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==History==
==History==
Historically, the definition of a scientific instrument has varied, based on usage, laws, and historical time period.<ref name="HackmannReaders13" /><ref name="Warner">{{cite journal | title=What Is a Scientific Instrument, When Did It Become One, and Why? | author=Warner, Deborah Jean | journal=The British Journal for the History of Science | volume=23 | number=1 | date=March 1990 | pages=83–93 | jstor=4026803 | doi=10.1017/S0007087400044460 }}</ref><ref name="FR71USvsPresb">{{cite journal |title=United States v. Presbyterian Hospital |journal=The Federal Reporter |volume=71 |pages=866–868 |year=1896}}</ref> Before the mid-nineteenth [https://successstudy92.blogspot.com/2020/07/important-scientific-instruments.html century] such tools were referred to as "natural philosophical" or "philosophical" apparatus and instruments, and older tools from antiquity to the [[Middle Ages]] (such as the [[astrolabe]] and [[pendulum clock]]) defy a more modern definition of "a tool developed to investigate nature qualitatively or quantitatively."<ref name="HackmannReaders13" /><ref name="FR71USvsPresb" /> Scientific instruments were made by instrument makers living near a center of learning or research, such as a university or research [[laboratory]]. Instrument makers designed, constructed, and refined instruments for purposes, but if demand was sufficient, an instrument would go into production as a commercial product.<ref name="TurnerEarly87">{{cite book |title=Early Scientific Instruments: Europe, 1400-1800 |author=Turner, A.J. |publisher=Phillip Wilson Publishers |year=1987}}</ref><ref name="BediniEarly64">{{cite book |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39141 |title=Early American Scientific Instruments and Their Makers |author=Bedini, S.A. |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |year=1964 |access-date=18 January 2017}}</ref>
Historically, the definition of a scientific instrument has varied, based on usage, laws, and historical time period.<ref name="HackmannReaders13" /><ref name="Warner">{{cite journal | title=What Is a Scientific Instrument, When Did It Become One, and Why? | author=Warner, Deborah Jean | journal=The British Journal for the History of Science | volume=23 | number=1 | date=March 1990 | pages=83–93 | jstor=4026803 | doi=10.1017/S0007087400044460 | s2cid=145517920 }}</ref><ref name="FR71USvsPresb">{{cite journal |title=United States v. Presbyterian Hospital |journal=The Federal Reporter |volume=71 |pages=866–868 |year=1896}}</ref> Before the mid-nineteenth century such tools were referred to as "natural philosophical" or "philosophical" apparatus and instruments, and older tools from antiquity to the [[Middle Ages]] (such as the [[astrolabe]] and [[pendulum clock]]) defy a more modern definition of "a tool developed to investigate nature qualitatively or quantitatively."<ref name="HackmannReaders13" /><ref name="FR71USvsPresb" /> Scientific instruments were made by [[mathematical practitioner|instrument maker]]s living near a center of learning or research, such as a university or research [[laboratory]]. Instrument makers designed, constructed, and refined instruments for purposes, but if demand was sufficient, an instrument would go into production as a commercial product.<ref name="TurnerEarly87">{{cite book |title=Early Scientific Instruments: Europe, 1400-1800 |author=Turner, A.J. |publisher=Phillip Wilson Publishers |year=1987 |bibcode=1987esie.book.....T }}</ref><ref name="BediniEarly64">{{cite book |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39141 |title=Early American Scientific Instruments and Their Makers |author=Bedini, S.A. |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |year=1964 |access-date=18 January 2017}}</ref>


In a description of the use of the [[eudiometer]] by [[Jan Ingenhousz]] to show [[photosynthesis]], 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."<ref>Geerdt Magiels (2009) ''From Sunlight to Insight. Jan IngenHousz, the discovery of photosynthesis & science in the light of ecology'', page 231,  VUB Press  {{ISBN|978-90-5487-645-8}}</ref>
In a description of the use of the [[eudiometer]] by [[Jan Ingenhousz]] to show [[photosynthesis]], 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."<ref>Geerdt Magiels (2009) ''From Sunlight to Insight. Jan IngenHousz, the discovery of photosynthesis & science in the light of ecology'', page 231,  VUB Press  {{ISBN|978-90-5487-645-8}}</ref>


