the demand for improved analyses of wartime products such as medicines, fuels, and weaponized agents pushed instrumentation to new heights.
Today, changes to instruments used in scientific endeavors — particularly analytical instruments — are occurring rapidly, with interconnections to computers and data management systems becoming increasingly necessary.
Scope
Scientific instruments vary greatly in size, shape, purpose, complication and complexity. They include relatively simple
laboratory equipment like
scales,
ruler
A ruler, sometimes called a rule, line gauge, or scale, is a device used in geometry and technical drawing, as well as the engineering and construction industries, to measure distances or draw straight lines.
Variants
Rulers have long ...
s,
chronometers,
thermometer
A thermometer is a device that measures temperature or a temperature gradient (the degree of hotness or coldness of an object). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb of a mercury-in-glass thermometer ...
s, etc. Other simple tools developed in the late 20th century or early 21st century are the
Foldscope (an optical microscope), the SCALE(KAS Periodic Table),
the
MasSpec Pen (a pen that detects cancer), the
glucose meter, etc. However, some scientific instruments can be quite large in size and significant in complexity, like
particle colliders or
radio-telescope antennas. Conversely,
microscale and
nanoscale
The nanoscopic scale (or nanoscale) usually refers to structures with a length scale applicable to nanotechnology, usually cited as 1–100 nanometers (nm). A nanometer is a billionth of a meter. The nanoscopic scale is (roughly speaking) a lo ...
technologies are advancing to the point where instrument sizes are shifting towards the tiny, including nanoscale
surgical instrument
A surgical instrument is a tool or device for performing specific actions or carrying out desired effects during a surgery or operation, such as modifying biological tissue, or to provide access for viewing it. Over time, many different kinds of ...
s, biological
nanobots, and
bioelectronics
Bioelectronics is a field of research in the convergence of biology and electronics.
Definitions
At the first C.E.C. Workshop, in Brussels in November 1991, bioelectronics was defined as 'the use of biological materials and biological architectu ...
.
The digital era
Instruments are increasingly based upon
integration with
computers to improve and simplify control; enhance and extend instrumental functions, conditions, and parameter adjustments; and streamline data sampling, collection, resolution, analysis (both during and post-process), and storage and retrieval. Advanced instruments can be connected as a
local area network (LAN) directly or via
middleware
Middleware is a type of computer software that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It can be described as "software glue".
Middleware makes it easier for software developers to implement c ...
and can be further integrated as part of an
information management application such as a
laboratory information management system (LIMS).
Instrument connectivity can be furthered even more using
internet of things (IoT) technologies, allowing for example laboratories separated by great distances to connect their instruments to a network that can be monitored from a workstation or mobile device elsewhere.
Examples of scientific instruments
List of scientific instruments manufacturers
List of scientific instruments designers
*
Jones, William
*
Kipp, Petrus Jacobus
*
Le Bon, Gustave
*
Roelofs, Arjen
*
Schöner, Johannes
*
Von Reichenbach, Georg Friedrich
History of scientific instruments
Museums
*
Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments (CHSI)
*
Boerhaave Museum
*
Chemical Heritage Foundation
*
Deutsches Museum
*
Royal Victoria Gallery for the Encouragement of Practical Science
*
Whipple Museum of the History of Science
Whipple may refer to:
People
* Whipple (surname) (including a list of people with the surname)
* Whip Jones (1909–2001), American ski industry pioneer, founder, developer and original operator of the Aspen Highlands ski area in Aspen, Colorado
* ...
Historiography
*
Paul Bunge Prize The Paul Bunge Prize is an international award for seminal and lasting contributions to the history of scientific instruments. Endowed in 1993 by the late Hans R. Jenemann (1920–1996), glass chemist at Schott AG in Mainz, and collector and histori ...
Types of scientific instruments
*
Optical instrument
An optical instrument (or "optic" for short) is a device that processes light waves (or photons), either to enhance an image for viewing or to analyze and determine their characteristic properties. Common examples include periscopes, microscopes, ...
*
Electronic test equipment
Electronic test equipment is used to create signals and capture responses from electronic devices under test (DUTs). In this way, the proper operation of the DUT can be proven or faults in the device can be traced. Use of electronic test equipmen ...
See also
*
Instrumentation
Instrumentation a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making.
Instrumentation can refer to ...
*
Instrumentalism
In philosophy of science and in epistemology, instrumentalism is a methodological view that ideas are useful instruments, and that the worth of an idea is based on how effective it is in explaining and predicting phenomena.
According to instrumenta ...
, a philosophic theory
*
List of collectibles
This is a list of popular collectables.
Advertising collectables
* Match-related items
* Premiums
** Radio premiums
* Prizes
** Bazooka Joe comics from Bazooka bubble gum
** Cereal box prizes
*** Crater Critters
** Cracker Jack prizes
** ...
* , a suffix to denote a complex scientific instrument, like in
cyclotron
A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator invented by Ernest O. Lawrence in 1929–1930 at the University of California, Berkeley, and patented in 1932. Lawrence, Ernest O. ''Method and apparatus for the acceleration of ions'', filed: Jan ...
,
phytotron,
synchrotron, ...
References
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Science-related lists