Celebrating the Periodic Table - exhibition at Catz

The United Nations have proclaimed 2019 to be the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements since it is the 150th anniversary of the publication of Dmitri Mendeleev's first Periodic Table. But was it really the first? St Catharine's College is proud to exhibit its fine collection of material relating to the early development of the Periodic Table. Starting from the first list of elements which emerged around the time of the French Revolution in the late 1780s, and the first list of atomic masses drawn up by Manchester chemist John Dalton, we explore why six different chemists from around the world each came up with their own versions of the iconic table in the 1860s.

The very first person to arrange all the then-known elements by mass and then look for the repeating properties of related elements was the French mineralogist Alexandre-Émile Béguyer de Chancourtois in 1862. Béguyer plotted his elements around a cylinder or helix with a circumference of sixteen atomic mass units and found elements with similar properties aligned in vertical groups down the cylinder. This coloured chart, over 1.5 metres in length, was published in very limited numbers and is now incredibly rare.
In addition to Mendeleev's first published versions of his table, including one signed by the great chemist himself, earlier forms created by two British chemists are also featured. Samples of many of the elements are also exhibited in the window bays, together with some of their applications from our everyday lives.

Two new works of art specially created to mark this important anniversary will also be on display. One is the St Catharine's Periodic Spiral, based on a design from 1920 and crafted in silver. This was completed on March 11, when Professor Yuri Oganessian, the only living person with an element named after him, added his element tile at a ceremony in the McGrath centre. The other remarkable piece is a Periodic Table of Orbitals made out of laser-etched crystal glass showing how electrons are arranged in atoms and which underpins the structure of the Periodic Table.

More information here.

Exhibition in the Library of Christ's College: "The Secrets of Life: Scientists, Mathematicians, and the Hunt for Answers".

The exhibition is curated by Senior Library Assistant Katherine Krick-Pridgeon, and examines work in life sciences, biochemistry, physics, and mathematics from the fifteenth century to the present. Among many other items, the exhibition includes books by Copernicus, Galileo and Margaret Cavendish, the earliest plant specimens collected by Charles Darwin, and recent molecular models and laboratory noteboooks. The exhibition is open to the public until 25 April 2019 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:00pm to 4:00pm, during Michaelmas and Lent terms. For further details see here.

Whipple Library exhibition: Curating the Chemical Elements: Julius Lothar Meyer's Periodic Systems

"To celebrate the one event which will forever be associated with 2019 – yes, the UN & IUPAC’s Celebratory Year of the Periodic System of Elements – we are very pleased to announce the opening on Monday of our latest Whipple Library display. Curating the Chemical Elements: Julius Lothar Meyer’s Periodic Systems has been put together by HPS PhD student Karoliina Pulkkinen.

Karolina had this to say about the inspiration behind the exhibition:

The logo for the Un & IUPAC year depicts the “father of the periodic law”, Dmitrii Ivanovich Mendeleev, who is placed next to a chemical element named after him. As a researcher working on the history of periodic system, I want you to look at that picture, squint your eyes, and imagine another bearded man there instead of Mendeleev. I ask you to do this because there were in fact several other bearded men who could be placed on that logo.

Like historian Michael Gordin, who has written a marvellous book on Mendeleev, I confess that I have little idea of who actually discovered the periodic system of chemical elements. From all the bearded men that could be titled as its discoverers, however, I would like to direct attention to a German chemist called Julius Lothar Meyer in particular. This exhibition presents Meyer’s systematisation of the elements. Arguably, Meyer’s graphs give us the most striking early visualisation of the periodic relationship between the mass of the elements and their chemical properties.

Many a time have I felt grateful for conducting my historical investigations in 2015-2019 rather than fifteen, thirty, or fifty years earlier. Apart from being able to move from one European conference to another with relative ease, I can press Ctrl+F, follow electronic trails, and download a PDF of books put together by scholars of Soviet Union. The vast majority of the sources I needed were available from the first week of my PhD.

But some things are best studied in life rather than on screen. Things too fragile, or too inconveniently put together for scanners and cameras. One such thing is Lothar Meyer’s graph showing the periodicity of chemical elements.

You would struggle to find a digitisation that shows its full scope and detail online, and big thanks are due to the staff at the Chemistry Library and Conservation at the UL for providing us with the original document. One can try to show it all on screen, (and together with the staff of Whipple, we have tried to ensure a Comfortable Online Viewing Experience), but you should come over to Free School Lane and have a look yourself. If I had the resources, I would put it on a bus: here at Whipple, you will learn something about the experts who you will not get enough of!

The exhibition is taking place in the usual cases on Level 1 of the Haycock Theatre at the Whipple Library, and can be viewed by anyone during library opening hours. We have also put together a virtual exhibition, which you can view here: https://www.whipplelib.hps.cam.ac.uk/special/exhibitions-and-displays/curating-chemical-elements

The exhibition will be on until March 2019, and we hope as many of you as possible will be able to stop by and enjoy!"

UL exhibition - An age of Discoveries: 250 Years since the Endeavour Voyage to the Pacific

A display of key manuscripts and books relating to the voyage of James Cook, Joseph Banks, Sydney Parkinson and others to the Pacific in 1768 is now on show in the main entrance hall of the University Library. Curated by Edwin Rose, a Ph.D. student in HPS. More information can be found here.

Exhibition - Personifying Plague

A new exhibition in the Whipple Library - Personifying Plague: Visualisations of Plague in Western Medical History - will be on view from 3pm on Thursday 19th of July until the end of October.

