Showcasing Science

Teylers Museum was founded in 1784 and soon thereafter became one of the most important centres of Dutch science. The Museums first director, Martinus van Marum, famously had the worlds largest electrostatic generator built and set up in Haarlem. This subsequently became the most prominent item in the Museums world-class, publicly accessible, and constantly growing collections. These comprised scientific instruments, mineralogical and palaeontological specimens, prints, drawings, paintings, and coins. Van Marums successors continued to uphold the institutions prestige and use the collections for research purposes, while it was increasingly perceived as an art museum by the public. In the early twentieth century, the Nobel Prize laureate Hendrik Antoon Lorentz was appointed head of the scientific instrument collection and conducted experiments on the Museums premises. Showcasing Science: A History of Teylers Museum in the Nineteenth Century charts the history of Teylers Museum from its inception until Lorentz tenure. From the vantage point of the Museums scientific instrument collection, this book gives an analysis of the changing public role of Teylers Museum over the course of the nineteenth century.