# kb

id: welbeck-academy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welbeck_Academy-0.md
category: reference
title: Welbeck Academy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welbeck_Academy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:40:57.723946+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: welbeck-academy-20260505-0
summary:
The Welbeck Academy or Welbeck Circle is a name that has been given to the loose intellectual grouping around William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the first half of the 17th century. It takes its name from Welbeck Abbey, a country house in Nottinghamshire that was a Cavendish family seat. Another term used is Newcastle Circle. The geographical connection is, however, more notional than real; and these terms have been regarded also as somewhat misleading. Cavendish was Viscount Mansfield in 1620, and moved up the noble ranks to Duke, step by step; "Newcastle" applies by 1628. Newcastle was a royalist exile in continental Europe in the latter part of the First English Civil War and the Interregnum. He then returned to England and lived to 1676. His life shows many instances of cultural and intellectual patronage. == Science and mathematics == A scientific interest was optics. The group involved in these studies included Charles Cavendish (William's brother), Thomas Hobbes, Robert Payne and Walter Warner. This core "academy" group was disrupted when Newcastle took on responsibility for the Prince of Wales, in 1638. At a later point John Pell was in Newcastle's service. Charles Cavendish's circle included Henry Bond, Richard


id: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology-0.md
category: reference
title: Western esotericism and psychology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:40:59.025054+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-0
summary:
Western esotericism and psychology surveys the documented exchanges between Western esotericism—including Westernized hybrids of Asian traditions—and selected areas of psychology, psychotherapy, and popular psychology. From the late eighteenth century onward, conduits such as animal magnetism and early hypnosis (reinterpreted from mesmeric “somnambulism”), Spiritualism/psychical research, and fin de siècle occultism and comparative projects created channels by which esoteric repertoires (e.g., alchemy, astrology, and subtle body schemes) were translated into psychological idioms or embedded in therapeutic and self-development techniques. In the twentieth century, these exchanges were variously articulated in analytical psychology (including Jung’s alchemical hermeneutics), humanistic workshop cultures and the human potential movement, transpersonal psychology, and symbolic counselling that repurposed oracular media (e.g., tarot, astrology, or the I Ching). Rather than a single genealogy, historians emphasise plural processes of transmission, translation, and hybridisation across specific networks and publics—among them Theosophy (with codified chakras and subtle bodies), Anthroposophy (linking esoteric doctrines to pedagogical and para-clinical projects), the Eranos circle (mediating Jungian hermeneutics and history-of-religions), and late-modern markets often labelled “New Age”. Sociological accounts frame the broader diffusion via the late-modern “cultic milieu” and “occulture”, which describe how esoteric symbols and narratives circulate beyond formal religion through publishing, workshops, retreats and wellness/coaching niches, where


id: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology-1.md
category: reference
title: Western esotericism and psychology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:40:59.025054+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-0
summary:
=== Rejected knowledge by academic psychology === In this line of analysis, Wouter J. Hanegraaff introduced the notion of rejected knowledge to describe bodies of thought and practice that once claimed rational or scientific legitimacy but were later excluded from academic discourse. The concept provides historians with a tool for understanding why movements such as mesmerism, psychical research, or vitalist biophysics—though not self-identified as “esoteric”—nonetheless display structural affinities with the esoteric field through their use of subtle-force cosmologies, analogical reasoning, and transformative techniques. === Psychologization of esotericism (historiographical models) === Scholarship has used “psychologization” to describe how esoteric repertoires were reframed in psychological idioms or channelled through therapeutic formats. Wouter J. Hanegraaff proposed a bidirectional traffic—“psychologization of religion” and “sacralization of psychology”—as a lens for modern encounters between esotericism and psychology. Complementarily, long-duration histories of dynamic psychiatry (as theorized by the historiographer of psychiatry Henri Ellenberger) trace continuities from exorcism to mesmerism, hypnosis and the emergence of clinical psychologies, providing a background against which such reframings occurred. Recent work has refined “psychologization” by distinguishing several modes (e.g., complementary, terminological, reductive, idealist) and by analysing the appeal to a distinct “magical plane” (a separate-but-connected psychic locus) that insulates ritual practice from


id: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology-2.md
category: reference
title: Western esotericism and psychology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:40:59.025054+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-0
summary:
In the milieu of the Occult Revival of the 19th century in Western societies the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) became a key contact zone between séance cultures and emerging psychological inquiry. Its programmes covered hypnotism, dissociation, mediumship and “thought-transference” (later standardised as telepathy by Frederic W. H. Myers), with figures such as William James engaging controversy around mediums like Eusapia Palladino and critics like Hugo Münsterberg. Historians read these investigations as part of the broader traffic in which esoteric repertoires (trance techniques, oracular devices) and laboratory or literary methods cross-pollinated, even as medical framings recoded practice in secular psychological terms. Around 1900, currents grouped under modern occultism and comparative projects systematised repertoires that would become salient in psychological translation. Theosophy articulated a modern discourse on subtle bodies and diffused codified “chakra” schemes through handbooks and visual plates that circulated well beyond initiatory settings; these maps furnished a flexible idiom for inner states and “energy” later reframed in counselling and self-development. At the same time, Anthroposophy extended esoteric doctrines into education and para-clinical practice, associating imagination and development with disciplined movement and arts-based therapies (e.g., Eurythmy). Organisationally, anthroposophic centres linked doctrine, pedagogy and therapeutic experiments, creating channels by which symbolic


id: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology-3.md
category: reference
title: Western esotericism and psychology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:40:59.025054+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-0
summary:
Institutional and editorial hubs in this period The Eranos meetings (Ascona) interfaced Jungian circles with history-of-religions scholarship, stabilising psychological readings of premodern symbol-systems (including Asian corpora) in interpretive, non-realist frames. Mid-century workshop venues such as the Esalen Institute (Big Sur) structured experiential formats—encounter, movement, guided imagination—in which symbolic and ritual devices circulated alongside clinical and educational experimentation; associations and journals consolidated Transpersonal psychology as a field. At the boundary of psychology proper, parapsychology laboratories and surveys extended the nineteenth-century psychical-research agenda (e.g., studies of telepathy/clairvoyance) into experimental and questionnaire-based programmes. === Late 20th century to present: hybrids, wellness and coaching === From the late twentieth century, repertoires previously clustered in specialist milieus migrated into wider self-help, wellness and coaching cultures. Modern transpositions of yoga supplied somatic and attentional techniques that could be framed in secular or symbolic terms, sometimes retaining subtle-body vocabularies and sometimes recoded physiologically; posture-based systems and allied practices entered therapeutic and educational niches where they functioned as vehicles for self-regulation without requiring adherence to esoteric cosmologies. In counselling and workshop circuits, oracular media such as tarot, astrology and the I Ching were repurposed as projective tools within interpretive frames, foregrounding narrative construction and reflective dialogue rather than


id: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology-4.md
category: reference
title: Western esotericism and psychology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:40:59.025054+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-0
summary:
Founded by Roberto Assagioli, psychosynthesis articulated a developmental model integrating will, imagination and symbolic techniques (guided imagery, reflective exercises), framed for psychotherapy and education. While drawing selectively on religious and esoteric vocabularies (e.g., stages, higher/unifying self), psychosynthesis presented these as symbolic devices for integration and meaning-making rather than as doctrinal commitments, and established dedicated training and counselling contexts distinct from Jungian institutions. In workshop and clinical formats, psychosynthesis employed structured sequences (evocation of imagery, reflective processing, value clarification) that align with humanistic and transpersonal milieus in which ritualised settings and symbolic repertoires were redeployed for experiential learning. Reviews at the psychology–religion interface underline the need to separate genealogical description from empirical appraisal and to keep realist–occult claims distinct from interpretive, “as-if real” framings. === Somatic and bioenergetic psychology === Wilhelm Reich’s somatic psychotherapy, developed as vegetotherapy and later orgonomy, sought to integrate emotional release with muscular and respiratory dynamics. Although Reich presented his model as biophysics rather than spirituality, his concept of orgone—a universal life energy said to permeate both psyche and cosmos—echoed older vitalist and mesmerist cosmologies. Scholars such as Christopher Partridge and Egil Asprem interpret Reich’s system as part of the modern afterlife of esoteric vitalism, where notions


id: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology-5.md
category: reference
title: Western esotericism and psychology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:40:59.025054+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-0
summary:
=== Parapsychology (boundary-field interface) === Nineteenth-century psychical research evolved into twentieth-century parapsychology, which pursued experimental and survey studies of anomalous cognition (e.g., telepathy, clairvoyance) at the boundary of psychology proper. In this article parapsychology is treated as a historical interface with psychology—linked to case-genres on automatism and dissociation and intersecting selectively with transpersonal psychology debates on non-ordinary states—rather than as a psychological school; genealogical description is kept distinct from evidential claims. == Popular psychology and coaching == From the late twentieth century, repertoires associated with Western esotericism circulated widely through self-help and coaching markets. An American strand often labelled New Thought—later echoed in formulations such as the law of attraction—provided vocabularies of mental causation and affirmation that were readily repackaged as techniques for self-knowledge, motivation and optimisation. Historians read these idioms within the broader late-modern dynamics of occulture and the cultic milieu, which situate diffusion through publishing, workshops, retreats and media rather than through academic psychology. Early twentieth-century popular psychology also popularised relaxation-through-attention methods. Writers such as Annie Payson Call taught guided relaxation and posture–breath discipline for “nerves” and self-regulation in non-clinical settings, combining moral reform with bodily awareness (see relaxation techniques, guided imagery). Her work, including Power Through Repose


id: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology-6.md
category: reference
title: Western esotericism and psychology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:40:59.025054+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-0
summary:
== Esoteric-linked mental health hospitals == In Brazil, Kardecist spiritism (a French origins branch of Spiritualism) developed durable interfaces with mental-health provision through Spiritist psychiatric hospitals that combine conventional psychiatric care with complementary Spiritist practices (e.g., “passes”, mediumistic counselling). Historical and clinical overviews document this model as emerging in the early–mid twentieth century and concentrated in Brazil; surveys describe operating structures, staffing and modalities of care across leading centres. In this article such institutions are treated as regional institutionalizations of an esoteric repertoire within modern healthcare systems; genealogical description is kept distinct from evidential claims about clinical outcomes. A different pathway of institutionalization appears in anthroposophic hospitals in Germany to Anthroposophy—where integrative frameworks include psychiatry/psychosomatics alongside arts-based and movement therapies (e.g., Eurythmy). Reviews of anthroposophic medicine situate these hospitals within an integrative multimodal system, while institutional profiles list dedicated departments (e.g., Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke). As elsewhere in the article, institutional presence is reported separately from clinical validation, and interpretive/symbolic framings are distinguished from realist–occult claims. == Comparative techniques and devices == This section surveys devices that operate across otherwise distinct schools—symbolic tools, altered-state protocols, ritual/dramatic/artistic expression formats, body–attention practices, and sound-based procedures—and documents how they were translated into psychological frames (interpretive,


id: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology-7.md
category: reference
title: Western esotericism and psychology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:40:59.025054+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-0
summary:
Sound-focused sessions—e.g., singing bowls and gong baths—are often framed through Pythagorean and (neo)hermetic (The Kybalion) narratives of hidden vibration and cosmic harmony (a Western esoteric lineage) while being presented with Asian aesthetics or branding (“Tibetan bowls”) in late-modern wellness markets. A parallel, secular rationale describes these formats as aids to relaxation, attentional focus and group containment. In either case, practice emphasises patterned sound, pacing and bounded ritual to scaffold meaning-making and regulation, with symbolic/interpretive efficacy foregrounded over realist claims. === Body and attention === Somatic and attentional practices—postures, movement sequences and contemplative exercises—were adopted in modern transpositions of yoga, Buddhist sati, and related repertoires, sometimes retaining Theosophical subtle body vocabularies and sometimes reframed in secular or physiological terms. Historical studies trace how posture-based systems and allied techniques entered wellness and therapeutic niches (e.g. relaxation techniques), where they could function as vehicles for self-regulation without adherence to esoteric or religious cosmologies. Earlier Western harmonial and breath-culture traditions (see Popular psychology and coaching) already framed breathing and relaxation as psychophysical techniques linking mind–body regulation and esoteric ideas of vital influx. === Energy-themed practices (subtle-body framings) === Under “energy” labels (e.g., reiki, “healing touch”, pranic variants), late-modern counselling and coaching milieus sometimes redeploy


id: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology-8.md
category: reference
title: Western esotericism and psychology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_psychology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:40:59.025054+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: western-esotericism-and-psychology-20260505-0
summary:
== Bibliography == Faivre, Antoine; Needleman, Jacob, eds. (1992). Modern Esoteric Spirituality. World Spirituality: An Encyclopedic History of the Religious Quest, 21. New York: Crossroad. ISBN 978-0-8245-1145-6. Flournoy, Théodore (1900). From India to the Planet Mars: A Study of a Case of Somnambulism with Glossolalia. New York: Harper & Brothers. Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (1998). New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-11035-9. Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (2012). Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-02112-9. Leadbeater, C. W. (1927). The Chakras (PDF). Adyar: Theosophical Publishing House. Partridge, Christopher (2004). The Re-Enchantment of the West, Vol. 1: Alternative Spiritualities, Sacralization, Popular Culture and Occulture. London: T&T Clark. ISBN 978-0-567-08408-8. Campbell, Colin (1972). "The Cult, the Cultic Milieu and Secularization". A Sociological Yearbook of Religion in Britain. 5: 119–136. Rush, M. J. (2016). "The Contribution of Western Esotericism to Transpersonal Psychology". Transpersonal Psychology Review. 18 (1): 32–43. doi:10.53841/bpstran.2016.18.1.32. Singleton, Mark (2010). Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-539535-8. Pittenger, David J. (1993). "Measuring the MBTI and Coming Up Short". Review of Educational Research. 63 (4): 467–488. doi:10.3102/00346543063004467. Moreira-Almeida, Alexander (2005).


