amateur science

Charles Boyle’s Story

Orrery, by Thomas Wright, London, c. 1731 (Inv. 35757) It is thought that this orrery was owned by Charles Boyle. You can see it in the basement of the Museum.

Orrery, by Thomas Wright, c. 1731 (Inv. 35757) It is thought that this orrery was owned by Charles Boyle. It is kept in the basement of the Museum, come see it when you next visit!

Name: Charles Boyle, Fourth Earl of Orrery

Dates: 1674-1731

Occupation: Politician

Object: Orrery, by Thomas Wright, London, c. 1731 (Inv. 35757)

Story: The importance of Charles Boyle, Fourth Earl of Orrery, in the history of science is perhaps most simply captured by his name and his title. His surname – Boyle – points to his relation to the esteemed seventeenth-century natural philosopher Robert Boyle, who is associated with the air pump. His title – Earl of Orrery – points to his own contributions to science and natural philosophy, which were so widely recognised that the orrery, an astronomical device used to model the solar system and pictured above, was named after him.

Born to nobility in 1674, Charles Boyle was raised in a household that valued science and learning. He graduated from Christ Church, Oxford in 1694, before launching his career in the army and as a statesman. Until 1699 he served as a representative in the Irish Parliament and later became a M.P. for Huntingdon.

Gregorian Reflecting Telescope with Stand, c. 1710 (Inv. 20020). This object is one of many within the Orrery Collection at the Museum.

Gregorian Reflecting Telescope with Stand, c. 1710 (Inv. 20020). This object is one of many within the Orrery Collection at the Museum.

Professionally, Boyle was firmly a statesman: he performed no seminal experiments, and he has no scientific discoveries to his name. What made Boyle an amateur scientist, therefore, had less to do with the things he did and more to do with the things he had – his collection of scientific instruments ranked among the finest in England. The collection included everything from glass specimens for use with a microscope to Gregorian reflecting telescopes, and Boyle, driven by a deep personal interest in the sciences, went great lengths in amassing and tending to the collection. As a result of his success as an amateur collector, Boyle was named a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1706.

Along with science, Boyle also pursued writing and even published a play called As You Find It. During his eventful life Boyle was, for a short time, imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1722 as he was suspected of treason and being apart of the Jacobite Atterbury Plot. However, no evidence was found and he was released on bail before being discharged.

Boyle is highly representative of scientific amateurs of his time, most of whom came from backgrounds of wealth and nobility, only dabbling in science and natural philosophy of out of personal interest. Even among amateurs, scientific activities during this time were predominantly confined to those with ample time and resources at their disposal. Boyle serves as a good starting point for understanding how the status of the amateur scientist became available to wider segments of the population over the following centuries.

By Andrew Lea

Washington Teasdale’s Story

Photograph (Cyanotype) of a Still Life Arrangement of Items Relating to Astronomy by Washington Teasdale, c.1880 (Inv. 38479)

Photograph (Cyanotype) of a Still Life Arrangement of Items Relating to Astronomy by Washington Teasdale, c.1880 (Inv. 38479)

Name: Washington Teasdale

Dates: 1830-1903

Location: Leeds

Occupation: Engineer

Object: Photograph (Cyanotype) of a Still Life Arrangement of Items Relating to Astronomy, by Washington Teasdale, Probably 1880s (Inv. 38479)

Print (Collotype, from a Photograph) of Washington Teasdale at his Desk, c.1897 (Inv. 35156) This is probably a self-portrait of Teasdale.

Print (Collotype, from a Photograph) of Washington Teasdale at his Desk, c.1897 (Inv. 35156) This is probably a self-portrait of Teasdale.

Story: The photograph above was chosen as the main exhibition image because it was taken by an amateur scientist and photographer, Washington Teasdale (1830-1903). Washington Teasdale was an engineer by profession, but in his spare time his interests ranged greatly through many areas of the sciences. In this respect he was very much a typical Victorian amateur scientist, because he did not like to focus on one single science, but all of them. Victorian scientific amateurs can also be called gentlemen scientists. These were men of means who had the time and the money to invest into their hobbies. The materials and instruments needed were expensive and it would require extensive free time to set up and perform experiments. The sciences they dabbled in included astronomy, geology, geometry, microscopy, mechanics, meteorology, and photography. In addition to photography being one of his hobbies, Teasdale used it to capture and represent his scientific interests.

Photograph (Gelatine Print) of Henry Perigal in his Study, by Washington Teasdale and George Smith, April 4, 1897 (Inv. 76721). Henry Perigal was a British stockbroker and amateur mathematician, and a friend of Teasdale.

Photograph (Gelatine Print) of Henry Perigal in his Study, by Washington Teasdale and George Smith, April 4, 1897 (Inv. 76721). Henry Perigal was a British stockbroker and amateur mathematician, and a friend of Teasdale.

In our chosen photograph he has arranged a number of astronomical instruments – which he may have used personally – as a way to display his interest in astronomy and the orbital motion. Teasdale also took a photograph of a similar representation using a tableau for biology and microscopy, and we will be displaying it in the exhibition. Cyanotype photographs are blue because they are made by being exposed to different chemicals and light at an earlier point in the developing process. Teasdale used this process to produce many photographs, but he also took gelatine print photographs, often of portraits of scientists who he met whilst a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Teasdale was from Leeds, and so the majority of his photographs were taken there. He even helped re-establish the Leeds Astronomical Society. He liked to portray himself as a modest amateur, and not one destined for great things or professional status. Even though he saw himself as modest, he frequently made trips to London to visit friends who were amateur scientists and to attend meetings of various scientific and non-scientific societies which had become a staple in Victorian Britain.

If you would like to learn more about Washington Teasdale you can visit the narrative on the website here, or visit the display of a number of objects from his collection in the entrance gallery of the Museum of the History of Science.

We have named the small mannequin in the cyanotype photograph which is being used as our main exhibition photograph as Dale, after Teasdale, and hope to take him on a range of adventures investigating our love of everyday science. Look out for future blog posts on this!

By Lynn Atkin