Greifswald 2024 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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GP: Fachverband Geschichte der Physik

GP 4: Exploring the experimental approach

GP 4.3: Vortrag

Dienstag, 27. Februar 2024, 18:00–18:30, ELP 3: HS 2.33

Thomas Young's Eriometer: a useful instrument and tool for Young, a failed instrument for everyone else — •Michelle Mercier — Europa-Universität Flensburg

Thomas Young (1773-1829) is best known today for his double-slit experiment. Almost unknown - even today - is an instrument that can be regarded as the first practical application of the results of his earlier investigations on diffraction and interference: the Eriometer. Young, a physician and physicist, claimed to be able to determine the diameter of homogenous samples of small particles and fibers with this instrument. In London, I was able to trace two Eriometers made by Young. One was part of a letter to Joseph Banks (1810). The other one is in the collection of the Royal Institution. Although experimental studies with a reconstruction of the instrument showed that measurements with a high degree of accuracy could be achieved, the instrument and the principle could not establish itself in England at the beginning of the 19th century. In this talk I will analyze the instrument from different perspectives and discuss possible factors for the rejection of the instrument in England at the beginning of the 19th century.

Keywords: Thomas Young; Material Culture; Replication Method; Eriometer