id: western-esotericism-and-science-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_science-0.md
category: reference
title: Western esotericism and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:00.341863+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: western-esotericism-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
The relationship between Western esotericism and science (and particularly the origins of experimental science) is a historiographical overview intersecting academic study of Western esotericism and history of science about how learned esoteric currents (e.g., natural magic, alchemy, hermeticism) interacted with natural philosophy, artisanal knowledge, and later scientific institutions from Antiquity to the twentieth century. It summarizes major debates (e.g., the “Yates thesis”), the role of printing and learned/artisanal networks, and the transformations that led from alchemy and chymistry to early modern chemistry, it also traces nineteenth–twentieth-century continuities in mesmerism, spiritualism, and psychical research. == Scope and definitions == The scope covers learned currents conventionally grouped under Western esotericism and their interactions with natural-philosophical, artisanal, and later scientific practices. In current scholarship, “Western esotericism” functions as an analytic label devised by historians of ideas rather than a stable emic category across periods. Within this remit fall astrology (including astral/astrological magic), alchemy/chymistry, hermetic and theurgic philosophies, “natural magic”, Christian Kabbalah and related Christianized appropriations, and selected nineteenth–twentieth-century continuities (e.g., mesmerism, spiritualisms, psychical research) insofar as they engaged scientific methods, publics, or institutions. Following standard usage, esotericism is treated as a family-resemblance category centered on literate, textually mediated, often elite discourses and practices,


id: western-esotericism-and-science-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_science-1.md
category: reference
title: Western esotericism and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:00.341863+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: western-esotericism-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
=== From natural magic to infrastructures of credibility === Historians of ideas have charted the forms and fortunes of natural magic and learned magic from the Middle Ages through the seventeenth century, emphasizing ontologies of hidden properties, sympathies, and imaginal techniques, and their philosophical justifications and critics. Parallel research in the social history of science highlights infrastructures that filtered claims: manuscript and print circuits (including books of secrets), the Republic of Letters, early academies and learned societies, and the emergence of publication regimes such as the Philosophical Transactions. === Boundary-work and demarcation === Sociological approaches analyze how scientific communities drew boundaries against “occult” topics through norms of civility, replicable evidence, and credit allocation. Such “boundary-work” helps to explain why some esoteric claims were domesticated (e.g., elements of chemical practice) while others were marginalized, rebranded, or expelled. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, studies of animal magnetism, spiritualism, and psychical research show continued negotiations at the edges of emerging disciplines, from clinics and laboratories to voluntary associations. === Long nineteenth century: disenchantment and “scientification” === Recent work situates esotericism within broader narratives of secularization and the reconfiguration of “religion” and “science.” One line of analysis tracks how scientific naturalism rearticulated


id: western-esotericism-and-science-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_science-2.md
category: reference
title: Western esotericism and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:00.341863+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: western-esotericism-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
=== Recipe literature and channels of diffusion === Technical books and compilations of “books of secrets” connected artisanal practice with learned theorizing, creating conduits that printers would later expand in the Renaissance. These manuals aggregated procedures for dyes, metallurgy, pharmacology, and image-making and helped form publics attuned to experiment, collection, and disclosure. === Scholastic uptake and debate === The influx of Arabic–Latin materials reshaped natural-philosophical vocabularies and controversies. Astronomical and medical applications of astrology, debates over hidden properties, and programmatic alchemical claims were selectively integrated into university teaching and commentary while also provoking clerical scrutiny—setting the stage for later medieval distinctions between licit “natural” explanations and illicit invocations. == Medieval Latin world (11th–15th centuries) == Between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries, the Latin West integrated translated corpora on astrology, alchemy, and learned magic into monastic, scholastic, and urban settings, while developing classifications later grouped under the “occult sciences.” Texts such as the Latin Picatrix, the Pseudo-Geber alchemical corpus, lapidaries, and image-magic handbooks circulated alongside natural-philosophical commentaries, medical compendia, and technical recipes. === Monastic collections and clerical readership === Monastic libraries and clerical readers preserved and annotated works on natural and ritual magic even as ecclesiastical norms constrained their use. Collections


id: western-esotericism-and-science-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_science-3.md
category: reference
title: Western esotericism and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:00.341863+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: western-esotericism-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
Seventeenth-century practitioners reorganized late medieval and Renaissance repertoires into a mixed enterprise of alchemy and chemistry often labeled chymistry. Workshops and purpose-built laboratories standardized instruments (furnaces, crucibles, retorts, alembics) and procedures (calcination, distillation, sublimation, solution, precipitation), linking material operations to questions about analysis, composition, and medical utility. Programmatic attacks on Galenic medicine and defenses of chemical remedies by Paracelsian physicians fed a therapeutic and analytical turn that coexisted with transmutational ambitions. === Case-studies and overlapping repertoires === Studies of individual practitioners complicate linear stories of “disenchantment.” George Starkey (Eirenaeus Philalethes) developed furnace designs, protocols, and reagents that circulated widely; his collaboration and exchanges with Robert Boyle show how alchemical goals and experimental norms interpenetrated. Boyle’s experimental program drew on chymical skill and recipes while articulating new rhetorical and methodological expectations for public witnessing and replication, often highlighted in accounts of early modern experimental culture. At the mathematical end of natural philosophy, Isaac Newton pursued extensive alchemical reading and laboratory work—on metallic generation, “vegetation,” and the ignis secretus—integrating them with his broader investigations of nature. Rather than a clean break, scholarship depicts a spectrum of overlap in ends (medicine, analysis, perfection), media (glassware, heat management), and genres (notebooks, “secrets,” experimental reports)


id: western-esotericism-and-science-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_science-4.md
category: reference
title: Western esotericism and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:00.341863+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: western-esotericism-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
=== Egyptosophy and Egyptology === Scholars use the term Egyptosophy (Ägyptosophie) to denote the early-modern and modern Western construction of “ancient Egypt” as a reservoir of esoteric wisdom, a lineage that runs from late antique Hermeticism through Renaissance and Baroque syntheses and into nineteenth- and twentieth-century occult revivals. Within the historiography of science, this Egyptosophic imaginary is treated as a cultural precursor rather than a scientific ancestor: it sustained attention, collecting practices, and interpretive expectations (for example, Athanasius Kircher’s ambitious but largely erroneous readings), and it fed the broader current often labeled egyptomania. By contrast, Egyptology emerged in the 1820s as a distinct scholarly field grounded in philology and archaeology, following Jean-François Champollion’s phonetic decipherment of hieroglyphs (1822). In this sense, the relationship between Egyptosophy and Egyptology can be described—analogously to Astrology and Astronomy, or Alchemy and Chemistry—as a historical bifurcation: they share an object (ancient Egypt) and some early impulses, but diverge in method, evidentiary standards, and aims (soteriological and allegorical readings versus critical historicization and language-based analysis). Historians of science also interpret this shift as an instance of disciplinary boundary-making within the broader demarcation of science from non-science. == Nineteenth century: animal magnetism, spiritualisms, psychologies == Across the


id: western-esotericism-and-science-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_science-5.md
category: reference
title: Western esotericism and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:00.341863+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: western-esotericism-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
== Works cited == Asprem, Egil (2014). The Problem of Disenchantment: Scientific Naturalism and Esoteric Discourse, 1900–1939. Leiden: Brill. Copenhaver, Brian P. (1992). Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Copenhaver, Brian P. (2015). Magic in Western Culture: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Daston, Lorraine; Park, Katharine (1998). Wonders and the Order of Nature, 1150–1750. New York: Zone Books. Dear, Peter (2001). Revolutionizing the Sciences: European Knowledge and Its Ambitions, 1500–1700. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Debus, Allen G. (1977). The Chemical Philosophy: Paracelsian Science and Medicine in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. New York: Science History Publications. Eamon, William (1994). Science and the Secrets of Nature: Books of Secrets in Medieval and Early Modern Culture. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Faivre, Antoine (1994). Access to Western Esotericism. Albany: SUNY Press. Findlen, Paula (1994). Possessing Nature: Museums, Collecting, and Scientific Culture in Early Modern Italy. Berkeley: University of California Press. Fowden, Garth (1986). The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Gieryn, Thomas F. (1999). Cultural Boundaries of Science: Credibility on the Line. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Gieryn, Thomas F. (1983). "Boundary-Work and the


id: william-phelps-ornithological-collection-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Phelps_Ornithological_Collection-0.md
category: reference
title: William Phelps Ornithological Collection
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Phelps_Ornithological_Collection
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:01.673245+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: william-phelps-ornithological-collection-20260505-0
summary:
The William Phelps Ornithological Collection, also known as the Phelps Ornithological Museum, is a museum of natural sciences dedicated to the study, exhibition and preservation of the birds of Venezuela and the rest of Latin America. The collection is located east of Caracas and in the geographic center of Greater Caracas, in the heart of the Sabana Grande district. The William Phelps ornithological collection is the most important in Latin America and it is also the most important private collection in the world in its research area. In this private museum one will find important Phelps family study books, as well as 8000 scientific volumes in the library, more than 83,000 anatomical specimens, more than 80,000 skins, etc. For the year 1990, it was said that the William Phelps Ornithological Collection contained more than 76,300 skins and a small number of anatomical specimens, in the Gran Sabana Building of Sabana Grande. The Phelps library in 1990 already had 6,000 books, 800 journals and 5,500 reprints, mostly from natural sciences. == History == The ornithological collection was born in 1938, although it did not have its own headquarters on the Boulevard of Sabana Grande until 1949. At the beginning of 2018,


id: scientific-instrument-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_instrument-0.md
category: reference
title: Scientific instrument
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_instrument
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:04.505820+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: scientific-instrument-20260505-0
summary:
A scientific instrument is a device or tool used for scientific purposes, including the study of both natural phenomena and theoretical research. == History == Historically, the definition of a scientific instrument has varied, based on usage, laws, and historical time period. Before the mid-nineteenth century such tools were referred to as "natural philosophical" or "philosophical" apparatus and instruments, and older tools from antiquity to the Middle Ages (such as the astrolabe and pendulum clock) defy a more modern definition of "a tool developed to investigate nature qualitatively or quantitatively." Scientific instruments were made by instrument makers living near a center of learning or research, such as a university or research laboratory. Instrument makers designed, constructed, and refined instruments for purposes, but if demand was sufficient, an instrument would go into production as a commercial product. In a description of the use of the eudiometer by Jan Ingenhousz to show photosynthesis, a biographer observed, "The history of the use and evolution of this instrument helps to show that science is not just a theoretical endeavor but equally an activity grounded on an instrumental basis, which is a cocktail of instruments and techniques wrapped in a social setting within a community


id: atmospheric-chemistry-suite-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_Chemistry_Suite-0.md
category: reference
title: Atmospheric Chemistry Suite
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_Chemistry_Suite
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:05.649411+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: atmospheric-chemistry-suite-20260505-0
summary:
The Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS) is a science payload consisting of three infrared spectrometer channels aboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) orbiting Mars since October 2016. The three channels are: the near-infrared channel (NIR), the mid-infrared channel (MIR), and the far infrared channel (FIR, also called TIRVIM). The ACS was proposed in 2011 by Russian Academy Section and eventually accepted by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Roscosmos as one of two Russian instruments onboard TGO. The instrument was funded by Roscosmos and Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) of France, and has components of both Russia and France. Its development and fabrication was under Russian leadership. The functionality of all the three channels was confirmed during cruise to Mars. == Objectives == The main objective of the ACS suite is to make an inventory and map minor atmospheric species or trace gases in the atmosphere of Mars. This will allow scientists to profile the upper limits on the methane contents, and to possibly to detect sulfur dioxide (SO2), a gas of volcanic origin. == Channels == The near-infrared channel (NIR), is a compact spectrometer operating in the range of 0.7–1.7 μm with a resolving power of λ/Δλ ~ 20,000


id: bailer-hydrogeology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bailer_(hydrogeology)-0.md
category: reference
title: Bailer (hydrogeology)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bailer_(hydrogeology)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:06.866482+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bailer-hydrogeology-20260505-0
summary:
A bailer in hydrogeology is a hollow tube used to retrieve groundwater samples from monitoring wells. The wells are typically built out of PVC casing which is slotted to allow groundwater to flow freely through the well. Bailers are tied to a piece of rope (usually made from nylon or polypropylene) or a piece of wire (composed of Teflon or stainless steel) and lowered into the water column. Once lowered, the bailer uses a simple ball check valve to seal at the bottom in order to pull up a sample of the groundwater table. Bailers can be disposable or reusable, and they are made out of polyethylene, PVC, FEP or stainless steel. There are advantages and disadvantages to using bailers for groundwater sampling. Bailers are simple devices to use and are relatively inexpensive. Disposable bailers are usually cleaned to United States Environmental Protection Agency specifications and individually packaged to protect sample integrity. In addition, bailers can be lowered to any depth while pumps have sharp limitations on the depth of the well. The main drawback of using bailers is aeration of the water as the sample is obtained, which could release volatile organic compounds that need to be tested. Also,


id: bathometer-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathometer-0.md
category: reference
title: Bathometer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathometer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:08.070047+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bathometer-20260505-0
summary:
A bathometer (also bathymeter) is an instrument for measuring water depth. It was previously used mainly in oceanographical studies, but is rarely employed nowadays. The term originates from Greek βαθύς (bathys), "deep" and μέτρον (métron), "measure". == History == The earliest idea for a bathometer is due to Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) who sunk a hollow sphere attached to some ballast with a hook. When the ball reached the bottom it detached from the ballast and resurfaced. The depth was determined (rather inaccurately) by the time it took to surface. Jacob Perkins (1766–1849) proposed a bathometer based on the compressibility of water. In this instrument the movement of a piston compressing a body of water enclosed in its cylinder is dependent on the pressure of the water outside the cylinder, and hence its depth. The amount the piston moved can be measured when it is returned to the surface. A bathometer that did not need to be submerged was invented in 1876 by William Siemens, stimulated by the needs of the telegraph industry. Siemens' instrument was the first to come into widespread use and is so different and so much more practical than anything that had gone before that he


id: cary-14-spectrophotometer-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cary_14_Spectrophotometer-0.md
category: reference
title: Cary 14 Spectrophotometer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cary_14_Spectrophotometer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:09.286366+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cary-14-spectrophotometer-20260505-0
summary:
The Cary Model 14 UV-VIS Spectrophotometer was a double beam recording spectrophotometer designed to operate over the wide spectral range of ultraviolet, visible and near infrared wavelengths (UV/Vis/NIR). This included wavelengths ranging from 185 nanometers to 870 nanometers. (The Cary Model 14B, almost identical in exterior appearance, measured wavelengths from .5 to 6.0 microns.) The Cary 14 spectrophotometer was first produced in 1954 by the Applied Physics Corporation, which later was named the Cary Instruments Corporation after co-founder Howard Cary. The instrument was a successor to the Cary 11, which was the first commercially available recording UV/Vis spectrophotometer. It was produced until 1980, and refurbished models can still be obtained. == Design and use == The double beam design of the Cary 14 provided rapid, simplified analysis by simultaneously measuring the transmittance of both the sample and the reference over the entire spectral range. The optics of the Cary 14 were a key feature. The double monochromator in particular was described and patented. The Cary 14 was one of the first instruments to incorporate high-quality gratings into its monochromators. To take readings in the ultraviolet or visible range, either a deuterium or tungsten lamp was used, with the light focussed


