Scientific Instrument Symposium 2018
03 september 2018 t/m 07 september 2018
The XXXVII Symposium of the Scientific Instrument Commission will take place from the 3d to the 7th of September 2018 in Leiden and Haarlem, the Netherlands. The general topic of the conference is Instruments and the ‘Empire of Man over Things’.
In The New Organon (1620), Francis Bacon famously wrote that “the empire of man over things depends wholly on the arts and sciences. For we cannot command nature except by obeying her” [Works 8 (1863), 162-63]. How have instruments of the “arts and sciences” been deployed in efforts to “command nature” for social, economic, political or personal purposes? How have instruments entered public works projects (waterways, transport, energy, pollution control), economic projects (mining, agriculture, factories), or political projects (military, public health, exploration, cadastral surveying)? Are different instruments required when the goal is not only knowing but also controlling?
The Symposium will be hosted jointly by Rijksmuseum Boerhaave in Leiden and Teylers Museum in Haarlem with visits to nearby cities and collections.
Visit the Symposium website for more information, registration, call for papers and the preliminary program.