Museum of the History of ScienceBroad StreetOxford OX1 3AZtel: 01865 277280fax: 01865 277288email: museum@mhs.ox.ac.ukweb: www.mhs.ox.ac.uk

Opening hoursTuesday to Friday 12.00-17.00Saturday 10.00-17.00Sunday 14.00-17.00Closed on Mondays and between Christmas and New Year.

Education ServiceThe Museum’s education service offers a range of taught sessions suitable for primary and secondary key stages, as well as workshops and Study Days for sixth formers and advanced students. All sessions can be adapted to individual circumstances. For further information please see the ‘Schools and Teachers’ section of the Museum’s website (www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/education/).

The Museum’s instruments often feature in special exhibitions in other museums.

The Museum has loaned apparatus used for the early production of penicillin in Oxford by Howard Florey and his colleagues to the exhibition ‘War and Medicine’ at the Wellcome Collection in London, 22 November 2008 until 15 February 2009.

Join usKeep in contact with the Museum and support its work by becoming a member. For an annual subscription of £10 you will receive the quarterly programmes, issues of Broadsheet, and an invitation to an annual reception. Send a cheque or credit card details to ‘Members’ at the Museum address. You can also subscribe to a separate free mailing list to receive monthly news of Museum events by email. See the website homepage for details.

January - March 2009PrograMMe

Current Loan

Broadsheet is an occasional publication communicating the work of the Museum; it is published on the website and printed for sale. Titles in print are:No.1: Wireless WorldNo.2: English Country ClocksNo.3: Chasing VenusNo.4: John RussellNo.5: Bye bye BlackboardNo.6: Small WorldsNo.7: English Telescopes

TalksConTaCTMUSEUM of the HISTORY of SCIENCE

TaBlE TalkS

A large table in the Basement Gallery is used for informal talks and demonstrations.

art, architecture and mathematics: the mysterious Thomas CarwithamStephen Johnston Sunday 18 January, 2.30pm

armillary spheresJim BennettSunday 29 March, 2.30pm

GallERy TOuRS The English TelescopeThe curator’s guide to the special exhibitionJim BennettSaturday 10 January, 2pmSaturday 21 March, 2pm

Optics and Photography Thad ParsonsSaturday 7 March, 11am

The astrolabe Tour Stephen JohnstonSaturday 14 March, 2pm

Free. No need to book. Free. No need to book.

arT@MHs

‘Curved Glass’ by Nick Turvey

‘In the summer of 1609, when Galileo was in Venice, news arrived that in Holland a device consisting of a tube with two pieces of curved glass was being used to make distant objects seem near. Curved glass, like a curved mirror, was well-known as leading to distortion, the very opposite of the truth.’ (Michael Hoskin, University of Cambridge)

Inspired by ancient and modern scientific themes, sculptor Nick Turvey has made new works in glass in Murano, Venice. They are displayed in the entrance gallery as a postscript to the telescopes exhibition and a material comment on the glass-working of Galileo, which led to new understandings in cosmology.

From 17 March

Booking is required – call 01865 277280.

armillary SpheresSaturday 24 JanuaryBasement Gallery, 2-4pmFind out how an armillary sphere works and make your own working model. Help with cutting card may be required.Suitable for children aged 9 upwards.

What is this thing called an astrolabe? Saturday 21 FebruaryBasement Gallery, 2-4pmFind out about the origins of the clock and make your own working model of this extraordinary astronomical calculator.Suitable for children aged 9-13.

Galileo’s TelescopeSaturday 21 MarchBasement Gallery, 2-4 pmDiscover the secrets of Galileo’s invention and make your own working telescope. Involves some theory of optics.Suitable for children aged 9-13.Voluntary materials donation £5

sPeCial eVenTsFaMily Friendlylongitude Revisited: James Short and John HarrisonTuesday 20 January, 7pmThe story behind a reported remark by the telescope maker James Short that he believed his support for the chronometer maker John Harrison had cost him the position of Astronomer Royal. Dr Jim Bennett, Museum of the History of Science

Mirror MakingSaturday 31 January, 2 - 4pmWith Terry Pearce: a demonstration of hand-working mirrors for reflecting telescopes by an expert. Come and see how the polishing skills of the 18th century are still used today.