id: celloscope-automated-cell-counter-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celloscope_automated_cell_counter-0.md
category: reference
title: Celloscope automated cell counter
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celloscope_automated_cell_counter
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:10.653640+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: celloscope-automated-cell-counter-20260505-0
summary:
Celloscope automated cell counter was developed in the 1950s for enumeration of erythrocytes, leukocytes, and thrombocytes in blood samples. Together with the Coulter counter, the Celloscope analyzer can be considered one of the predecessors of today's automated hematology analyzers, as the principle of the electrical impedance method is still utilized in cell counters installed in clinical laboratories around the world. == History == The Celloscope was developed for the Swedish company AB Lars Ljungberg & Co under the direction of engineer Erik Öhlin at Linson Instrument AB. In an interview published in the Clinical Biochemistry in the Nordics, a membership magazine for the Nordic Association for Clinical Chemistry, Lars Ljungberg explains that he and his coworkers had been considering different solutions for counting blood cells for some time when they came across a method presented by the American Navy on how particles could be counted when allowed to pass a capillary hole through which a weak direct current was passed simultaneously. The Celloscope method exploits the feature of blood cells not being conductive and therefore make interruptions (pulses) to the current, which then can be counted. What Ljungberg and coworkers did not know was that Wallace H. Coulter in Chicago


id: colorimeter-chemistry-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorimeter_(chemistry)-0.md
category: reference
title: Colorimeter (chemistry)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorimeter_(chemistry)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:16.006496+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: colorimeter-chemistry-20260505-0
summary:
A colorimeter is a device used in colorimetry that measures the absorbance of particular wavelengths of light by a specific solution. It is commonly used to determine the concentration of a known solute in a given solution by the application of the Beer–Lambert law, which states that the concentration of a solute is proportional to the absorbance. == Construction == The essential parts of a colorimeter are: a light source (often an ordinary low-voltage filament lamp); an adjustable aperture; a set of colored filters; a cuvette to hold the working solution; a detector (usually a photoresistor) to measure the transmitted light; a meter to display the output from the detector. In addition, there may be: a voltage regulator, to protect the instrument from fluctuations in mains voltage; a second light path, cuvette and detector. This enables comparison between the working solution and a "blank", consisting of pure solvent, to improve accuracy. There are many commercialized colorimeters as well as open source versions with construction documentation for education and for research. === Filters === Changeable optics filters are used in the colorimeter to select the wavelength which the solute absorbs the most, in order to maximize accuracy. The usual wavelength range


id: cosmic-dust-analyzer-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Dust_Analyzer-0.md
category: reference
title: Cosmic Dust Analyzer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Dust_Analyzer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:17.386115+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cosmic-dust-analyzer-20260505-0
summary:
The Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) was a large-area (0.1 m2 total sensitive area) multi-sensor dust instrument included on the Cassini spacecraft, which was launched in 1997 and orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017. The instrument included a chemical dust analyzer (time-of-flight mass spectrometer), a highly reliable impact ionization detector, and two high rate polarized polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) detectors. Over 7 years en route to Saturn, the CDA analysed the interplanetary dust cloud, the stream of interstellar dust, and Jupiter dust streams. During 13 years in orbit around Saturn, the CDA studied the E ring, dust in the plumes of Enceladus, and dust in Saturn's environment. == Overview == The Cosmic Dust Analyzer was the seventh dust instrument from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK), Heidelberg (Germany) following the dust detectors on the HEOS 2 satellite and dust detectors on the Galileo and Ulysses space probes and the more complex dust analyzers on the Helios spacecraft, the Giotto and VeGa spacecraft to Halley's Comet. The new dust analyzer system was developed by a team of scientists led by Eberhard Grün and engineers led by Dietmar Linkert to analyze dust in the Saturn system on board the Cassini spacecraft. This


id: deposit-gauge-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deposit_gauge-0.md
category: reference
title: Deposit gauge
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deposit_gauge
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:18.511040+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: deposit-gauge-20260505-0
summary:
A deposit gauge is a large, funnel-like scientific instrument used for capturing and measuring atmospheric particulates, notably soot, carried in air pollution and deposited back down to ground. == Design and construction == Deposit gauges are similar to rain gauges. They have a large circular funnel on top, made of a material that will not be corroded by acid rain (such as stone, in early versions, or anodized aluminium, in modern ones). This is mounted on a simple wooden or metal stand, which drains down into a collection bottle beneath. Typically the funnel has a wire-mesh screen around its perimeter to deter perching birds. They are made to a standardized design, which means the pollution collected in different places can be systematically studied and compared. The bottle is removed after a period of time (usually from a week to a month) and the contents taken away for analysis of water (such as rain, fog, and snow), insoluble matter (such as soot), and soluble matter. === Standard designs === The various standardized designs include: The standard deposit gauge, introduced in 1916 and formalized in a British Standard in 1951 The International Standard (ISO/DIS 4222.2) deposit gauge The Norwegian NILU gauge, which


id: dichroscope-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichroscope-0.md
category: reference
title: Dichroscope
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichroscope
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:19.758552+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dichroscope-20260505-0
summary:
A dichroscope is a pocket instrument used in the field of gemology, and can be used to test transparent gemstones (crystals). Experienced gemologists, observing the pleochroism of some gems, can successfully detect gemstones from other artificial stones using this instrument. There are two types of dichroscopes available: calcite and polarizing. Of the two, calcite gives better results and is widely used by experienced gemologists. With the polarizing type, only one pleochroic color can be seen at a time. This makes the process time-consuming and difficult, though it is the most economical way to get results. The dichroscope has been used since at least the start of the nineteenth century. == Calcite dichroscope == A calcite dichroscope shows a gem's pleochroic colors in contrast with one another, allowing the viewer to easily determine whether the stone is singly or doubly refractive (uniaxial or biaxial, respectively). Singly refractive stones do not split light that enters them, leaving light as a single beam as it exits the stone. On the contrary, doubly refractive stones may split an entering light beam into two rays (an ordinary ray and an extraordinary ray) depending on the angle, a property known as birefringence. Calcite dichroscopes are effective


id: dna-sequencer-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_sequencer-0.md
category: reference
title: DNA sequencer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_sequencer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:21.028508+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dna-sequencer-20260505-0
summary:
A DNA sequencer is a scientific instrument used to automate the DNA sequencing process. Given a sample of DNA, a DNA sequencer is used to determine the order of the four bases: G (guanine), C (cytosine), A (adenine) and T (thymine). This is then reported as a text string, called a read. Some DNA sequencers can be also considered optical instruments as they analyze light signals originating from fluorochromes attached to nucleotides. The first automated DNA sequencer, invented by Lloyd M. Smith, was introduced by Applied Biosystems in 1987. It used the Sanger sequencing method, a technology which formed the basis of the "first generation" of DNA sequencers and enabled the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2001. This first generation of DNA sequencers are essentially automated electrophoresis systems that detect the migration of labelled DNA fragments. Therefore, these sequencers can also be used in the genotyping of genetic markers where only the length of a DNA fragment(s) needs to be determined (e.g. microsatellites, AFLPs). The Human Genome Project spurred the development of cheaper, high throughput and more accurate platforms known as Next Generation Sequencers (NGS) to sequence the human genome. These include the 454, SOLiD and Illumina DNA


id: dna-sequencer-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_sequencer-1.md
category: reference
title: DNA sequencer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_sequencer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:21.028508+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dna-sequencer-20260505-0
summary:
=== Roche === The 454 DNA sequencer was the first next-generation sequencer to become commercially successful. It was developed by 454 Life Sciences and purchased by Roche in 2007. 454 utilizes the detection of pyrophosphate released by the DNA polymerase reaction when adding a nucleotide to the template strain. Roche currently manufactures two systems based on their pyrosequencing technology: the GS FLX+ and the GS Junior System. The GS FLX+ System promises read lengths of approximately 1000 base pairs while the GS Junior System promises 400 base pair reads. A predecessor to GS FLX+, the 454 GS FLX Titanium system was released in 2008, achieving an output of 0.7G of data per run, with 99.9% accuracy after quality filter, and a read length of up to 700bp. In 2009, Roche launched the GS Junior, a bench top version of the 454 sequencer with read length up to 400bp, and simplified library preparation and data processing. One of the advantages of 454 systems is their running speed. Manpower can be reduced with automation of library preparation and semi-automation of emulsion PCR. A disadvantage of the 454 system is that it is prone to errors when estimating the number of bases in


id: dna-sequencer-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_sequencer-2.md
category: reference
title: DNA sequencer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_sequencer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:21.028508+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dna-sequencer-20260505-0
summary:
=== Beckman Coulter === Beckman Coulter (now Danaher) has previously manufactured chain termination and capillary electrophoresis-based DNA sequencers under the model name CEQ, including the CEQ 8000. The company now produces the GeXP Genetic Analysis System, which uses dye terminator sequencing. This method uses a thermocycler in much the same way as PCR to denature, anneal, and extend DNA fragments, amplifying the sequenced fragments. === Pacific Biosciences === Pacific Biosciences produces the PacBio RS and Sequel sequencing systems using a single molecule real time sequencing, or SMRT, method. This system can produce read lengths of multiple thousands of base pairs. Higher raw read errors are corrected using either circular consensus - where the same strand is read over and over again - or using optimized assembly strategies. Scientists have reported 99.9999% accuracy with these strategies. The Sequel system was launched in 2015 with an increased capacity and a lower price. === Oxford Nanopore === Oxford Nanopore Technologies' MinION sequencer is based on evolving nanopore sequencing technology to nucleic acid analyses. The device is four inches long and gets power from a USB port. MinION decodes DNA directly as the molecule is drawn at the rate of 450 bases/second through a


id: du-spectrophotometer-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DU_spectrophotometer-0.md
category: reference
title: DU spectrophotometer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DU_spectrophotometer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:22.285535+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: du-spectrophotometer-20260505-0
summary:
The DU spectrophotometer or Beckman DU, introduced in 1941, was the first commercially viable scientific instrument for measuring the amount of ultraviolet light absorbed by a substance. This model of spectrophotometer enabled scientists to easily examine and identify a given substance based on its absorption spectrum, the pattern of light absorbed at different wavelengths. Arnold O. Beckman's National Technical Laboratories (later Beckman Instruments) developed three in-house prototype models (A, B, C) and one limited distribution model (D) before moving to full commercial production with the DU. Approximately 30,000 DU spectrophotometers were manufactured and sold between 1941 and 1976. Sometimes referred to as a UV–Vis spectrophotometer because it measured both the ultraviolet (UV) and visible spectra, the DU spectrophotometer is credited as being a truly revolutionary technology. It yielded more accurate results than previous methods for determining the chemical composition of a complex substance, and substantially reduced the time needed for an accurate analysis from weeks or hours to minutes. The Beckman DU was essential to several critical secret research projects during World War II, including the development of penicillin and synthetic rubber. == Background == Before the development of the DU spectrophotometer, analysis of a test sample to determine its


id: du-spectrophotometer-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DU_spectrophotometer-1.md
category: reference
title: DU spectrophotometer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DU_spectrophotometer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:22.285535+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: du-spectrophotometer-20260505-0
summary:
=== Model A (prototype) === The first prototype Beckman spectrophotometer, the Model A, was created at National Technologies Laboratories in 1940. It used a tungsten light source with a glass Fery prism as a monochromator. Tungsten was used for incandescent light filaments because it was strong, withstood heat, and emitted a steady light. Types of light sources differed in the range of wavelengths of light that they emitted. Tungsten lamps were useful in the visible light range but gave poor coverage in the ultraviolet range. However, they had the advantage of being readily available because they were used as automobile headlamps. An external amplifier from the Beckman pH meter and a vacuum tube photocell were used to detect wavelengths. === Model B (prototype) === It was quickly realized that a glass dispersive prism was not suitable for use in the ultraviolet spectrum. Glass absorbed electromagnetic radiation below 400 millimicrons rather than dispersing it. In the Model B, a quartz prism was substituted for the earlier glass. A tangent bar mechanism was used to adjust the monochromator. The mechanism was highly sensitive and required a skilled operator. Only two Model B prototypes were made. One was sold: in February 1941, to


id: du-spectrophotometer-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DU_spectrophotometer-2.md
category: reference
title: DU spectrophotometer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DU_spectrophotometer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:22.285535+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: du-spectrophotometer-20260505-0
summary:
When RCA could not meet Beckman's demand for experimental phototubes, National Technical Laboratories again had to design its own components in-house. They developed a pair of phototubes, sensitive to the red and blue areas of the spectrum, capable of amplifying the signals they received. With the incorporation of Beckman's UV-sensitive phototubes, the Model D became the Model DU UV–Vis spectrophotometer. Its designation as a "UV–Vis" spectrophotometer indicates its ability to measure light in both the visible and ultraviolet spectra. The DU was the first commercially viable scientific instrument for measuring the amount of ultraviolet light absorbed by a substance. As he had done with the pH meter, Beckman had replaced an array of complicated equipment with a single, easy-to-use instrument. One of the first fully integrated instruments or "black boxes" used in modern chemical laboratories, it sold for $723 in 1941. It is generally assumed that the "DU" in the name was a combination of "D" for the Model D on which it was based, and "U" for the ultraviolet spectrum. However, it has been suggested that "DU" may also reference Beckman's fraternity at the University of Illinois, Delta Upsilon, whose members were called "DU"s. A publication in the scholarly


id: du-spectrophotometer-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DU_spectrophotometer-3.md
category: reference
title: DU spectrophotometer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DU_spectrophotometer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:22.285535+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: du-spectrophotometer-20260505-0
summary:
The Beckman spectrophotometer was the first easy-to-use single instrument containing both the optical and electronic components needed for ultraviolet-absorption spectrophotometry within a single housing. The user could insert a cell tray with standard and sample cells, dial up the desired wavelength of light, confirm that the instrument was properly set by measuring the standard, and then measure the amount of absorption of the sample, reading the frequency from a simple meter. A series of readings at different wavelengths could be taken without disturbing the sample. The DU spectrophotometer's manual scanning method was extremely fast, reducing analysis times from weeks or hours to minutes. It was accurate in both the visible and ultraviolet ranges. Working in both the ultraviolet and the visible regions of the spectrum, the model DU produced accurate absorption spectra which could be obtained with relative ease and accurately replicated. The National Bureau of Standards ran tests to certify that the DU's results were accurate and repeatable and recommended its use. Other advantages included its high resolution and the minimization of stray light in the ultraviolet region. Although it was not cheap, its initial price of $723 made it available to the average laboratory. In comparison, in 1943,


id: du-spectrophotometer-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DU_spectrophotometer-4.md
category: reference
title: DU spectrophotometer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DU_spectrophotometer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:22.285535+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: du-spectrophotometer-20260505-0
summary:
=== Enzyme assays and DNA research === Gerty Cori and her husband Carl Ferdinand Cori won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1947 in recognition of their work on enzymes. They made several discoveries critical to understanding carbohydrate metabolism, including the isolation and discovery of the Cori ester, glucose 1-phosphate, and the understanding of the Cori cycle. They determined that the enzyme phosphorylase catalyzes formation of glucose 1-phosphate, which is the beginning and ending step in the conversions of glycogen into glucose and blood glucose to glycogen. Gerty Cori was also the first to show that a defect in an enzyme can be the cause of a human genetic disease. The Beckman DU spectrophotometer was used in the Cori laboratory to calculate enzyme concentrations, including phosphorylase. Another researcher who spent six months in 1947 at the Cori laboratory, "the most vibrant place in biochemistry" at that time, was Arthur Kornberg. Kornberg was already familiar with the DU spectrophotometer, which he had used at Severo Ochoa's laboratory at New York University. The "new and scarce" Beckman DU, loaned to Ochoa by the American Philosophical Society, was highly prized and in constant use. Kornberg used it to purify aconitase, an