The exhibition has been curated by Ranana Dine, and was inspired by research she undertook during her MPhil in Health, Medicine and Society.

Exhibition - Marginalia in the Whipple Library

‘Marginalia’ has been imagineered by Toby Bryant and actuated and realised by James Livesey.

Across the three display cases on level one in the Haycock Theatre, the exhibition looks at various examples of marginalia from across the Whipple collection. Featuring annotations made in a working medical textbook, bibliophiles collection notes, some shameless hero worship and a watercolour of the authors son, all of the examples chosen are interesting in their own way. They also serve as a ‘what-not-to-do’ guide as to how to treat your Whipple library books.

An in-depth blog about the exhibition will be going up later this week.

If you’re in the library, please do take a look.

UL exhibition: Landscapes Below: Mapping and the New Science of Geology

A new, fascinating exhibition on mapping and geology by Allison Ksiazkiewicz (who completed her MPhil and PhD in HPS) at the University Library. See here for a good overview, and sign up here for special tours of the exhibition led by Allison.

The exhibition runs from November 25, 2017 to March 29, 2018 at Cambridge University Library's Milstein Exhibition Centre. Admission is free. Opening times are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm and Saturday 9am-16.30pm. Closed Sundays.

Reminder - Whipple Library display

Detail from Mary Buckland, 'View of the Axmouth landslip...', 1839.

A reminder that the fantastic small exhibition at the Whipple Library of works from the history of the earth sciences donated by Martin Rudwick is still on display - do go and see it if you haven't yet had the chance!

Whipple Library exhibition launch today - 'Staging the History of Science'

A final reminder about the launch event today (Thursday 1 June) to celebrate the installation of 'Staging the History of Science; an exhibit in three acts' by HPS MPhil students Julia Ostmann & Alona Bach. The display is looking very good, and the launch promises to be a fun event, running from 5.30-6.45pm (approx.).

Access is via the Library's 'evening entrance' in Storey's Gate (off Pembroke Street, or go out of the back door of the Dept and turn sharp right), and a member of staff will be there to welcome you if your card is not active for the swipe door. You are welcome to turn up on spec, but if you can sign up via the following form there's a greater chance we'll have enough refreshments: https://goo.gl/forms/MxRgBFNx75Eyb30I3

With thanks and best wishes from all at the Whipple.

Exhibition - People, Politics and the International Geophysical Year

Exhibition - 'Women of Mathematics throughout Europe'

Cambridge Centre for Mathematical Sciences, the Isaac Newton Institute and the Betty and Gordon Moore library are proud to take part in the ‘Women of Mathematics throughout Europe’ portrait exhibition.

The Women of Mathematics’ exhibition celebrates female mathematicians from institutions throughout Europe, and this special expanded exhibition is supplemented with portraits and interviews featuring local female mathematicians from Cambridge University’s Faculty of Mathematics. The portraits will be on display in the Isaac Newton Institute and in the Core of the mathematics building from Tuesday 25th April, and in the Betty and Gordon Moore Library following the exhibition. See http://womeninmath.net for more information around the exhibition.

The exhibition opens TUESDAY 25TH APRIL at 3.30PM, featuring talks by Cambridge mathematicians Professor Anne Davis, Dr Holly Krieger, and Dr Carola-Bibiane Schönlieb. Following the talks will be a panel discussion on issues affecting women in mathematics and a drinks reception, with a chance to network whilst viewing the exhibition.

Women in Mathematics at Cambridge: 25 April 2017, 3.30-7pm Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge

3.30pm Coffee & registration

4.15pm Opening of the exhibition by Heads of Department Prof Gabriel Paternain and Prof Nigel Peake

4.30pm Mathematical talks: Prof Anne Davis, Dr Holly Krieger, and Dr Carola-Bibiane Schönlieb

5.30pm Panel discussion chaired by Dr Christie Marr

6.00pm Drinks reception

The talks will be aimed at a general public audience and all are welcome. The exhibition is free and open to all; for tickets please visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/women-of-mathematics-cambridge-exhibition-opening-tickets-32299228863

Fire - Online Exhibition

A diverse selection of sources exploring the many uses and meaning of fire are included in this online exhibition from MHEU. Perfect reading as we start the term!

Digital Exhibition - Poetic Botany

Online from the New York Botanical Garden here.

Online Exhibition - Fred Hoyle

St John's College has launched an online exhibition about Fred Hoyle: Science and Literature Reading Group members might particularly be interested in the 'Hoyle the Writer' page.

Call for submissions - Enlightened Perspectives: An Exhibition Working through Science and Art

In the light of National Science Week, Churchill College is putting on an exhibition which explores the relationship between Science and Art. The theme is intentionally vague - is a scientific instrument a piece of art? What about your electron micrographs? Could science be understood from what we would normally regard as just a painting or drawing? We are looking for pieces which put art and science into dialogue with one another: what can this relationship reveal? If this is something you think about, or want to explore more, then please send photographs of your work here.

Information on the inaugural exhibition from last year can be found here. Please specify dimensions and medium. We are open to anything; photographs, paintings, drawings, sculpture, models, films, notebooks, works in progress… this is an opportunity to have your work shown during National Science Week! We don’t want to tell you where the similarities are, but encourage you to show what you think putting Art and Science together can reveal.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: March 1st; Exhibition Date: Monday 9th March.