StargazingSaturday 31 January, 6 - 9pmAn evening of observing in and (weather permitting) around the Museum.with the Hanwell Community Observatory.The evening will include a talk by Christopher Taylor at 7pm:‘Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes’.

Between the linesTuesday 31 March, 7pmLecturers in this occasional series have so far been authors of books in the history of science. On this occasion Marcus du Sautoy, Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, will talk about the making of his television series, ‘The Story of Maths’.

admission to all events is free.

eXHiBiTionsleCTure seriesWorkshops Telescopes Now: real stories of astronomy today A

series of weekly lectures in February 2009

When Galileo sought to introduce the telescope to the study of the heavens in 1609, he had to master the material and mechanical techniques needed for making and improving his instruments, to train himself as an effective observer, to argue for support from the Senate in Venice or the Medici Family in Florence, to get his results published, noticed and accepted, and to use them to advance his position and authority in a developing and contentious field. What practical, political, technical, financial and organisational challenges face telescope builders today? We have invited four senior astronomers to share the stories behind some of the major instrumental developments of the modern era.

Tuesday 3 February, 7 pmProf alexander Boksenberg: the William Herschel and the Hubble TelescopesAlexander Boksenberg is Honorary Professor of Experimental Astronomy, University of Cambridge, and a former Director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory

Tuesday 10 February, 7 pmProf Phil Diamond: Jodrell Bank, the lovell Telescope and e-MERlINPhil Diamond is Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester and the Director of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics

Tuesday 17 February, 7 pmProf Roger Davies: the Gemini TelescopesRoger Davies is Philip Wetton Professor of Astrophysics and Chairman of Physics, University of Oxford

Tuesday 24 February, 7 pmProf alan Watson: the Pierre auger ObservatoryAlan Watson is Emeritus and Research Professor of Physics at the University of Leeds and with James Cronin established and led the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory in Argentina.

Fab PhenakistascopesSaturday 7 FebruaryBasement Gallery, 2-4pmWhat did the Victorians know about the moving image? Find out by making your own magical movie toy.Suitable for children aged 7-13.

Terrific Telescopes and Sneaky SpyglassesTuesday 17 FebruaryWednesday 18 FebruarySaturday 7 MarchBasement Gallery, 2-4pmDiscover the Museum’s wonderful collec-tion of telescopes and spyglasses, large and small, with this eye-opening trail! Suitable for children aged 7-13.

Cabinet of CuriosityThursday 19 FebruaryBasement Gallery, 2-4pmFollow this unusual trail and put together your own cabinet of curiosities.Suitable for children aged 5-11.

angels’ DelightSaturday 21 March - Sunday 19 AprilDuring opening hoursNumber, shape and pattern combine to reveal a universe fit for angels. A self-guided trail.Suitable for children aged 7 upwards.

Drop In - No need to book!

Drop In (Cont’d)

The Mariner’s TrailSaturday 10 January Basement Gallery, 2-4pmSet sail with your own ship on this voyage of discovery, a cross between a trail and a board-game. Sea legs required!Suitable for children aged 7-13.

The English Telescope from Newton to HerschelSpecial Exhibition Gallery, until 22 March The exhibition marks the 400th anniversary of the telescope by concentrating on the remarkable period of English contributions from Isaac Newton to William Herschel. In the surprising world of the 18th-century telescope, professors might work at grinding mirrors, instrument makers could write textbooks, a silk-weaver might challenge the authority of Newton, and a musician could use home-made instruments to change the very nature of astronomy. The Museum’s outstanding collection of telescopes from the period illustrates a sequence of episodes from 18th-century life.

The Double Horizontal Dial: Then and NowEntrance Gallery, 13 January to 10 March The ‘double horizontal’ is a complex and ambitious sundial devised by the English mathematician William Oughtred and published in 1636. The dialist Joanna Migdal has recently completed the first such dial to be made since the eighteenth century and it will be installed this year in Oxford. The Museum has been given the opportunity to display the new dial in the context of material from the period of its invention and popularity.

Treasures from the Museum libraryBasement Gallery, January to March