id: dual-polarization-interferometry-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-polarization_interferometry-0.md
category: reference
title: Dual-polarization interferometry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-polarization_interferometry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:23.535305+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dual-polarization-interferometry-20260505-0
summary:
Dual-polarization interferometry (DPI) is an analytical technique that probes molecular layers adsorbed to the surface of a waveguide using the evanescent wave of a laser beam. It is used to measure the conformational change in proteins, or other biomolecules, as they function (referred to as the conformation activity relationship). == Instrumentation == DPI focuses laser light into two waveguides. One of these functions as the "sensing" waveguide having an exposed surface while the second one functions to maintain a reference beam. A two-dimensional interference pattern is formed in the far field by combining the light passing through the two waveguides. The DPI technique rotates the polarization of the laser, to alternately excite two polarization modes of the waveguides. Measurement of the interferogram for both polarizations allows both the refractive index and the thickness of the adsorbed layer to be calculated. The polarization can be switched rapidly, allowing real-time measurements of chemical reactions taking place on a chip surface in a flow-through system. These measurements can be used to infer conformational information about the molecular interactions taking place, as the molecule size (from the layer thickness) and the fold density (from the RI) change. DPI is typically used to characterize biochemical


id: ecotron-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecotron-0.md
category: reference
title: Ecotron
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecotron
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:24.739815+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ecotron-20260505-0
summary:
An Ecotron is an experimental instrument in ecology consisting of a controlled environment which makes it possible to simultaneously condition the environment of natural, simplified, or completely artificial ecosystems and measure the processes generated by living beings present in these ecosystems, in particular the flow of matter and energy. == Design == Its principle is to confine ecosystems in totally or partially waterproof enclosures which are permeable to energy flow and capable of generating a range of physical and chemical conditions applied to terrestrial or aquatic ecosystems, continental or marine. Environmental control and real-time measurements are precise enough to test hypotheses or operating models. For this purpose, the enclosures are fitted with significant equipment allowing continuous measurement of fluxes, states or biological characteristics. Other specific measurements, in situ and ex situ, on samples taken complete these online measurements. A sufficient number of independent confinement chambers is necessary to study several interacting factors in a framework of statistical inference. Depending on the case, we speak of a macrocosm when the space is large enough to study several m3 of reconstituted ecosystem over a period of time, generally measured in years (3-5 years or more for example), of microcosm for volumes measuring


id: filar-micrometer-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filar_micrometer-0.md
category: reference
title: Filar micrometer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filar_micrometer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:25.905991+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: filar-micrometer-20260505-0
summary:
A filar micrometer is a specialized eyepiece used in astronomical telescopes for astrometry measurements, in microscopes for specimen measurements, and in alignment and surveying telescopes for measuring angles and distances on nearby objects. "Filar" derives from the Latin filum ("thread"). It refers to the fine threads or wires used in the device. == Construction and use == A typical filar micrometer consists of a reticle that has two fine parallel wires or threads that can be moved by the observer using a micrometer screw mechanism. The wires are placed in the focal image plane of the eyepiece so they remain sharply superimposed over the object under observation, while the micrometer motion moves the wires across the focal plane. Other designs employ a fixed reticle, against which one wire or a second reticle moves. By rotating the eyepiece assembly in the eyetube, the measurement axis can be aligned to match the orientation of the two points of observation. At one time, it was common to use spider silk as a thread. By placing one wire over one point of interest and moving the other to a second point, the distance between the two wires can be measured with the micrometer portion


id: fourier-transform-infrared-spectroscopy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier-transform_infrared_spectroscopy-0.md
category: reference
title: Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier-transform_infrared_spectroscopy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:27.177904+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: fourier-transform-infrared-spectroscopy-20260505-0
summary:
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is a technique used to obtain an infrared spectrum of absorption or emission of a solid, liquid, or gas. An FTIR spectrometer collects high-resolution spectral data over a wide spectral range. This confers a significant advantage over a dispersive spectrometer, which measures intensity over a narrow range of wavelengths at a time. The term Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy originates from the fact that a Fourier transform (a mathematical process) is required to convert the raw data into the actual spectrum. == Conceptual introduction == Absorption spectroscopy techniques (FTIR, ultraviolet-visible ("UV-vis") spectroscopy, etc.) measure how much light a sample absorbs at each wavelength. The most straightforward way to do this, the "dispersive spectroscopy" technique, is to shine a monochromatic light beam at a sample, measure how much of the light is absorbed, and repeat for each different wavelength (this is also how some UV–vis spectrometers take measurements). Fourier transform spectroscopy is a less intuitive way to obtain the same information. Rather than shining a monochromatic beam of light (a beam composed of only a single wavelength) at the sample, this technique shines a beam containing many frequencies of light at once and measures how much of


id: fourier-transform-infrared-spectroscopy-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier-transform_infrared_spectroscopy-1.md
category: reference
title: Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier-transform_infrared_spectroscopy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:27.177904+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: fourier-transform-infrared-spectroscopy-20260505-0
summary:
In a Michelson interferometer adapted for FTIR, light from the polychromatic infrared source, approximately a black-body radiator, is collimated and directed to a beam splitter. Ideally 50% of the light is refracted towards the fixed mirror and 50% is transmitted towards the moving mirror. Light is reflected from the two mirrors back to the beam splitter and some fraction of the original light passes into the sample compartment. There, the light is focused on the sample. On leaving the sample compartment the light is refocused on to the detector. The difference in optical path length between the two arms to the interferometer is known as the retardation or optical path difference (OPD). An interferogram is obtained by varying the OPD and recording the signal from the detector for various values of the OPD. The form of the interferogram when no sample is present depends on factors such as the variation of source intensity and splitter efficiency with wavelength. This results in a maximum at zero OPD, when there is constructive interference at all wavelengths, followed by series of "wiggles". The position of zero OPD is determined accurately by finding the point of maximum intensity in the interferogram. When a sample


id: fourier-transform-infrared-spectroscopy-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier-transform_infrared_spectroscopy-2.md
category: reference
title: Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier-transform_infrared_spectroscopy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:27.177904+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: fourier-transform-infrared-spectroscopy-20260505-0
summary:
The separation is the inverse of the maximum OPD. For example, a maximum OPD of 2 cm results in a separation of 0.5 cm−1. This is the spectral resolution in the sense that the value at one point is independent of the values at adjacent points. Most instruments can be operated at different resolutions by choosing different OPD's. Instruments for routine analyses typically have a best resolution of around 0.5 cm−1, while spectrometers have been built with resolutions as high as 0.001 cm−1, corresponding to a maximum OPD of 10 m. The point in the interferogram corresponding to zero path difference has to be identified, commonly by assuming it is where the maximum signal occurs. This so-called centerburst is not always symmetrical in real world spectrometers so a phase correction may have to be calculated. The interferogram signal decays as the path difference increases, the rate of decay being inversely related to the width of features in the spectrum. If the OPD is not large enough to allow the interferogram signal to decay to a negligible level there will be unwanted oscillations or sidelobes associated with the features in the resulting spectrum. To reduce these sidelobes the interferogram is usually


id: fourier-transform-infrared-spectroscopy-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier-transform_infrared_spectroscopy-3.md
category: reference
title: Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier-transform_infrared_spectroscopy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:27.177904+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: fourier-transform-infrared-spectroscopy-20260505-0
summary:
=== IR sources === FTIR spectrometers are mostly used for measurements in the mid and near IR regions. For the mid-IR region, 2−25 μm (5,000–400 cm−1), the most common source is a silicon carbide (SiC) element heated to about 1,200 K (930 °C; 1,700 °F) (Globar). The output is similar to a blackbody. Shorter wavelengths of the near-IR, 1−2.5 μm (10,000–4,000 cm−1), require a higher temperature source, typically a tungsten-halogen lamp. The long wavelength output of these is limited to about 5 μm (2,000 cm−1) by the absorption of the quartz envelope. For the far-IR, especially at wavelengths beyond 50 μm (200 cm−1) a mercury discharge lamp gives higher output than a thermal source. === Detectors === Far-IR spectrometers commonly use pyroelectric detectors that respond to changes in temperature as the intensity of IR radiation falling on them varies. The sensitive elements in these detectors are either deuterated triglycine sulfate (DTGS) or lithium tantalate (LiTaO3). These detectors operate at ambient temperatures and provide adequate sensitivity for most routine applications. To achieve the best sensitivity the time for a scan is typically a few seconds. Cooled photoelectric detectors are employed for situations requiring higher sensitivity or faster response. Liquid nitrogen cooled


id: fourier-transform-infrared-spectroscopy-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier-transform_infrared_spectroscopy-4.md
category: reference
title: Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier-transform_infrared_spectroscopy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:27.177904+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: fourier-transform-infrared-spectroscopy-20260505-0
summary:
=== Microscopy and imaging === An infrared microscope allows samples to be observed and spectra measured from regions as small as 5 microns across. Images can be generated by combining a microscope with linear or 2-D array detectors. The spatial resolution can approach 5 microns with tens of thousands of pixels. The images contain a spectrum for each pixel and can be viewed as maps showing the intensity at any wavelength or combination of wavelengths. This allows the distribution of different chemical species within the sample to be seen. This technique has been applied in various biological applications including the analysis of tissue sections as an alternative to conventional histopathology, examining the homogeneity of pharmaceutical tablets, and for differentiating morphologically-similar pollen grains. === Nanoscale and spectroscopy below the diffraction limit === The spatial resolution of FTIR can be further improved below the micrometer scale by integrating it into scanning near-field optical microscopy platform. The corresponding technique is called nano-FTIR and allows for performing broadband spectroscopy on materials in ultra-small quantities (single viruses and protein complexes) and with 10 to 20 nm spatial resolution. === FTIR as detector in chromatography === The speed of FTIR allows spectra to be obtained from


id: galileo-and-ulysses-dust-detectors-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_and_Ulysses_Dust_Detectors-0.md
category: reference
title: Galileo and Ulysses Dust Detectors
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_and_Ulysses_Dust_Detectors
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:32.914202+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: galileo-and-ulysses-dust-detectors-20260505-0
summary:
The Galileo and Ulysses Dust Detectors are almost identical dust instruments on the Galileo and Ulysses missions. The instruments are large-area (0.1 m2 sensitive area) highly reliable impact ionization detectors of sub-micron and micron sized dust particles. With these instruments the interplanetary dust cloud was characterized between Venus’ and Jupiter's orbits and over the solar poles. A stream of interstellar dust passing through the planetary system was discovered. Close to and inside the Jupiter system streams nanometer sized dust particles that were emitted from volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io and ejecta clouds around the Galilean moons were discovered and characterized. == Overview == Following the first dust instruments from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK), Heidelberg (Germany) on the HEOS 2 satellite and the Helios spacecraft a new dust instrument was developed by a Team of Scientists and Engineers of Eberhard Grün to detect cosmic dust in the outer planetary system. This instrument had 10 times larger sensitive area (0.1 m2) and employed a multiple coincidence of impact signals in order to cope with the low fluxes of cosmic dust and the hostile environment in the outer planets magnetospheres. The Galileo and Ulysses dust detectors use impact ionization


id: harvard-collection-of-historical-scientific-instruments-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Collection_of_Historical_Scientific_Instruments-0.md
category: reference
title: Harvard Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Collection_of_Historical_Scientific_Instruments
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:34.146067+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: harvard-collection-of-historical-scientific-instruments-20260505-0
summary:
Harvard University's Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments (CHSI), established 1948, is "one of the three largest university collections of its kind in the world". Waywiser, the online catalog of the collection, lists over 60% of the collection's 20,000 objects as of 2014. The collection was originally curated by Mr. David P Wheatland in his office to prevent obsolete equipment from being cannibalized for its component parts and materials. == Physical facilities == A selection of instruments and artifacts from the collection comprise the exhibition Time, Life, & Matter: Science in Cambridge. This permanent display can be found in the Putnam Gallery on the first floor of the Harvard Science Center, which is free and open to the public during regularly scheduled hours, Sunday through Friday. In addition, rotating collaborative exhibitions drawn in part from the collection are shown in the Special Exhibitions Gallery on the second floor, as well as the more modest Foyer Gallery on the third floor. The physical facilities in the Science Center were expanded in 2004, by replacing a one-story wing of the building with a four-story "townhouse"-style structure with offices, classrooms, and a fully-glazed internal stairway. The new wing houses the Department of the History


id: helios-dust-instrumentation-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Dust_Instrumentation-0.md
category: reference
title: Helios Dust Instrumentation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Dust_Instrumentation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:35.304459+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: helios-dust-instrumentation-20260505-0
summary:
The Helios 1 and 2 spacecraft each carried two dust instruments to characterize the Zodiacal dust cloud inside the Earth’s orbit down to spacecraft positions 0.3 AU from the sun. The Zodiacal light instrument measured the brightness of light scattered by interplanetary dust along the line of sight. The in situ Micrometeoroid analyzer recorded impacts of meteoroids onto the sensitive detector surface and characterized their composition. The instruments delivered radial profiles of their measured data. Comet or meteoroid streams, and even interstellar dust were identified in the data. == Overview == The two Helios spacecraft were the result of a joint venture of West Germany's space agency DLR and NASA. The spacecraft were built in Germany and launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Helios 1 was launched in December 1974 onto an elliptic orbit between 1 and 0.31 au. Helios 2 followed in January 1976 and reached 0.29 au perihelion distance. The orbital periods were about 6 months. The Helios spacecraft were spinning with the spin axis perpendicular to the ecliptic plane. The Helios 1 spin axis pointed to ecliptic north whereas the Helios 2 orientation was inverted and the spin axis pointed to ecliptic south. The despun


id: helios-dust-instrumentation-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Dust_Instrumentation-1.md
category: reference
title: Helios Dust Instrumentation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Dust_Instrumentation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:35.304459+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: helios-dust-instrumentation-20260505-0
summary:
The South sensor was shielded by the spacecraft rim from direct sun light, whereas the ecliptic sensor was directly exposed to the intense solar radiation (up to 13 kW/m2). Therefore, the interior of the sensor was protected by a 0.3 μm thick aluminized parylene film which was attached to the first entrance grid. In order to study the effect of micrometeoroids penetrating the film, extensive dust accelerator studies with various materials were performed. It was shown that the penetration limit of the Helios film depends strongly on the density of meteoroids. Impact experiments with a lab version of the Helios micrometeoroid sensor were performed using several materials at the accelerators at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg and at the Ames Research Center, ARC, in Moffet Field. The projectile materials included iron (Fe), quartz, glass, aluminium (Al), aluminium oxide (Al2O3), polystyrene, and kaolin. The mass resolution of the mass spectra of the Helios sensors was low R = M Δ M ∼ 10 {\displaystyle R={\cfrac {M}{\Delta M}}\sim 10} , i.e. only ions of atomic mass 10 Da could be separated from ions of mass 11 Da. These mass spectra served as reference for the spectra obtained in