By World War II, the demand for improved analyses of wartime products such as medicines, fuels, and weaponized agents pushed instrumentation to new heights.<ref name="MukhopadhyayTheRise08">{{cite journal |title=The Rise of Instruments during World War II |journal=Analytical Chemistry |author=Mukhopadhyay, R. |volume=80 |issue=15 |pages=5684–5691 |year=2008 |doi=10.1021/ac801205u|pmid=18671339 |doi-access=free }}</ref> 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.<ref name="McMahonAnal07">{{cite book |title=Analytical Instrumentation: A Guide to Laboratory, Portable and Miniaturized Instruments |author=McMahon, G. |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2007 |pages=1–6 |isbn=9780470518557 }}</ref><ref name="KhandpurHandbook15">{{cite book |title=Handbook of Analytical Instruments |author=Khandpur, R.S. |publisher=McGraw Hill Education |year=2016 |isbn=9789339221362}}</ref>
By World War II, the demand for improved analyses of wartime products such as medicines, fuels, and weaponized agents pushed instrumentation to new heights.<ref name="MukhopadhyayTheRise08">{{cite journal |title=The Rise of Instruments during World War II |journal=Analytical Chemistry |author=Mukhopadhyay, R. |volume=80 |issue=15 |pages=5684–5691 |year=2008 |doi=10.1021/ac801205u|pmid=18671339 |doi-access= |bibcode=2008AnaCh..80.5684M }}</ref> 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.<ref name="McMahonAnal07">{{cite book |title=Analytical Instrumentation: A Guide to Laboratory, Portable and Miniaturized Instruments |author=McMahon, G. |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2007 |pages=1–6 |isbn=9780470518557 }}</ref><ref name="KhandpurHandbook15">{{cite book |title=Handbook of Analytical Instruments |author=Khandpur, R.S. |publisher=McGraw Hill Education |year=2016 |isbn=9789339221362}}</ref>


==Scope==
==Scope==
Scientific instruments vary greatly in size, shape, purpose, complication and complexity. They include relatively simple [[laboratory equipment]] like [[weighing scale|scales]], [[ruler]]s, [[Chronometer watch|chronometer]]s, [[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),<ref name=ShadabKAS17>{{cite journal|title=KAS PERIODIC TABLE|journal=International Research Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences|author=Shadab,K.A.|volume=4|issue=7|pages=221–261|year=2017}}</ref> 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 collider]]s or [[radio-telescope]] antennas. Conversely, [[Micrometre|microscale]] and [[Nanoscopic scale|nanoscale]] technologies are advancing to the point where instrument sizes are shifting towards the tiny, including nanoscale [[surgical instrument]]s, biological [[Nanorobotics|nanobots]], and [[bioelectronics]].<ref name="OsianderMicro16">{{cite book |title=Systems Engineering for Microscale and Nanoscale Technologies |author=Osiander, R. |editor1=Darrin, M.A.G.|editor2=Barth, J.L. |publisher=CRC Press |pages=137–172 |year=2016 |isbn=9781439837351}}</ref><ref name="JamesNeuron15">{{cite book |author1=James, W.S.|author2=Lemole Jr, G.M. |title=Technological Advances in Surgery, Trauma and Critical Care |editor1=Latifi, R.|editor2=Rhee, P.|editor3=Gruessner, R.W.G. |publisher=Springer |year=2015 |pages=221–230 |isbn=9781493926718}}</ref>
Scientific instruments vary greatly in size, shape, purpose, complication and complexity. They include relatively simple [[laboratory equipment]] like [[weighing scale|scales]], [[ruler]]s, [[Chronometer watch|chronometer]]s, [[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),<ref name=ShadabKAS17>{{cite journal|title=KAS PERIODIC TABLE|journal=International Research Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences|author=Shadab, K.A.|volume=4|issue=7|pages=221–261|year=2017}}</ref> 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 collider]]s or [[radio-telescope]] antennas. Conversely, [[Micrometre|microscale]] and [[Nanoscopic scale|nanoscale]] technologies are advancing to the point where instrument sizes are shifting towards the tiny, including nanoscale [[surgical instrument]]s, biological [[Nanorobotics|nanobots]], and [[bioelectronics]].<ref name="OsianderMicro16">{{cite book |title=Systems Engineering for Microscale and Nanoscale Technologies |author=Osiander, R. |editor1=Darrin, M.A.G.|editor2=Barth, J.L.|editor2-link=Janet Barth |publisher=CRC Press |pages=137–172 |year=2016 |isbn=9781439837351}}</ref><ref name="JamesNeuron15">{{cite book |author1=James, W.S.|author2=Lemole Jr, G.M. |title=Technological Advances in Surgery, Trauma and Critical Care |editor1=Latifi, R.|editor2=Rhee, P.|editor3=Gruessner, R.W.G. |publisher=Springer |year=2015 |pages=221–230 |isbn=9781493926718}}</ref>


