Our website users across the world may be interested in the following heritage events and temporary exhibitions on optically-related subjects:
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SIS 25 - 25th Anniversary Exhibition of the Scientific Instrument Society
Opens 19 August until 26 October 2008
The Scientific Instrument Society is 25 years old this year. To mark the anniversary, the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford and the Society are collaborating to mount an unusual exhibition, intended to recognise the complementary work of museums and collectors. Scientific instruments are preserved in museum collections but many more live on through the enthusiasm and commitment of individuals and the commercial activities of dealers and auction houses. Museums cannot accept everything they are offered, so both spheres have a role to play in preserving the material culture of science.
Members of the Society will be lending instruments for display, so this will be a chance to see items normally in private collections. At the core of the exhibition will be three showcases in the entrance gallery, but other instruments will be added to displays throughout the mueum, to demonstrate how private collections can complement public ones.
Open Tuesday to Friday, 12.00 to 5.00pm, Saturday, 10am to 5pm, Sunday, 2.00 to 5.00pm. Closed Mondays.
Museum of the History of Science
Broad Street
Oxford
OX1 3AZ
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Jack the Ripper and the East End
Opens 15 May until 2 November 2008
The BOA Museum has lent a retinoscopic eye to this major temporary exhibition about the East End of London in the late Victorian period and its role as backdrop to the series of eleven gruesome ripper murders between April 1888 and 1891. The science of retinoscopy was new at the time and when the body of Annie Chapman was discovered in September 1888 it was suggested that her eyes be examined in case an image of her assailant might be discernible on her retina. There is no evidence that this was actually attempted. Even if an image had been present, by the time the suggestion was made it would have been too late. See a page elsewhere on this website to learn more about the pseudo-scientific theories of optography and optograms. The exhibition also includes such forensic investigative devices as a fine Victorian camera and a stuffed bloodhound. Of related interest are photographs of blind street musicians.
Open daily 10.00am-6.00pm (last admission 4.45pm)
Museum in Docklands
West India Quay
London
E14 4AL
Web: http://www.museumindocklands.org.uk/jacktheripper
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Herrn Mayers Obsessionen - 250 historische Brillen und ein Krimi
(250 Historic Spectacles)
Opens 8 May until 2 November 2008
Gerhard Mayer (1945-2000) was an optometrist in Feuchtwangen, Germany and a member of the Ophthalmic Antiques International Collectors' Club. He bequeathed his personal collection to his local museum in the town and it is now holding a temporary exhibition on the subject. The exhibition includes the D-Spectacles shown on the publicity leaflet, plus Chinese spectacles, French lorgnettes and a spectacle-mounted prosthesis.
According to our German-based 'spy' the exhibition includes a few mistaken labels and errors of dating but is nonetheless worth seeing for anyone with an interest in the subject and the museum is to be congratulated for attempting to cover such a specialist subject.
Open from Wednesday-Sunday 11.00am-5.00pm (except in October and November when it is open 2.00-5.00pm)
Frankisches Museum Feuchtwangen
Museumsstrasse 19
91555 Feuchtwangen
Germany
Web: http://www.fraenkisches-museum.de
De Telescoop - Erfenis van een Nederlandse uitvinding (The Telescope - Heritage from a Dutch invention)
Opens 11 September 2008 until 19 April 2009
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Vanwege het 400-jarig jubileum wijdt Museum Boerhaave een tentoonstelling aan de telescoop. Behalve de enige complete verrekijker van Christian Huygens, zijn ook talrijke andere zeldzame kijkers te zien, waarven vele voor het eerst.
Open from Tuesday-Saturday 10.00-17.00, Sundays and holidays 12.00-17.00. (Closed 3 October).
Museum Boerhaave
Lange St. Agnietenstraat 10
2312 WC Leiden
Netherlands
Web: http://www.museumboerhaave.nl
Conference announcement - The Invention of the Dutch Telescope, its Origin and Impact on Science, Culture and Society 1550-1650
Wednesday 24 September 2008-Saturday 27 September 2008
Roosevelt Academy, Middelburg, The Netherlands (the cradle of the Dutch telescope)
The following exhibitions and events are now over, but details may still be available from the organisers:
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Opens 13 June until 17 July 2008
An artistic exploration and documentation of what is seen by people with Macular Degeneration. This exhibition features photo-realist paintings which show portraits of people with the condition as they would see themselves. Whilst artist-in-residence at this visual arts college in West Kent, Adam Hahn interviewed each subject and also drew on research data from the Moorfields Eye Hospital and the 'London Project to Cure Blindness' at the Institute of Ophthalmology.
Open Monday-Thursday 10.00am-5.00pm, Friday-Saturday 11.00am-4.00pm
Mascalls Gallery
Mascalls School
Maidstone Road
Paddock Wood
Kent
TN12 6LT
Tel: 01892 839039
Web: http://www.mascallsgallery.org