id: holotomography-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holotomography-0.md
category: reference
title: Holotomography
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holotomography
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:36.590644+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: holotomography-20260505-0
summary:
Holotomography (HT) is a laser technique to measure the three-dimensional refractive index (RI) tomogram of a microscopic sample such as biological cells and tissues. Because the RI can serve as an intrinsic imaging contrast for transparent or phase objects, measurements of RI tomograms can provide label-free quantitative imaging of microscopic phase objects. In order to measure 3-D RI tomogram of samples, HT employs the principle of holographic imaging and inverse scattering. Typically, multiple 2D holographic images of a sample are measured at various illumination angles, employing the principle of interferometric imaging. Then, a 3D RI tomogram of the sample is reconstructed from these multiple 2D holographic images by inversely solving light scattering in the sample. == History == The first theoretical proposal was presented by Emil Wolf, and the first experimental demonstration was shown by Fercher et al. From 2000s, HT techniques had been extensively studied and applied to the field of biology and medicine, by several research groups including the MIT spectroscopy laboratory. Both the technical developments and applications of HT have been significantly advanced. In 2012 the first commercial HT company Nanolive was founded, later followed by Tomocube in 2014. == Principles == The principle of HT is


id: kymograph-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kymograph-0.md
category: reference
title: Kymograph
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kymograph
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:37.719870+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: kymograph-20260505-0
summary:
A kymograph (from Greek κῦμα, swell or wave + γραφή, writing; also called a kymographion) is a type of two-dimensional plot that represents spatial position or signal intensity over time. In its modern usage, a kymograph is typically a space–time plot used in fields such as microscopy, cell biology, and speech science to track dynamic processes. These plots are generated by extracting intensity values along a predefined path across sequential image frames. The resulting image reduces the dimension to show time on one axis and sequential spatial information on the other. Using this technique allows for the visualization of dynamics within the image sequence, often by measuring the resulting slope of lines or streaks. This allows researchers to quantify velocity and directionality of movement, especially in applications like mitochondrial transport, vesicle trafficking, or vocal fold vibration. Although they reduce spatial information to a one-dimensional line, kymographs offer high temporal resolution and are often used alongside or in place of particle tracking techniques. == Kymograph device == A kymograph is also an analog device that draws a graphical representation of spatial position over time. The graphical representation is a graph in which the y axis shows position and the x axis


id: liulin-type-instruments-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liulin_type_instruments-0.md
category: reference
title: Liulin type instruments
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liulin_type_instruments
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:38.879418+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: liulin-type-instruments-20260505-0
summary:
Liulin-type is a class of spectrometry-dosimetry instruments. The instruments are specific types of semiconductor-based ionizing radiation sensors that are capable of measuring the deposited energy of the particle in silicon PIN diode and also the flux of particles. The measured data output is then a time series of spectral intensity. The data about mixed field radiation (usually the secondary cosmic rays) is then used to calculate radiation dose relevant to the specific mission e.g. for a crew or aerospace equipment. The main advantages of this type of ionizing radiation detector compared to classical setups with scintillators are a significant reduction in weight, and size together with extremely low power consumption. == History == The first Liulin device was developed in 1986–1988 time period for the scientific program of the second Bulgarian cosmonaut for the flight on MIR space station. After the MIR station deorbit similar experiments with revised versions of detectors continue on ISS. Since the beginning of 2015, open-source hardware detectors based on the same technology called SPACEDOS have been developed. Then the SPACEDOS instruments in different variants are used on board ISS parallel to Liulin dosimeters. == Principle of function == All Liulin type dosimetric instruments use one


id: mass-spectrometry-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry-0.md
category: reference
title: Mass spectrometry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:40.120732+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mass-spectrometry-20260505-0
summary:
Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are presented as a mass spectrum, a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is used in many different fields and is applied to pure samples as well as complex mixtures. A mass spectrum is a type of plot of the ion signal as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. These spectra are used to determine the elemental or isotopic signature of a sample, the masses of particles and of molecules, and to elucidate the chemical identity or structure of molecules and other chemical compounds. In a typical MS procedure, a sample, which may be solid, liquid, or gaseous, is ionized, for example by bombarding it with a beam of electrons. This may cause some of the sample's molecules to break up into positively charged fragments or simply become positively charged without fragmenting. These ions (fragments) are then separated according to their mass-to-charge ratio, for example by accelerating them and subjecting them to an electric or magnetic field: ions of the same mass-to-charge ratio will undergo the same amount of deflection. The ions are detected by


id: mass-spectrometry-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry-1.md
category: reference
title: Mass spectrometry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:40.120732+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mass-spectrometry-20260505-0
summary:
=== Theoretical example === The following describes the operation of a spectrometer mass analyzer, which is of the sector type. (Other analyzer types are treated below.) Consider a sample of sodium chloride (table salt). In the ion source, the sample is vaporized (turned into gas) and ionized (transformed into electrically charged particles) into sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl−) ions. Sodium atoms and ions are monoisotopic, with a mass of about 23 daltons (symbol: Da or older symbol: u). Chloride atoms and ions come in two stable isotopes with masses of approximately 35 u (at a natural abundance of about 75 percent) and approximately 37 u (at a natural abundance of about 25 percent). The analyzer part of the spectrometer contains electric and magnetic fields, which exert forces on ions traveling through these fields. The speed of a charged particle may be increased or decreased while passing through the electric field, and its direction may be altered by the magnetic field. The magnitude of the deflection of the moving ion's trajectory depends on its mass-to-charge ratio. Lighter ions are deflected by the magnetic force to a greater degree than heavier ions (based on Newton's second law of motion, F = ma).


id: mass-spectrometry-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry-2.md
category: reference
title: Mass spectrometry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:40.120732+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mass-spectrometry-20260505-0
summary:
== Mass selection == Mass analyzers separate the ions according to their mass-to-charge ratio. The following two laws govern the dynamics of charged particles in electric and magnetic fields in vacuum: F = Q ( E + v × B ) {\displaystyle \mathbf {F} =Q(\mathbf {E} +\mathbf {v} \times \mathbf {B} )} (Lorentz force law); F = m a {\displaystyle \mathbf {F} =m\mathbf {a} } (Newton's second law of motion in the non-relativistic case, i.e. valid only at ion velocity much lower than the speed of light). Here F is the force applied to the ion, m is the mass of the ion, a is the acceleration, Q is the ion charge, E is the electric field, and v × B is the vector cross product of the ion velocity and the magnetic field Equating the above expressions for the force applied to the ion yields: ( m / Q ) a = E + v × B . {\displaystyle (m/Q)\mathbf {a} =\mathbf {E} +\mathbf {v} \times \mathbf {B} .} This differential equation is the classic equation of motion for charged particles. Together with the particle's initial conditions, it completely determines the particle's motion in space and time in terms


id: mass-spectrometry-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry-3.md
category: reference
title: Mass spectrometry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:40.120732+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mass-spectrometry-20260505-0
summary:
The quadrupole ion trap works on the same physical principles as the quadrupole mass analyzer, but the ions are trapped and sequentially ejected. Ions are trapped in a mainly quadrupole RF field, in a space defined by a ring electrode (usually connected to the main RF potential) between two endcap electrodes (typically connected to DC or auxiliary AC potentials). The sample is ionized either internally (e.g. with an electron or laser beam), or externally, in which case the ions are often introduced through an aperture in an endcap electrode. There are many mass/charge separation and isolation methods but the most commonly used is the mass instability mode in which the RF potential is ramped so that the orbit of ions with a mass a > b are stable while ions with mass b become unstable and are ejected on the z-axis onto a detector. There are also non-destructive analysis methods. Ions may also be ejected by the resonance excitation method, whereby a supplemental oscillatory excitation voltage is applied to the endcap electrodes, and the trapping voltage amplitude and/or excitation voltage frequency is varied to bring ions into a resonance condition in order of their mass/charge ratio. ==== Cylindrical ion trap


id: mass-spectrometry-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry-4.md
category: reference
title: Mass spectrometry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:40.120732+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mass-spectrometry-20260505-0
summary:
A tandem mass spectrometer is one capable of multiple rounds of mass spectrometry, usually separated by some form of molecule fragmentation. For example, one mass analyzer can isolate one peptide from many entering a mass spectrometer. A collision cell then stabilizes the peptide ions while they collide with a gas, causing them to fragment by collision-induced dissociation (CID). A further mass analyzer then sorts the fragments produced from the peptides. Tandem MS can also be done in a single mass analyzer over time, as in a quadrupole ion trap. There are various methods for fragmenting molecules for tandem MS, including collision-induced dissociation (CID), electron capture dissociation (ECD), electron transfer dissociation (ETD), infrared multiphoton dissociation (IRMPD), blackbody infrared radiative dissociation (BIRD), electron-detachment dissociation (EDD) and surface-induced dissociation (SID). An important application using tandem mass spectrometry is in protein identification. Tandem mass spectrometry enables a variety of experimental sequences. Many commercial mass spectrometers are designed to expedite the execution of such routine sequences as selected reaction monitoring (SRM), precursor ion scanning, product ion scanning, and neutral loss scanning. In SRM, the first analyzer allows only a single mass through and the second analyzer monitors for multiple user-defined fragment ions over longer dwell-times


id: mass-spectrometry-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry-5.md
category: reference
title: Mass spectrometry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:40.120732+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mass-spectrometry-20260505-0
summary:
Ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry (IMS/MS or IMMS) is a technique where ions are first separated by drift time through some neutral gas under an applied electrical potential gradient before being introduced into a mass spectrometer. Drift time is a measure of the collisional cross section relative to the charge of the ion. The duty cycle of IMS (the time over which the experiment takes place) is longer than most mass spectrometric techniques, such that the mass spectrometer can sample along the course of the IMS separation. This produces data about the IMS separation and the mass-to-charge ratio of the ions in a manner similar to LC-MS. The duty cycle of IMS is short relative to liquid chromatography or gas chromatography separations and can thus be coupled to such techniques, producing triple modalities such as LC/IMS/MS. == Data and analysis == === Data representations === Mass spectrometry produces various types of data. The most common data representation is the mass spectrum. Certain types of mass spectrometry data are best represented as a mass chromatogram. Types of chromatograms include selected ion monitoring (SIM), total ion current (TIC), and selected reaction monitoring (SRM), among many others. Other types of mass spectrometry data are


id: mass-spectrometry-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry-6.md
category: reference
title: Mass spectrometry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:40.120732+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mass-spectrometry-20260505-0
summary:
Mass spectrometry has both qualitative and quantitative uses. These include identifying unknown compounds, determining the isotopic composition of elements in a molecule, and determining the structure of a compound by observing its fragmentation. Other uses include quantifying the amount of a compound in a sample or studying the fundamentals of gas phase ion chemistry (the chemistry of ions and neutrals in a vacuum). MS is now commonly used in analytical laboratories that study physical, chemical, or biological properties of a great variety of compounds. Quantification can be relative (analyzed relative to a reference sample) or absolute (analyzed using a standard curve method). As an analytical technique it possesses distinct advantages such as: Increased sensitivity over most other analytical techniques because the analyzer, as a mass-charge filter, reduces background interference, Excellent specificity from characteristic fragmentation patterns to identify unknowns or confirm the presence of suspected compounds, Information about molecular weight, Information about the isotopic abundance of elements, Temporally resolved chemical data. A few of the disadvantages of the method is that it often fails to distinguish between optical and geometrical isomers and the positions of substituent in o-, m- and p- positions in an aromatic ring. Also, its scope is limited


id: mass-spectrometry-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry-7.md
category: reference
title: Mass spectrometry
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:40.120732+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mass-spectrometry-20260505-0
summary:
Mass spectrometry is an important method for the characterization and sequencing of proteins. The two primary methods for ionization of whole proteins are electrospray ionization (ESI) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI). In keeping with the performance and mass range of available mass spectrometers, two approaches are used for characterizing proteins. In the first, intact proteins are ionized by either of the two techniques described above, and then introduced to a mass analyzer. This approach is referred to as "top-down" strategy of protein analysis. The top-down approach however is largely limited to low-throughput single-protein studies. In the second, proteins are enzymatically digested into smaller peptides using proteases such as trypsin or pepsin, either in solution or in gel after electrophoretic separation. Other proteolytic agents are also used. The collection of peptide products are often separated by chromatography prior to introduction to the mass analyzer. When the characteristic pattern of peptides is used for the identification of the protein the method is called peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF), if the identification is performed using the sequence data determined in tandem MS analysis it is called de novo peptide sequencing. These procedures of protein analysis are also referred to as the "bottom-up" approach, and


id: mems-testing-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MEMS_testing-0.md
category: reference
title: MEMS testing
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MEMS_testing
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:41.384582+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mems-testing-20260505-0
summary:
MEMS testing is one of the processes in the development of a MEMS device. It is a collection of testing methods such as electrical, mechanical and environment tests. == Motivation == When looking at the electronic market it becomes obvious, as there is a need for production output, high system performance, product reliability and long lifecycle, for MEMS to create trust in the eyes of customers. If those conditions would not be met customers would not invest into technologies using MEMS, which justifies the need for testing as a part of a high quality standard. Testing is also fairly important from an economical point of view. As it is said that the failure cost increase by a factor of ten for each stage before it gets discovered. Most MEMS producers check their products at two distinct stages(at the wafer level, and the packaging), as well as random sampling on every stage. If one includes this into cost calculation for a MEMS device the costs for testing amounts to 20-50% of the overall unit costs. Even when looking at producers that manufacture MEMS, and CMOS devices it is not really possible to reduce the costs by including the economy of scopes


id: microscope-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microscope-0.md
category: reference
title: Microscope
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microscope
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:42.889417+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: microscope-20260505-0
summary:
A microscope (from Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós) 'small' and σκοπέω (skopéō) 'to look (at); examine, inspect') is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisible to the eye unless aided by a microscope. There are many types of microscopes, and they may be grouped in different ways. One way is to describe the method an instrument uses to interact with a sample and produce images, either by sending a beam of light or electrons through a sample in its optical path, by detecting photon emissions from a sample, or by scanning across and a short distance from the surface of a sample using a probe. The most common microscope (and the first to be invented) is the optical microscope, which uses lenses to refract visible light that passed through a thinly sectioned sample to produce an observable image. Other major types of microscopes are the fluorescence microscope, electron microscope (both the transmission electron microscope and the scanning electron microscope) and various types of scanning probe microscopes. == History == Although objects resembling lenses


