Making Scientific Instruments in the Industrial Revolution

The making and selling of scientific instruments at the start of the Industrial Revolution was centered in London, but by the Great Exhibition in 1851, a number of provincial firms began to exhibit their products in London to the international audience. Making wide use of new sources, Morrison-Low charts their growth and provides a characterisation of the instruments they made. She takes into consideration aspects of economic and business history, gender and the family, the history of science and technology, material culture, and patterns of migration, enabling us to appreciate how central the making, selling and distribution of scientific instruments was for the Industrial Revolution.

A.D. Morrison-Low is Principal Curator in the Science Section, National Museums of Scotland, UK.