Accession No
3671
Brief Description
micro-spectroscope, by Carl Zeiss, German, 1870-1910 (c)
Origin
Germany; Jena
Maker
Carl Zeiss
Class
optical
Earliest Date
1870
Latest Date
1910
Inscription Date
Material
metal (brass, steel, other)
Dimensions
length 215mm; breadth 140mm; depth 115mm; box length 216mm; breadth 148mm; height 86mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Transferred from Molteno Institute (Parasitology), University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, 1987. Note in object history file states: ‘Hand spectroscope & micro-spectroscope – belonged to the late Prof. D. Keilin – used in work on cytochromes.’ Signed ‘B.A. Newton / Molteno Institute’. Further information is in the archives of the Molteno Institute, Cambridge University Library, reference UA/MOL/9
Inscription
‘CARL ZEISS
JENA’ (on black body of instrument)
Description Notes
Micro-spectroscope (aka microspectroscope), by Carl Zeiss, German, 1870-1910 (c).
Brass, steel and black-finished metal instrument with metallic blue screws. Can be fitted to a microscope in place of the eye-piece for examining spectra from microscopical sources. Has both a micrometer and provision for introducing a comparison spectrum.
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:44747
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