id: microscope-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microscope-1.md
category: reference
title: Microscope
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microscope
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:42.889417+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: microscope-20260505-0
summary:
In the early 20th century a significant alternative to the light microscope was developed, an instrument that uses a beam of electrons rather than light to generate an image. The German physicist, Ernst Ruska, working with electrical engineer Max Knoll, developed the first prototype electron microscope in 1931, a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The transmission electron microscope works on similar principles to an optical microscope but uses electrons in the place of light and electromagnets in the place of glass lenses. Use of electrons, instead of light, allows for much higher resolution. Development of the transmission electron microscope was quickly followed in 1935 by the development of the scanning electron microscope by Max Knoll. Although TEMs were being used for research before WWII, and became popular afterwards, the SEM was not commercially available until 1965. Transmission electron microscopes became popular following the Second World War. Ernst Ruska, working at Siemens, developed the first commercial transmission electron microscope and, in the 1950s, major scientific conferences on electron microscopy started being held. In 1965, the first commercial scanning electron microscope was developed by Professor Sir Charles Oatley and his postgraduate student Gary Stewart, and marketed by the Cambridge Instrument Company as the


id: microscope-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microscope-2.md
category: reference
title: Microscope
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microscope
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:42.889417+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: microscope-20260505-0
summary:
Microscopes can be separated into several different classes. One grouping is based on what interacts with the sample to generate the image, i.e., light or photons (optical microscopes), electrons (electron microscopes) or a probe (scanning probe microscopes). Alternatively, microscopes can be classified based on whether they analyze the sample via a scanning point (confocal optical microscopes, scanning electron microscopes and scanning probe microscopes) or analyze the sample all at once (wide field optical microscopes and transmission electron microscopes). Wide field optical microscopes and transmission electron microscopes both use the theory of lenses (optics for light microscopes and electromagnet lenses for electron microscopes) in order to magnify the image generated by the passage of a wave transmitted through the sample, or reflected by the sample. The waves used are electromagnetic (in optical microscopes) or electron beams (in electron microscopes). Resolution in these microscopes is limited by the wavelength of the radiation used to image the sample, where shorter wavelengths allow for a higher resolution. Scanning optical and electron microscopes, like the confocal microscope and scanning electron microscope, use lenses to focus a spot of light or electrons onto the sample then analyze the signals generated by the beam interacting with the


id: microscope-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microscope-3.md
category: reference
title: Microscope
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microscope
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:42.889417+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: microscope-20260505-0
summary:
The different types of scanning probe microscopes arise from the many different types of interactions that occur when a small probe is scanned over and interacts with a specimen. These interactions or modes can be recorded or mapped as function of location on the surface to form a characterization map. The three most common types of scanning probe microscopes are atomic force microscopes (AFM), near-field scanning optical microscopes (NSOM or SNOM, scanning near-field optical microscopy), and scanning tunneling microscopes (STM). An atomic force microscope has a fine probe, usually of silicon or silicon nitride, attached to a cantilever; the probe is scanned over the surface of the sample, and the forces that cause an interaction between the probe and the surface of the sample are measured and mapped. A near-field scanning optical microscope is similar to an AFM but its probe consists of a light source in an optical fiber covered with a tip that has usually an aperture for the light to pass through. The microscope can capture either transmitted or reflected light to measure very localized optical properties of the surface, commonly of a biological specimen. Scanning tunneling microscopes have a metal tip with a single apical atom;


id: multi-component-gas-analyzer-system-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-component_gas_analyzer_system-0.md
category: reference
title: Multi-component gas analyzer system
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-component_gas_analyzer_system
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:44.079761+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: multi-component-gas-analyzer-system-20260505-0
summary:
A multi-component gas analyzer system (Multi-GAS) is an instrument package used to take real-time high-resolution measurements of volcanic gases. A Multi-GAS package includes an infrared spectrometer for CO2, two electrochemical sensors for SO2 and H2S, and pressure–temperature–humidity sensors, all in a weatherproof box. The system can be used for individual surveys or set up as permanent stations connected to radio transmitters for transmission of data from remote locations. The instrument package is portable, and its operation and data analysis are simple enough to be conducted by non-specialists. Multi-GAS instruments have been used to measure volcanic gases at Mount Etna, Stromboli, Vulcano Italy, Villarrica (volcano) Chile, Masaya Volcano Nicaragua, Mount Yasur, Miyake-jima and Mount Asama Japan, Soufrière Hills Montserrat, with permanent installations at Etna and Stromboli. The development of this instrument has helped scientists to monitor real-time changes in volcanic gas composition, allowing for more rapid hazard mitigation and an enhanced understanding of volcano processes. == System mechanics == Multi-component gas analyzer systems are used for measuring the major components of volcanic gases. CO2, SO2, H2S, and pressure-temperature-humidity sensors are typically included in a package. Other electrochemical sensors have been successfully incorporated as well, including for H2 and HCl. The instruments


id: multi-parametric-surface-plasmon-resonance-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-parametric_surface_plasmon_resonance-0.md
category: reference
title: Multi-parametric surface plasmon resonance
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-parametric_surface_plasmon_resonance
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:49.213490+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: multi-parametric-surface-plasmon-resonance-20260505-0
summary:
Multi-parametric surface plasmon resonance (MP-SPR) is based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR), an established real-time label-free method for biomolecular interaction analysis, but it uses a different optical setup, a goniometric SPR configuration. While MP-SPR provides same kinetic information as SPR (equilibrium constant, dissociation constant, association constant), it provides also structural information (refractive index, layer thickness). Hence, MP-SPR measures both surface interactions and nanolayer properties. == History == The goniometric SPR method was researched alongside focused beam SPR and Otto configurations at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland since 1980s by Janusz Sadowski. The goniometric SPR optics was commercialized by Biofons Oy for use in point-of-care applications. Introduction of additional measurement laser wavelengths and first thin film analyses were performed in 2011 giving way to MP-SPR method. == Principle == The MP-SPR optical setup measures at multiple wavelengths simultaneously (similarly to spectroscopic SPR), but instead of measuring at a fixed angle, it rather scans across a wide range of θ angles (for instance 40 degrees). This results in measurements of full SPR curves at multiple wavelengths providing additional information about structure and dynamic conformation of the film. == Measured values == The measured full SPR curves (x-axis: angle, y-axis: reflected light


id: ozone-monitoring-instrument-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_monitoring_instrument-0.md
category: reference
title: Ozone monitoring instrument
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_monitoring_instrument
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:50.471413+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ozone-monitoring-instrument-20260505-0
summary:
The ozone monitoring instrument (OMI) is a nadir-viewing visual and ultraviolet spectrometer aboard the NASA Aura spacecraft, which is part of the satellite constellation A-Train. In this group of satellites Aura flies in formation about 15 minutes behind Aqua satellite, both of which orbit the Earth in a polar Sun-synchronous pattern, and which provides nearly global coverage in one day. Aura satellite was launched on July 15, 2004, and OMI has collected data since August 9, 2004. From a technical point of view, OMI instrument use hyperspectral imaging to observe solar-backscatter radiation to the space with an spectral range that covers the visible and ultraviolet. Its spectral capabilities were designed to achieve specific requirements of total ozone amounts retrievals in terms of accuracy and precision. Also its characteristics provide accurate radiometric and wavelength self calibration over the long-term project requirements. == OMI project == The OMI project is a cooperation between the Netherlands Agency for Aerospace Programmes (NIVR), the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) and the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA). The OMI project was carried out under the direction of the NIVR and financed by the Dutch Ministries of Economic Affairs, Transport and Public Works and the Ministry of


id: ozone-monitoring-instrument-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_monitoring_instrument-1.md
category: reference
title: Ozone monitoring instrument
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_monitoring_instrument
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:50.471413+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ozone-monitoring-instrument-20260505-0
summary:
== Scientific relevance == The OMI project has been monitoring the atmospheric composition and providing measurements widely used in the field of atmospheric chemistry research. The fact that it has been operational for more than a decade makes it also useful for trend monitoring. The reference describing the first 14 years of the OMI details the research data products provided by NASA, KNMI, FMI and SAO, also according to these authors, beyond the initial goals, OMI has been important due the high-resolution NO2 and SO2 measurements (OMI is the first instrument that is able to obtain daily global coverage combined with such spatial resolution), and the fact that top-down studies allowed for source attribution analyses. === Awards === The International Team of the Ozone Monitoring Instrument has received several awards for its contributions to a better understanding of the Earth system: USGS 2018 Pecora Award The Pecora award is annual to recognize individuals or teams using remote sensing in the field of Earth Science. It consider not only the scientific role but also its role informing decision makers and supporting natural or human-induced disaster responses. 2021 AMS Special Award A broad description of this award to OMI International Team is


id: particle-mass-analyser-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_mass_analyser-0.md
category: reference
title: Particle mass analyser
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_mass_analyser
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:51.616151+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: particle-mass-analyser-20260505-0
summary:
A Particle mass analyser (PMA) is an instrument for classifying aerosol particles according to their mass-to-charge ratio using opposing electrical and centrifugal forces. This allows the classifier to select particles of a specified mass-to-charge ratio independent of particle shape. It one of the three types of monodisperse aerosol classifier, the others being the differential mobility analyser (DMA, for electrical mobility size), and the aerodynamic aerosol classifier (AAC, for relaxation time, or aerodynamic diameter). The corresponding three quantities are related by the expression τ = mB, where τ is relaxation time, m is mass and B is mobility. Further work improved the technique by engineering the centrifugal force to match the electrostatic force across the whole classification region, thus increasing the throughput. == References ==


id: ph-meter-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH_meter-0.md
category: reference
title: PH meter
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH_meter
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:52.723754+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ph-meter-20260505-0
summary:
A pH meter is a scientific instrument that measures the hydrogen-ion activity in water-based solutions, indicating its acidity or alkalinity expressed as pH. The pH meter measures the difference in electrical potential between a pH electrode and a reference electrode, and so the pH meter is sometimes referred to as a "potentiometric pH meter". The difference in electrical potential relates to the acidity or pH of the solution. Testing of pH via pH meters (pH-metry) is used in many applications ranging from laboratory experimentation to quality control. == Applications == The rate and outcome of chemical reactions taking place in water often depends on the acidity of the water, and it is therefore useful to know the acidity of the water, typically measured by means of a pH meter. Knowledge of pH is useful or critical in many situations, including chemical laboratory analyses. pH meters are used for soil measurements in agriculture, water quality for municipal water supplies, swimming pools, environmental remediation; brewing of wine or beer; manufacturing, healthcare and clinical applications such as blood chemistry; and many other applications. Advances in the instrumentation and in detection have expanded the number of applications in which pH measurements can be conducted.


id: ph-meter-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH_meter-1.md
category: reference
title: PH meter
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH_meter
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:52.723754+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ph-meter-20260505-0
summary:
=== pH electrode and reference electrode design === Details of the fabrication and resulting microstructure of the glass membrane of the pH electrode are maintained as trade secrets by the manufacturers. However, certain aspects of design are published. Glass is a solid electrolyte, for which alkali-metal ions can carry current. The pH-sensitive glass membrane is generally spherical to simplify the manufacture of a uniform membrane. These membranes are up to 0.4 millimeters in thickness, thicker than original designs, so as to render the probes durable. The glass has silicate chemical functionality on its surface, which provides binding sites for alkali-metal ions and hydrogen ions from the solutions. This provides an ion-exchange capacity in the range of 10−6 to 10−8 mol/cm2. Selectivity for hydrogen ions (H+) arises from a balance of ionic charge, volume requirements versus other ions, and the coordination number of other ions. Electrode manufacturers have developed compositions that suitably balance these factors, most notably lithium glass. The silver chloride electrode is most commonly used as a reference electrode in pH meters, although some designs use the saturated calomel electrode. The silver chloride electrode is simple to manufacture and provides high reproducibility. The reference electrode usually consists of a


id: ph-meter-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH_meter-2.md
category: reference
title: PH meter
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH_meter
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:52.723754+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ph-meter-20260505-0
summary:
The concept of pH was defined in 1909 by S. P. L. Sørensen, and electrodes were used for pH measurement in the 1920s. In October 1934, Arnold Orville Beckman registered the first patent for a complete chemical instrument for the measurement of pH, U.S. Patent No. 2,058,761, for his "acidimeter", later renamed the pH meter. Beckman developed the prototype as an assistant professor of chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, when asked to devise a quick and accurate method for measuring the acidity of lemon juice for the California Fruit Growers Exchange (Sunkist). On April 8, 1935, Beckman's renamed National Technical Laboratories focused on the manufacture of scientific instruments, with the Arthur H. Thomas Company as a distributor for its pH meter. In its first full year of sales, 1936, the company sold 444 pH meters for $60,000 in sales. In years to come, the company sold millions of the units. In 2004 the Beckman pH meter was designated an ACS National Historic Chemical Landmark in recognition of its significance as the first commercially successful electronic pH meter. The Radiometer Corporation of Denmark was founded in 1935, and began marketing a pH meter for medical use around 1936, but


id: polarograph-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarograph-0.md
category: reference
title: Polarograph
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarograph
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:53.941468+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: polarograph-20260505-0
summary:
A Polarograph is a chemical analysis instrument used to record automatic voltage-intensity curves. The Polarograph uses an electrolytic cell consisting of an electrode or microelectrode small area, generally of the mercury drop type, which is a very fine capillary tube through which mercury flows slowly, which comes in the form of small droplets, which fall on the same surface of a much broader element, which is the other electrode . When one applies a variable voltage in this cell, the electrode's large area remains unchanged, while the microelectrode undergoes a change of potential, ( i.e. is polarized). It also has a potentiometer coupled to the motor that moves the recording paper so that a certain voltage variation corresponds to a constant length of recording paper, and a galvanometer suitable for measuring the intensity of the electric current, whose response is transmitted to the actuator that moves the needle of the recorder. The technique used is called polarography. The Czech chemist and Nobel Prize winner Jaroslav Heyrovský invented it. == References ==


id: post-office-box-electricity-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_office_box_(electricity)-0.md
category: reference
title: Post office box (electricity)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_office_box_(electricity)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:55.080704+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: post-office-box-electricity-20260505-0
summary:
The post office box was a Wheatstone bridge–style testing device with pegs and spring arms to close electrical circuits and measure properties of the circuit under test. == Resistance measurement == The boxes were used in the United Kingdom by engineers from then General Post Office, who were responsible for UK telecommunications to trace electrical faults, i.e. to determine where a break occurred in a cable which could be several miles in length. It works on the principle of Wheatstone bridge to identify the resistance of wire connected and then by using wire resistivity and cross section calculating length of wire and thus determining where the cable had broken. Post office boxes were common pieces of scientific apparatus in the UK O-Level and A-Level schools public examination physics syllabus in the 1960s. == Construction == A typical post office box is in a wooden box with a hinged lid and a metal or bakelite panel showing circuit connections. Coils of wire are wound non-inductively, mounted in the body of the box, and have a negligible temperature coefficient. Pairs of ratio arms are each 5 10 20 ohms. Resistance arms contains a number of coils from 1 to 5000 ohms with


id: pqube-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PQube-0.md
category: reference
title: PQube
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PQube
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:56.285812+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: pqube-20260505-0
summary:
PQube is a registered trademark of Power Standards Lab for an electronic measuring instrument that records power quality and electric energy on the electric power grid. == Applications == PQube instruments are widely used to gather data for academic research, and at United States Department of Energy National Laboratories and state energy regulators. U.S. federal government agencies use PQubes to detect power quality issues – for example, the Federal Aviation Administration tracks disturbances at radar control centers. Each PQube instrument is traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, so often these instruments are used in international academic and research environments. PQubes are a key element in many smart grid projects, recording power disturbance and power flow data to examine efficiency and reliability effects. == Information on the Web == Approximately 50 PQubes, located in approximately 40 countries, have been designated by their owners as free public sources of information at http://map.pqube.com . The site is updated approximately every 2 minutes with worldwide power quality and energy recordings. Data from these PQubes can be used, for example, for developing and testing power quality algorithms. Available data include daily, weekly, and monthly files in GIF and Microsoft Excel CSV format.


