The Opening and Launch of Activities of the Chemistry Laboratory at the Polytechnic Museum (Late 19th – Early 20th Century)

This article is devoted to the history of emergence and development of the chemistry laboratory at the Moscow Museum of Applied Knowledge (Polytechnic Museum), one of the oldest laboratories in Moscow and the first of the Museum’s laboratories. Its creation was predetermined by the following important factors: rapid development of natural science in the second half of the 19th century, introduction of obligatory laboratory practice in the natural science curriculum at higher education institutions, and the fact that the Museum founders believed that laboratories had to be in place at the Museum as one of the ways of delivering its educational goals and promoting dissemination of technology knowledge. The Polytechnic Museum’s chemistry laboratory was modelled after the laboratories of Western European museums. The decisive role in the organization of the laboratory belonged to I. P. Arkhipov, chemical engineer, member of the Museum Organization Committee and director of the Museum’s technology department. In the years that followed, the renowned chemists V. V. Markovnikov and I. A. Kablukov were extensively involved in the work of the laboratory.

Initially the laboratory played an auxiliary role and was only used to prepare demonstration experiments; later on, the scope of its functions broadened. In the course of the time, the laboratory became increasingly involved in the Museum’s overall work, one of the main lines of which was the acquisition of museum items.

After the Polytechnic Museum moved to its own building, the chemistry laboratory was organized and equipped like the most advanced European laboratories. With necessary instruments and equipment in place, it could provide space and necessary conditions for the experimental and research work to those interested. By the early 20th century the works at the chemistry laboratory were mostly associated with the Museum’s instructional and educational activities as well as with the formation of its collections. Research was conducted at the laboratory only sporadically. The Museum’s chemistry laboratory also acted as a resource and methodology center for educational work, where new demonstration experiments in chemistry were developed and the methodologies for conducting these experiments were honed.

Keywords

chemical laboratory, Polytechnic Museum, Moscow Museum of Applied Knowledge, museum collections, demonstration experiment, I. P. Arkhipov, P. P. Petrov, Vl. R. Williams, V. V. Markovnikov, I. A. Kablukov

Received

30.05.2021

Publication date

28.03.2022

Number of characters

55373

Cite

GOST	Nudel A. The Opening and Launch of Activities of the Chemistry Laboratory at the Polytechnic Museum (Late 19th – Early 20th Century) // Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki – 2022. – V. 43. – Issue 1 C. 131-153 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://vietmag.org/S020596060018974-3-1 (circulation date: 20.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S020596060018974-3
MLA	Nudel, Alla "The Opening and Launch of Activities of the Chemistry Laboratory at the Polytechnic Museum (Late 19th – Early 20th Century)." Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki 43.1 (2022):131-153. DOI: 10.31857/S020596060018974-3
APA	Nudel A. (2022). The Opening and Launch of Activities of the Chemistry Laboratory at the Polytechnic Museum (Late 19th – Early 20th Century). Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki 43(1), pp.131-153 DOI: 10.31857/S020596060018974-3

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 315

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Arkhipov, I. P. (1879) Ob analizakh bronzovykh doistoricheskikh predmetov [On the Analysis of Bronze Prehistoric Objects], in: Bogdanov, A. P. (ed.) Antropologicheskaia vystavka 1879 goda [The Anthropological Exhibition of 1879]. Moskva: Tipografiia M. N. Lavrova i Ko, vol. 3, pt. 1, pp. 197–203 (Izvestiia IOLEAE, vol. 35. Trudy Antropologicheskogo otdela, vol. 5.).

2. Cremer, A. (1868) Das neue chemische Laboratorium, zu Berlin. Berlin: Verlag von Ernst D. Korn. Dvadtsatipiatiletie Muzeia prikladnykh znanii v Moskve. 30 noiabria 1872 g. – 30 noiabria 1897 g. [25th Anniversary of the Museum of Applied Knowledge in Moscow. November 30, 1872 – November 30, 1897] (1898). Moskva: “Russkaia” tipo-litografiia.

3. Godichnyi otchet Vysochaishe uchrezhdennogo komiteta po ustroistvu Muzeia prikladnykh znanii i zavedyvaniiu im za vtoroi god ot 30 noiabria 1873 goda po 30-e noiabria 1874 goda [Annual Report of the Imperially Established Committee for the Organization and Administration of the Museum of Applied Knowledge for the Second Year of Its Existence from November 30, 1873 until November 30, 1874] (1875). Moskva: Tipo-litografiia S. P. Arkhipova.

4. Kochubei, P. A. (1854) Opisanie zamechatel’neishikh laboratorii Germanii i Bel’gii [Description of the Most Excellent Laboratories in Germany and Belgium]. Sankt-Peterburg: Tipografiia E. Veimara.

5. Kolbe, H. (1872) Das chemische Laboratorium der Universität Leipzig und die seit 1866 darin ausgeführten chemischen Untersuchungen. Braunschweig: F. Vieweg.

