Accession No

1852

Brief Description

table spectrometer, Browning’s ‘Student’s Spectroscope’, by John Browning, English, c. 1880

Origin

England; London; 63 Strand

Maker

Browning, John

Class

optical

Earliest Date

1880

Latest Date

1880

Inscription Date

Material

metal (brass); glass

Dimensions

length 685mm; breadth 400mm; height 310mm

Special Collection

Heywood collection

Provenance

Purchased from the Professor Harold Heywood collection under estate duty exemption benefit with the assistance of a Science Museum grant-in-aid.

Inscription

‘John Browning, 63 Strand London’

Description Notes

Table spectrometer, Browning’s ‘Student’s Spectroscope’, by John Browning, English, c. 1880.

Brass table spectrometer - Browning’s ‘Student’s Spectroscope’. Oxidised tribach stand with 3 brass feet, surmounted by brass pillar carrying stage. Circular stage, part oxidised, part divided -5-115 by degrees, subdivided to 20’. Oxidised platform on 3 legs carries glass prism (one side black) set in position by 4 studs and clamping screw on extended arm. Brass adjustable collimator with draw tube carrying adjustable slit moved by knurled screw and reflecting prism on oxidised arm. Brass adjustable telescope pivots about centre of stage, vernier, clamp screw, 2 drawers. Cover for slit.

References

Events

Description
Spectroscope
In 1814 Joseph von Fraunhofer noticed that the sun’s spectrum, when dispersed by a glass prism, is crossed by hundreds of fine dark lines. These lines could be used to determine the chemical composition of the sun, stars and many other substances by spectral analysis. The first photograph of the spectrum of a star (Vega) was made by Henry Draper using a spectroscope in 1872.

There are various different forms of spectroscope, but all use a slit and collimator to make a parallel beam of light, a prism for dispersing different wavelengths and a telescope to observe the dispersed spectrum.

18/10/2002
Created by: Saffron Clackson on 18/10/2002

FM:43393