id: probe-tip-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probe_tip-0.md
category: reference
title: Probe tip
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probe_tip
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:57.526681+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: probe-tip-20260505-0
summary:
A probe tip is an instrument used in scanning probe microscopes (SPMs) to scan the surface of a sample and make nano-scale images of surfaces and structures. The probe tip is mounted on the end of a cantilever and can be as sharp as a single atom. In microscopy, probe tip geometry (length, width, shape, aspect ratio, and tip apex radius) and the composition (material properties) of both the tip and the surface being probed directly affect resolution and imaging quality. Tip size and shape are extremely important in monitoring and detecting interactions between surfaces. SPMs can precisely measure electrostatic forces, magnetic forces, chemical bonding, Van der Waals forces, and capillary forces. SPMs can also reveal the morphology and topography of a surface. The use of probe-based tools began with the invention of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), collectively called scanning probe microscopy (SPM) by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer at the IBM Zurich research laboratory in 1982. It opened a new era for probing the nano-scale world of individual atoms and molecules as well as studying surface science, due to their unprecedented capability to characterize the mechanical, chemical, magnetic, and optical functionalities of various samples


id: probe-tip-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probe_tip-1.md
category: reference
title: Probe tip
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probe_tip
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:57.526681+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: probe-tip-20260505-0
summary:
=== Non-conductive probe tip === Non-conductive nanoscale tips are widely used for AFM measurements. For non-conducting tip, surface forces acting on the tip/cantilever are responsible for deflection or attraction of tip. These attractive or repulsive forces are used for surface topology, chemical specifications, magnetic and electronic properties. The distance-dependent forces between substrate surface and tip are responsible for imaging in AFM. These interactions include van der Waals forces, capillary forces, electrostatic forces, Casimir forces, and solvation forces. One unique repulsion force is Pauli Exclusion repulsive force, which is responsible for single-atom imaging as in references and Figures 10 & 11 (contact region in Fig. 1). == Fabrication methods == Tip fabrication techniques fall into two broad classifications, mechanical and physicochemical. In the early stage of the development of probe tips, mechanical procedures were popular because of the ease of fabrication. === Mechanical methods === Reported mechanical methods in fabricating tips include cutting, grinding, and pulling.; an example would be cutting a wire at certain angles with a razor blade, wire cutter, or scissors. Another mechanical method for tip preparation is fragmentation of bulk pieces into small pointy pieces. Grinding a metal wire or rod into a sharp tip was also


id: probe-tip-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probe_tip-2.md
category: reference
title: Probe tip
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probe_tip
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:57.526681+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: probe-tip-20260505-0
summary:
==== Lamella method ==== In the double lamella method, the lower part of the metal is etched away, and the upper part of the tip is not etched further. Further etching of the upper part of the wire is prevented by covering it with a polymer coating. This method is usually limited to laboratory fabrication. The double lamella method schematic is shown in Fig. 5. === Single atom tip preparation === Transitional metals like Cu, Au and Ag adsorb single molecules linearly on their surface due to weak van der Waals forces. This linear projection of single molecules allows interactions of the terminal atoms of the tip with the atoms of the substrate, resulting in Pauli repulsion for single molecule or atom mapping studies. Gaseous deposition on the tip is carried out in an ultrahigh vacuum (5 × 10−8 mbar) chamber at a low temperature (10K). Depositions of Xe, Kr, NO, CH4 or CO on tip have been successfully prepared and used for imaging studies. However, these tips preparations rely on the attachment of single atoms or molecules on the tip and the resulting atomic structure of the tip is not known exactly. The probability of attachment of simple molecules


id: probe-tip-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probe_tip-3.md
category: reference
title: Probe tip
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probe_tip
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:57.526681+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: probe-tip-20260505-0
summary:
== Coating == The surface of silicon-based tips cannot be easily controlled because they usually carry the silanol group. The Si surface is hydrophilic and can be contaminated easily by the environment. Another disadvantage of Si tips is the wear and tear of the tip. It is important to coat the Si tip to prevent tip deterioration, and the tip coating may also enhance image quality. To coat a tip, an adhesive layer is pasted (usually chromium layer on 5 nm thick titanium) and then gold is deposited by vapor deposition (40-100 nm or less). Sometimes, the coating layer reduces the tunnelling current detection capability of probe tips. == Characterization == The most important aspect of a probe tip is imaging the surfaces efficiently at nanometre dimensions. Some concerns involving credibility of the imaging or measurement of the sample arise when the shape of the tip is not determined accurately. For example, when an unknown tip is used to measure a linewidth pattern or other high aspect ratio feature of a surface, there may remain some confusion when determining the contribution of the tip and of the sample in the acquired image. Consequently, it is important to fully and accurately


id: probe-tip-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probe_tip-4.md
category: reference
title: Probe tip
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probe_tip
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:57.526681+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: probe-tip-20260505-0
summary:
Imaging tip using microscopy is used to take image of tip with microscopy, except scanning probe microscopy (SPM) e.g. scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) are reported. Using known tip characterizer is when the shape of tip is deduced by taking an image of a sample of known measurement, which is known as tip characterizer. Blind method is where tip characterizer of either known or unknown measurement is used. == Applications == Probes tips have a wide variety of applications in different fields of science and technology. One of the major areas where probe tips are used is for application in SPM i.e., STM and AFM. For example, carbon nanotube tips in conjunction with AFM provides an excellent tool for surface characterization in the nanometer realm. CNT tips are also used in tapping-mode Scanning Force Microscopy (SFM), which is a technique where a tip taps a surface by a cantilever driven near resonant frequency of the cantilever. The CNT probe tips fabricated using CVD technique can be used for imaging of biological macromolecules, semiconductor and chemical structure. For example, it is possible to obtain an intermittent AFM contact image of IgM macromolecules with excellent resolution using a single


id: rheoscope-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheoscope-0.md
category: reference
title: Rheoscope
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheoscope
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:41:58.841941+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: rheoscope-20260505-0
summary:
In fluid mechanics (specifically rheology), a rheoscope is an instrument for detecting or measuring the viscosity of a fluid. In the study of blood flow, a rheoscope is used to observe and measure the deformation of blood cells subject to different levels of fluid shear stress. == References == Stein, Jess, ed. (1980). The Random House college dictionary. Random House. p. 1132. ISBN 0-394-43600-8.


id: scale-of-chords-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_of_chords-0.md
category: reference
title: Scale of chords
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_of_chords
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:00.129566+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: scale-of-chords-20260505-0
summary:
A scale of chords may be used to set or read an angle in the absence of a protractor. To draw an angle, compasses describe an arc from origin with a radius taken from the 60 mark. The required angle is copied from the scale by the compasses, and an arc of this radius drawn from the sixty mark so it intersects the first arc. The line drawn from this point to the origin will be at the target angle. == Mathematics == A chord is a line drawn between two points on the circumference of a circle. Look at the centre point of this line. For a circle of radius r, each half will be r sin ⁡ θ 2 {\displaystyle r\sin {\tfrac {\theta }{2}}} so the chord will be 2 r sin ⁡ θ 2 {\displaystyle 2r\sin {\tfrac {\theta }{2}}} . The line of chords scale represents each of these values linearly on a scale running from 0 to 60. == Availability == It appears on Gunter's scale and the Foster Serle dialing scales. The commercial company Stanley marketed a metal version (Stanley 60R Line of Chords Rule) in 2015. == See also == Ptolemy's table of chords


id: scanning-habitable-environments-with-raman-and-luminescence-for-organics-and-chemicals-20260505-0
category: reference
title: Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals
tags: science, encyclopedia
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:05.226992+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: scanning-habitable-environments-with-raman-and-luminescence-for-organics-and-chemicals-20260505-0
file:
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanning_Habitable_Environments_with_Raman_and_Luminescence_for_Organics_and_Chemicals-0.md

summary:
Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) is an ultraviolet Raman spectrometer that uses fine-scale imaging and an ultraviolet (UV) laser to determine fine-scale mineralogy, and detect organic compounds designed for the Perseverance rover as part of the Mars 2020 mission. It was constructed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory with major subsystems being delivered from Malin Space Science Systems and Los Alamos National Laboratory. SHERLOC has a calibration target with possible Mars suit materials, and it will measure how they change over time in the Martian surface environment. == Goals == According to a 2017 Universities Space Research Association (USRA) report: The goals of the SHERLOC investigation are to: Assess the habitability potential of a sample and its aqueous history. Assess the availability of key elements and energy source for life (C, H, N, O, P, S etc.). Determine if there are potential biosignatures preserved in Martian rocks and outcrops. Provide organic and mineral analysis for selective sample caching. To do this SHERLOC does the following: Detects and classifies organics and astrobiologically relevant minerals on the surface and near subsurface of Mars. Bulk organic sensitivity of 10-5 to 10-6 w/w over a 7 x 7

source_url:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanning_Habitable_Environments_with_Raman_and_Luminescence_for_Organics_and_Chemicals


id: scintillating-bolometer-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scintillating_bolometer-0.md
category: reference
title: Scintillating bolometer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scintillating_bolometer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:06.405275+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: scintillating-bolometer-20260505-0
summary:
A scintillating bolometer (or luminescent bolometer) is a scientific instrument using particle physics in the search for events with low energy deposition. These events could include dark matter, low energy solar neutrinos, double beta decay or rare radioactive decay. It works by simultaneously measuring both the light pulse and heat pulse generated by a particle interaction within its internal scintillator crystal. The device was originally proposed by L. Gonzalez-Mestres and D. Perret-Gallix (LAPP, IN2P3/CNRS) In their rapporteur contribution to the Proceedings of the XXIV International Conference on High-Energy Physics, Munich, August 1988, Gonzalez-Mestres and Perret-Gallix wrote : Perhaps bolometry should in some cases be combined with other detection techniques (luminescence?) in order to produce a primary fast signal as timing strobe. If light is used as a complementary signature, particle identification can be achieved through the heat-light ratio, where nucleus recoil is expected to be less luminescent than ionizing particles. The success of such a development would open the way to unprecedented achievements in background rejection for rare event experiments. Further explanations, including a description of the detector and possible applications incorporating in particular BGO and tungstates, were given by these authors in other papers such as their contribution to


id: sensitive-high-resolution-ion-microprobe-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitive_high-resolution_ion_microprobe-0.md
category: reference
title: Sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitive_high-resolution_ion_microprobe
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:07.592588+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: sensitive-high-resolution-ion-microprobe-20260505-0
summary:
The sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (also sensitive high mass-resolution ion microprobe or SHRIMP) is a large-diameter, double-focusing secondary ion mass spectrometer (SIMS) sector instrument that was produced by Australian Scientific Instruments in Canberra, Australia and now has been taken over by Chinese company Dunyi Technology Development Co. (DTDC) in Beijing. Similar to the IMS 1270-1280-1300 large-geometry ion microprobes produced by CAMECA, Gennevilliers, France and like other SIMS instruments, the SHRIMP microprobe bombards a sample under vacuum with a beam of primary ions that sputters secondary ions that are focused, filtered, and measured according to their energy and mass. The SHRIMP is primarily used for geological and geochemical applications. It can measure the isotopic and elemental abundances in minerals at a 10 to 30 μm-diameter scale and with a depth resolution of 1–5 μm. Thus, SIMS method is well-suited for the analysis of complex minerals, as often found in metamorphic terrains, some igneous rocks, and for relatively rapid analysis of statistical valid sets of detrital minerals from sedimentary rocks. The most common application of the instrument is in uranium–thorium–lead geochronology, although the SHRIMP can be used to measure some other isotope ratio measurements (e.g., δ7Li or δ11B) and trace element abundances.


id: sira-notified-body-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sira_(notified_body)-0.md
category: reference
title: Sira (notified body)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sira_(notified_body)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:08.827242+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: sira-notified-body-20260505-0
summary:
Sira is a UK-based notified body, specialising in ATEX, IECEX and North American product approvals. == Foundation == Sira began life as the British Scientific Instrument Research Association (BSIRA). It was founded in 1918 by a Committee of the Privy Council for the promotion of scientific and industrial research and supported by the DSIR. The first members of the association were representatives of the optical industry, but these were joined in the same year by the electrical scientific instrument, electromedical, and X-ray industries. Its first director of research was Sir Herbert Jackson (1863–1936). BSIRA's London headquarters were destroyed in the Second World War and, in 1947, the association moved to a site in South Hill, Chislehurst, a Grade II Listed former private house called 'Sitka' By the 1960s, the association had become better-known as 'Sira'. It evolved into a group of British engineering companies, based in south London, that designed test equipment and provided calibration services. == Fate == In 2006, Sira Test and Certification Ltd, Sira Defence and Security, and Sira Environmental were owned by Volveré plc. In July 2009, Volvere sold Sira Test and Certification Ltd, Sira Certification Service and Sira Environmental Ltd to CSA International. == Similar


id: spectronic-20-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectronic_20-0.md
category: reference
title: Spectronic 20
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectronic_20
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:09.986392+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: spectronic-20-20260505-0
summary:
The Spectronic 20 is a brand of single-beam spectrophotometer, designed to operate in the visible spectrum across a wavelength range of 340 nm to 950 nm, with a spectral bandpass of 20 nm. It is designed for quantitative absorption measurement at single wavelengths. Because it measures the transmittance or absorption of visible light through a solution, it is sometimes referred to as a colorimeter. The name of the instrument is a trademark of the manufacturer. Developed by Bausch & Lomb and launched in 1953, the Spectronic 20 was the first low-cost spectrophotometer. It rapidly became an industry standard due to its low cost, durability and ease of use, and has been referred to as an "iconic lab spectrophotometer". Approximately 600,000 units were sold over its nearly 60 year production run. It has been the most widely used spectrophotometer worldwide. Production was discontinued in 2011 when it was replaced by the Spectronic 200, but the Spectronic 20 is still in common use. It is sometimes referred to as the "Spec 20". == Design == The Bausch & Lomb Spectronic 20 colorimeter uses a diffraction grating monochromator combined with a system for the detection, amplification, and measurement of light wavelengths in the