==The digital era==
==The digital era==
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* [[Inclinometer]], slope
* [[Inclinometer]], slope
* [[Interferometer]], optics, infrared light spectra
* [[Interferometer]], optics, infrared light spectra
* [[Magnetograph]], magnetic field
* [[Magnetic tweezers]], biomolecular manipulation
* [[Magnetometer#Survey magnetometers|Magnetograph]], magnetic field
* [[Magnetometer]], [[magnetic flux]]
* [[Magnetometer]], [[magnetic flux]]
* [[Manometer]], air [[pressure]]
* [[Manometer]], air [[pressure]]
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* [[NMR spectrometer]], chemical compound identification, medical diagnostic imaging
* [[NMR spectrometer]], chemical compound identification, medical diagnostic imaging
* [[Ohmmeter]], electrical resistance/impedance
* [[Ohmmeter]], electrical resistance/impedance
* [[Optical tweezers]], nanoscale manipulation
* [[Oscilloscope]], electric signal voltage, amplitude, wavelength, frequency, waveform shape/pattern
* [[Oscilloscope]], electric signal voltage, amplitude, wavelength, frequency, waveform shape/pattern
* [[Photometer]], illuminance, irradiance, light absorption, scattering of light, reflection of light, fluorescence, phosphorescence, luminescence
* [[Seismometer]], acceleration
* [[Seismometer]], acceleration
* [[Spectrogram]], sound frequency, wavelength, amplitude
* [[Spectrogram]], sound frequency, wavelength, amplitude
Line 51: Line 54:
* [[Theodolite]], angles, surveying
* [[Theodolite]], angles, surveying
* [[Thermocouple]], temperature
* [[Thermocouple]], temperature
* [[Voltmeter]], [[voltage]]}}
* [[Voltmeter]], [[voltage]]
* [[X-ray scattering techniques]], structural characterization at the nano and atomic scale}}


==List of scientific instruments manufacturers==
==List of scientific instruments manufacturers==
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
{{columns-list|colwidth=|
* [[454 Life Sciences]], United States of America
* [[454 Life Sciences]], United States of America
* [[ADInstruments]], New Zealand
* [[ADInstruments]], New Zealand
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* [[Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company]], United Kingdom
* [[Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company]], United Kingdom
* [[Elementar]], Germany
* [[Elementar]], Germany
* [[First Light Imaging]], France
* [[Horiba]], Japan
* [[Horiba]], Japan
* [[JEOL]], Japan
* [[JEOL]], Japan
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* [[Malvern Instruments]], United Kingdom
* [[Malvern Instruments]], United Kingdom
* [[McPherson Inc]], United States of America
* [[McPherson Inc]], United States of America
* [[Metrohm]], Switzerland
* [[Mettler Toledo]], Switzerland / United States of America
* [[Mettler Toledo]], Switzerland / United States of America
* [[MTS Systems Corporation]], USA, mechanical
* [[MTS Systems Corporation]], US, mechanical
* [[Novacam Technologies]], Canada
* [[Novacam Technologies]], Canada
* [[Oxford Instruments]], United Kingdom
* [[Oxford Instruments]], United Kingdom
Line 81: Line 87:
* [[Thermo Fisher Scientific]], United States of America
* [[Thermo Fisher Scientific]], United States of America
* [[Waters Corporation]], United States of America
* [[Waters Corporation]], United States of America
* [[Xenocs]], France
}}
}}


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* [[Royal Victoria Gallery for the Encouragement of Practical Science]]
* [[Royal Victoria Gallery for the Encouragement of Practical Science]]
* [[Whipple Museum of the History of Science]]
* [[Whipple Museum of the History of Science]]
===Historiography===
===Historiography===
* [[Paul Bunge Prize]]
* [[Paul Bunge Prize]]<ref>Charlotte Bigg & Christoph Meinel (eds.), ''[https://en.gdch.de/fileadmin/downloads/GDCh/Stiftungen/Jenemann/Bunge_Prize_Jubilee_Volume_2023.pdf Paul Bunge Prize: History of Scientific Instruments, 1993-2023]'' (Frankfurt/Main: GDCh & DBG, 2023), 96 pp.</ref>


==Types of scientific instruments==
==Types of scientific instruments==
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{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Reflist|30em}}


 
{{Portal bar|History|Medicine|Museums|Physics|Astronomy|Stars|Society|Science}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Scientific instruments| ]]
[[Category:Scientific instruments| ]]
[[Category:Science-related lists]]
[[Category:Science-related lists]]

Latest revision as of 11:22, 17 February 2026


For broader coverage of this topic, see Equipment.