6. Morris, P. J. T. (2015) The Matter Factory: A History of the Chemistry Laboratory. London: Reaktion Books.

7. Moskovskii Muzei prikladnykh znanii (Politekhnicheskii). Kratkii ukazatel’ kollektsii museia s planami i risunkami [Moscow Museum of Applied Knowledge (Polytechnic). A Concise Index of the Museum’s Collections with Plans and Drawings] (1905). Moskva: Tipo-litografiia “Russkogo tovarishchestva pechatnogo i izdatel’skogo dela”.

8. Muzei prikladnykh znanii v Moskve. Otchety o deiatel’nosti muzeia i ego otdelov za 1898 i 1899 gody [Museum of Applied Knowledge in Moscow. Reports on the Activities of the Museum and Its Departments for 1898 and 1899] (1900). Moskva: Tipo-litografiia “Russkogo tovarishchestva pechatnogo i izdatel’skogo dela”.

9. Nudel’, A. I. (2015) Otrazhenie idei A. M. Butlerova v sobranii Politekhnicheskogo muzeia. Opyt formirovaniia i (so)khraneniia muzeinoi kollektsii [Reflection of A. M. Butlerov’s Ideas in the Polytechnic Museum Collection. Experience in the Formation and Preservation of a Museum Collection], in: Artemenko, R. V., Baturin, Iu. M., and Saltykov, B. G. (eds.) Istoriia tekhniki i muzeinoe delo. Moskva: IIET RAN, no. 7, pp. 182–186.

10. Otchet o deiatel’nosti tekhnicheskogo otdela moskovskogo Muzeia prikladnykh znanii i sostoiashchei pri nem tekhnicheskoi komissii za 1898 god [Report on the Activities of the Technical Department of the Moscow Museum of Applied Knowledge, and the Technical Commission Attached thereto, for 1898] (1899). Moskva: Tipo-litografiia Tovarishchestva I. N. Kushnarev i Ko.

11. Otchet o deiatel’nosti tekhnicheskogo otdela moskovskogo Muzeia prikladnykh znanii i sostoiashchei pri nem tekhnicheskoi komissii za 1901 god [Report on the Activities of the Technical Department of the Moscow Museum of Applied Knowledge, and the Technical Commission Attached thereto, for 1901] (1902). Moskva: Tipo-litografiia zhurnala “Budil’nik”.

12. Otchet o deiatel’nosti tekhnicheskogo otdela moskovskogo Muzeia prikladnykh znanii i sostoiashchei pri nem tekhnicheskoi komissii za 1902 i 1903 goda [Report on the Activities of the Technical Department of the Moscow Museum of Applied Knowledge, and the Technical Commission Attached thereto, for 1902 and 1903] (1904). Moskva: Tipo-litografiia “Russkogo tovarishchestva pechatnogo i izdatel’skogo dela”.

13. Protokoly zasedanii Imperatorskogo obshchestva liubitelei estestvoznaniia, antropologii i etnografii, sostoiashchego pri Moskovskom universitete [Minutes of Meetings of the Imperial Society of Friends of Natural Science, Anthropology and Ethnography, Attached to Moscow University] (1870), Izvestiia Imperatorskogo obshchestva liubitelei estestvoznaniia, antropologii i etnografii, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 242–272.

14. Protokoly zasedanii Imperatorskogo obshchestva liubitelei estestvoznaniia, antropologii i etnografii, sostoiashchego pri Moskovskom universitete [Minutes of Meetings of the Imperial Society of Friends of Natural Science, Anthropology, and Ethnography, Attached to Moscow University] (1872), Izvestiia Imperatorskogo obshchestva liubitelei estestvoznaniia, antropologii i etnografii, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 4–9.

15. Robertson, B. (2004) The South Kensington Museum in Context: An Alternative History, Museum and Society, vol. 2, no. 1, рр. 1–14.

16. Savelʼeva, A. S. (2018) Tsvetnaia metallurgiia Tagarskoi kulʼtury Severo-Zapadnogo lesostepnogo raiona (po dannym elementnogo sostava): dis. … kand. ist. nauk [Non-Ferrous Metallurgy of the Tagar Culture of the North-Western Forest-Steppe Region (According to the Data of Elemental Composition). Thesis for the Candidate of Historical Sciences Degree]. Kemerovo.

17. Timiriazev, K. A. (1939) Razvitie estestvoznaniia v Rossii v epokhu 60-kh godov [The Development of Natural Science in Russia in the Era of the 1860s], in: Timiriazev, K. A. Sochineniia [Works]. Moskva: Sel’khozgiz, vol. 8, pp. 137–177.

18. Tresca, M. (1861) Description de la sale des expériences de mécanique au Conservatoire impérial des arts et métiers, Annales du Conservatoire des arts et métiers, 1e série, vol. 1, pp. 5–21.

19. Volkov, V. A., and Kulikova, M. V. (2003) Moskovskie professora XVIII – nachala XX vekov. Estestvennye i tekhnicheskie nauki [Moscow Professors of the 18th – Early 20th Century. Natural and Technical Sciences]. Moskva: Ianus-K and Moskovskie uchebniki i kartolitografiia.