id: spectronic-20-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectronic_20-1.md
category: reference
title: Spectronic 20
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectronic_20
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:09.986392+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: spectronic-20-20260505-0
summary:
== Use == Before testing a sample, the Spectronic 20 is calibrated using a blank solution, which is the pure solvent that is used in the experimental sample. It is typically water or an organic solvent. In this calibration, the transmittance is set at 100% using the calibration knob of the instrument (the amplifier control knob in the figure at right). The instrument can also optionally be calibrated with a stock solution of a sample at a concentration known to have an absorbance of 2 or else vendor supplied standards, using the light absorption knob in the diagram shown at right. After calibration, the user places a 1/2 inch test tube or cuvette containing the sample solution to be measured into the sample compartment. Calibration is repeated each time the wavelength is changed. It or a standard reference sample is generally used to periodically check for drift. To measure wavelengths above 650 nm, the bottom of the instrument is opened, and a red filter and a red-sensitive photocell is installed. The original design of the Spectronic 20 utilized an analog dial for readout of transmission from 100%T to 1%T (top scale), 0A - 2A (lower scale). Using the original instrument


id: total-ozone-mapping-spectrometer-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Ozone_Mapping_Spectrometer-0.md
category: reference
title: Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Ozone_Mapping_Spectrometer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:11.160247+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: total-ozone-mapping-spectrometer-20260505-0
summary:
The Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) was a NASA satellite instrument, specifically a spectrometer, for measuring the ozone layer. Of the five TOMS instruments which were built, four entered successful orbit. The satellites carrying TOMS instruments were: Nimbus 7; launched October 24, 1978. Operated until 1 August 1994. Carried TOMS instrument number 1. Meteor-3-5; launched 15 August 1991. Operated until December 1994. Was the first and last Soviet satellite to carry a USA made instrument. Carried TOMS instrument number 2. ADEOS I; launched 17 August 1996. Operated until 30 June 1997. Mission was cut short by a spacecraft failure. TOMS-Earth Probe; launched on July 2, 1996. Operated until 2 December 2006. Carried TOMS instrument number 3. QuikTOMS; launched 21 September 2001. Suffered launch failure and did not enter orbit. Nimbus 7 and Meteor-3-5 provided global measurements of total column ozone on a daily basis and together provided a complete data set of daily ozone from November 1978 to December 1994. After an eighteen-month period when the program had no on-orbit capability, TOMS-Earth Probe launched on 2 July 1996, followed by ADEOS I. ADEOS I was launched on August 17, 1996, and the TOMS-instrument onboard provided data until the satellite which


id: xylotron-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XyloTron-0.md
category: reference
title: XyloTron
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XyloTron
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:12.374459+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: xylotron-20260505-0
summary:
The XyloTron is an open-source, portable macroscopic wood identification system developed to support supply chain verification and the enforcement of laws against illegal logging. The device uses computer vision wood identification models to classify wood specimens based on their macroscopic anatomy and requires minimal operator training. Designed for use in laboratory and field settings, the system provides a non-destructive method to rapidly identify wood. The system's accuracy depends on the quality of the training data, the breadth and anatomical complexity of woods in the model, and the similarity of unknown samples to those included in the model. Use of the XyloTron is intended to help establish probable cause in cases of possible illegal logging, rather than for high-stakes legal enforcement or forensic confirmation. Microscopic analysis of wood specimens by a wood anatomist may still be required. == Overview == The XyloTron system was developed at the United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin. Initial conceptual work began in late 2010. The XyloTron uses a laptop or desktop computer for computation and the XyloScope, which is specialized, custom-designed hardware that captures controlled imaging using a scientific-grade digital camera, lens, and lighting array. Unlike traditional wood


id: z-tube-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z-tube-0.md
category: reference
title: Z-tube
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z-tube
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:13.619607+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: z-tube-20260505-0
summary:
The Z-tube is an experimental apparatus for measuring the tensile strength of a liquid. It consists of a Z-shaped tube with open ends, filled with a liquid, and set on top of a spinning table. If the tube were straight, the liquid would immediately fly out one end or the other of the tube as it began to spin. By bending the ends of the tube back towards the center of rotation, a shift of the liquid away from center will result in the water level in one end of the tube rising and thus increasing the pressure in that end of the tube, and consequently returning the liquid to the center of the tube. By measuring the rotational speed and the distance from the center of rotation to the liquid level in the bent ends of the tube, the pressure reduction inside the tube can be calculated. Negative pressures, (i.e. less than zero absolute pressure, or in other words, tension) have been reported using water processed to remove dissolved gases. Tensile strengths up to 280 atmospheres have been reported for water in glass. == References ==


id: zeeman-slower-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeeman_slower-0.md
category: reference
title: Zeeman slower
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeeman_slower
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:14.782166+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: zeeman-slower-20260505-0
summary:
In atomic physics, a Zeeman slower is a scientific instrument that is commonly used in atomic physics to slow and cool a beam of hot atoms to speeds of several meters per second and temperatures below a kelvin. The gas-phase atoms used in atomic physics are often generated in an oven by heating a solid or liquid atomic sample to temperatures where the vapor pressure is high enough that a substantial number of atoms are in the gas phase. These atoms effuse out of a hole in the oven with average speeds on the order of hundreds of m/s and large velocity distributions (due to their high temperature). The Zeeman slower is attached close to where the hot atoms exit the oven and are used to slow them to less than 10 m/s (slowing) with a very small velocity spread (cooling). A Zeeman slower consists of a cylinder, through which an atomic beam travels, a pump laser that counterpropagates with respect to the beam's direction, and a magnetic field (commonly produced by a solenoid-like coil) that points along the cylinder's axis with a spatially varying magnitude. The pump laser, which is required to be near-resonant with atomic transition, Doppler-slows a


id: zeeman-slower-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeeman_slower-1.md
category: reference
title: Zeeman slower
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeeman_slower
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:14.782166+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: zeeman-slower-20260505-0
summary:
B ( z ) = ℏ k μ ′ v + ℏ δ μ ′ = ℏ k v i μ ′ 1 − 2 a v i 2 z + ℏ δ μ ′ , {\displaystyle B(z)={\frac {\hbar k}{\mu '}}v+{\frac {\hbar \delta }{\mu '}}={\frac {\hbar kv_{i}}{\mu '}}{\sqrt {1-{\frac {2a}{v_{i}^{2}}}z}}+{\frac {\hbar \delta }{\mu '}},} where v i {\displaystyle v_{i}} is the maximal velocity class that will be slowed; all the atoms in the velocity distribution that have velocities v < v i {\displaystyle v<v_{i}} will be slowed, and those with velocities v > v i {\displaystyle v>v_{i}} will not be slowed at all. The parameter η {\displaystyle \eta } (which determines the required laser intensity) is normally chosen to be around 0.5. If a Zeeman slower were to be operated with η ≈ 1 {\displaystyle \eta \approx 1} , then after absorbing a photon and moving to the excited state, the atom would preferentially re-emit a photon in the direction of the laser beam (due to stimulated emission), which would counteract the slowing process. == Realization == The required form of the spatially inhomogeneous magnetic field as we showed above has the form B ( z ) = B 0


id: metascience-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metascience-0.md
category: reference
title: Metascience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metascience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:16.492073+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: metascience-20260505-0
summary:
Metascience (also known as meta-research) is the use of scientific methodology to study science itself. Metascience seeks to increase the quality of scientific research and enhance its efficiency. It is also known as "research on research" and "the science of science", as it uses research methods to study how research is done and find where improvements can be made. Metascience concerns itself with all fields of research and has been described as "a bird's eye view of science". In the words of John Ioannidis, "Science is the best thing that has happened to human beings ... but we can do it better." In 1966, an early meta-research paper examined the statistical methods of 295 papers published in ten high-profile medical journals. It found that "in almost 73% of the reports read ... conclusions were drawn when the justification for these conclusions was invalid." Meta-research in the following decades found many methodological flaws, inefficiencies, and poor practices in research across numerous scientific fields. Many scientific studies could not be reproduced, particularly in medicine and the soft sciences. The term "replication crisis" was coined in the early 2010s as part of a growing awareness of the problem. Measures have been implemented to


id: metascience-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metascience-1.md
category: reference
title: Metascience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metascience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:16.492073+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: metascience-20260505-0
summary:
=== Reporting === Meta-research has identified poor practices in reporting, explaining, disseminating and popularizing research, particularly within the social and health sciences. Poor reporting makes it difficult to accurately interpret the results of scientific studies, to replicate studies, and to identify biases and conflicts of interest in the authors. Solutions include the implementation of reporting standards, and greater transparency in scientific studies (including better requirements for disclosure of conflicts of interest). There is an attempt to standardize reporting of data and methodology through the creation of guidelines by reporting agencies such as CONSORT and the larger EQUATOR Network. === Reproducibility === The replication crisis is an ongoing methodological crisis in which it has been found that many scientific studies are difficult or impossible to replicate. While the crisis has its roots in the meta-research of the mid- to late 20th century, the phrase "replication crisis" was not coined until the early 2010s as part of a growing awareness of the problem. The replication crisis has been closely studied in psychology (especially social psychology) and medicine, including cancer research. Replication is an essential part of the scientific process, and the widespread failure of replication puts into question the reliability of affected


id: metascience-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metascience-2.md
category: reference
title: Metascience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metascience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:16.492073+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: metascience-20260505-0
summary:
===== Science funding and awards ===== Scientific awards are one category of science incentives. Metascience can explore existing and hypothetical systems of science awards. For instance, it found that work honored by Nobel Prizes clustered in only a few scientific fields with only 36/71 having received at least one Nobel Prize. Of the 114/849 domains science could be divided into their DC2 and DC3 classification systems, five were shown to comprise over half of the Nobel Prizes awarded between 1995 and 2017 (particle physics [14%], cell biology [12.1%], atomic physics [10.9%], neuroscience [10.1%], molecular chemistry [5.3%]). A study found that delegation of responsibility by policy-makers – a centralized authority-based top-down approach – for knowledge production and appropriate funding to science with science subsequently somehow delivering "reliable and useful knowledge to society" is too simple. Measurements show that allocation of bio-medical resources can be more strongly correlated to previous allocations and research than to burden of diseases. A study suggests that "[i]f peer review is maintained as the primary mechanism of arbitration in the competitive selection of research reports and funding, then the scientific community needs to make sure it is not arbitrary". Studies indicate there to is a need to


id: metascience-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metascience-3.md
category: reference
title: Metascience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metascience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:16.492073+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: metascience-20260505-0
summary:
Metascience can investigate how scientific processes evolve over time. A study found that teams are growing in size, "increasing by an average of 17% per decade". (see labor advantage below) It was found that prevalent forms of non-open access publication and prices charged for many conventional journals – even for publicly funded papers – are unwarranted, unnecessary – or suboptimal – and detrimental barriers to scientific progress. Open access can save considerable amounts of financial resources, which could be used otherwise, and level the playing field for researchers in developing countries. There are substantial expenses for subscriptions, gaining access to specific studies, and for article processing charges. Paywall: The Business of Scholarship is a documentary on such issues. Another topic are the established styles of scientific communication (e.g. long text-form studies and reviews) and the scientific publishing practices – there are concerns about a "glacial pace" of conventional publishing. The use of preprint-servers to publish study-drafts early is increasing and open peer review, new tools to screen studies, and improved matching of submitted manuscripts to reviewers are among the proposals to speed up publication. ==== Science overall and intrafield developments ==== Metadata from research publications can be extracted, enriched, and


id: metascience-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metascience-4.md
category: reference
title: Metascience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metascience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:16.492073+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: metascience-20260505-0
summary:
Some research is investigating scientific controversy or controversies, and may identify currently ongoing major debates (e.g. open questions), and disagreement between scientists or studies. One study suggests the level of disagreement was highest in the social sciences and humanities (0.61%), followed by biomedical and health sciences (0.41%), life and earth sciences (0.29%); physical sciences and engineering (0.15%), and mathematics and computer science (0.06%). Such research may also show, where the disagreements are, especially if they cluster, including visually such as with cluster diagrams. === Challenges of interpretation of pooled results === Studies about a specific research question or research topic are often reviewed in the form of higher-level overviews in which results from various studies are integrated, compared, critically analyzed and interpreted. Examples of such works are scientific reviews and meta-analyses. These and related practices face various challenges and are a subject of metascience. Various issues with available studies such as, for example, heterogeneity of methods used may lead to faulty conclusions of the meta-analysis. === Knowledge integration and living documents === Various problems require swift integration of new and existing science-based knowledge. Especially setting where there are a large number of loosely related projects and initiatives benefit from a


id: metascience-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metascience-5.md
category: reference
title: Metascience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metascience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:16.492073+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: metascience-20260505-0
summary:
==== As and for acceleration of progress ==== A study suggests that improving the way science is done could accelerate the rate of scientific discovery and its applications which could be useful for finding urgent solutions to humanity's problems, improve humanity's conditions, and enhance understanding of nature. Metascientific studies can seek to identify aspects of science that need improvement, and develop ways to improve them. If science is accepted as the fundamental engine of economic growth and social progress, this could raise "the question of what we – as a society – can do to accelerate science, and to direct science toward solving society's most important problems." One author clarified that funding science requires diverse approaches rather than a single model. DARPA models, curiosity-driven research, peer-champion mechanisms, and other approaches each have merit and application in different contexts. Nevertheless, evaluation of them can help build knowledge of what works or works best. == Reforms == Meta-research identifying flaws in scientific practice has inspired reforms in science. These reforms seek to address and fix problems in scientific practice which lead to low-quality or inefficient research. A 2015 study lists "fragmented" efforts in meta-research. === Pre-registration === The practice of registering a


id: metascience-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metascience-6.md
category: reference
title: Metascience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metascience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:42:16.492073+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: metascience-20260505-0
summary:
Clinical research in medicine is often of low quality, and many studies cannot be replicated. An estimated 85% of research funding is wasted. Additionally, the presence of bias affects research quality. The pharmaceutical industry exerts substantial influence on the design and execution of medical research. Conflicts of interest are common among authors of medical literature and among editors of medical journals. While almost all medical journals require their authors to disclose conflicts of interest, editors are not required to do so. Financial conflicts of interest have been linked to higher rates of positive study results. In antidepressant trials, pharmaceutical sponsorship is the best predictor of trial outcome. Blinding is another focus of meta-research, as error caused by poor blinding is a source of experimental bias. Blinding is not well reported in medical literature, and widespread misunderstanding of the subject has resulted in poor implementation of blinding in clinical trials. Furthermore, failure of blinding is rarely measured or reported. Research showing the failure of blinding in antidepressant trials has led some scientists to argue that antidepressants are no better than placebo. In light of meta-research showing failures of blinding, CONSORT standards recommend that all clinical trials assess and report the quality