A scientific instrument is a device or tool used for scientific purposes, including the study of both natural phenomena and theoretical research.[1]

History[edit | edit source]

Historically, the definition of a scientific instrument has varied, based on usage, laws, and historical time period.[1][2][3] Before the mid-nineteenth century such tools were referred to as "natural philosophical" or "philosophical" apparatus and instruments, and older tools from antiquity to the Middle Ages (such as the astrolabe and pendulum clock) defy a more modern definition of "a tool developed to investigate nature qualitatively or quantitatively."[1][3] Scientific instruments were made by instrument makers living near a center of learning or research, such as a university or research laboratory. Instrument makers designed, constructed, and refined instruments for purposes, but if demand was sufficient, an instrument would go into production as a commercial product.[4][5]

In a description of the use of the eudiometer by Jan Ingenhousz to show photosynthesis, 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."[6]

By World War II, the demand for improved analyses of wartime products such as medicines, fuels, and weaponized agents pushed instrumentation to new heights.[7] 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.[8][9]

Scope[edit | edit source]

Scientific instruments vary greatly in size, shape, purpose, complication and complexity. They include relatively simple laboratory equipment like scales, rulers, chronometers, thermometers, 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),[10] 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 technologies are advancing to the point where instrument sizes are shifting towards the tiny, including nanoscale surgical instruments, biological nanobots, and bioelectronics.[11][12]

The digital era[edit | edit source]

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 and can be further integrated as part of an information management application such as a laboratory information management system (LIMS).[13][14] 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.[15]

Examples of scientific instruments[edit | edit source]

For lists of astronomical instruments, see List of telescope types and List of astronomical interferometers at visible and infrared wavelengths.

List of scientific instruments manufacturers[edit | edit source]

List of scientific instruments designers[edit | edit source]

See also: List of astronomical instrument makers, Category:Scientific instrument makers, and Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers

History of scientific instruments[edit | edit source]

Museums[edit | edit source]

Historiography[edit | edit source]

Types of scientific instruments[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Hessenbruch, Arne (2013). Reader's Guide to the History of Science. Taylor & Francis. pp. 675–77. ISBN 9781134263011.
  2. ↑ Warner, Deborah Jean (March 1990). "What Is a Scientific Instrument, When Did It Become One, and Why?". The British Journal for the History of Science. 23 (1): 83–93. doi:10.1017/S0007087400044460. JSTOR 4026803. S2CID 145517920.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "United States v. Presbyterian Hospital". The Federal Reporter. 71: 866–868. 1896.
  4. ↑ Turner, A.J. (1987). Early Scientific Instruments: Europe, 1400-1800. Phillip Wilson Publishers. Bibcode:1987esie.book.....T.
  5. ↑ Bedini, S.A. (1964). Early American Scientific Instruments and Their Makers. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  6. ↑ Geerdt Magiels (2009) From Sunlight to Insight. Jan IngenHousz, the discovery of photosynthesis & science in the light of ecology, page 231, VUB Press ISBN 978-90-5487-645-8
  7. ↑ Mukhopadhyay, R. (2008). "The Rise of Instruments during World War II". Analytical Chemistry. 80 (15): 5684–5691. Bibcode:2008AnaCh..80.5684M. doi:10.1021/ac801205u. PMID 18671339.
  8. ↑ McMahon, G. (2007). Analytical Instrumentation: A Guide to Laboratory, Portable and Miniaturized Instruments. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 1–6. ISBN 9780470518557.
  9. ↑ Khandpur, R.S. (2016). Handbook of Analytical Instruments. McGraw Hill Education. ISBN 9789339221362.
  10. ↑ Shadab, K.A. (2017). "KAS PERIODIC TABLE". International Research Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences. 4 (7): 221–261.
  11. ↑ Osiander, R. (2016). Darrin, M.A.G.; Barth, J.L. (eds.). Systems Engineering for Microscale and Nanoscale Technologies. CRC Press. pp. 137–172. ISBN 9781439837351.
  12. ↑ James, W.S.; Lemole Jr, G.M. (2015). Latifi, R.; Rhee, P.; Gruessner, R.W.G. (eds.). Technological Advances in Surgery, Trauma and Critical Care. Springer. pp. 221–230. ISBN 9781493926718.
  13. ↑ Wilkes, R.; Megargle, R. (1994). "Integration of instruments and a laboratory information management system at the information level: An inductively coupled plasma spectrometer". Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems. 26 (1): 47–54. doi:10.1016/0169-7439(94)90018-3.
  14. ↑ Carvalho, M.C. (2013). "Integration of Analytical Instruments with Computer Scripting". Journal of Laboratory Automation. 18 (4): 328–33. doi:10.1177/2211068213476288. PMID 23413273.
  15. ↑ Perkel, J.M. (2017). "The Internet of Things comes to the lab". Nature. 542 (7639): 125–126. Bibcode:2017Natur.542..125P. doi:10.1038/542125a. PMID 28150787.
  16. ↑ Charlotte Bigg & Christoph Meinel (eds.), Paul Bunge Prize: History of Scientific Instruments, 1993-2023 (Frankfurt/Main: GDCh & DBG, 2023), 96 pp.
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