ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Analysis of a hair hygrometer: Exploring scientific practices in the history of meteorology

• In Event: Shifting Perspectives: Hands on Instruments Approaches (with Gloves) to Writing a History of Scientific Practices II

English Abstract

This contribution provides a case study of a material culture approach used to reconstruct the biography of a hair hygrometer (ca. 1800) which is owned by the Deutsches Museum in Munich and was used for weather observations in Bavaria during the 19th century. The goal of this contribution is to demonstrate how analyzing an object’s materiality can enrich an historian’s research and lead to new insights into scientific practices in the history of meteorology.
The first part will be dedicated to the description of the object and to showing how a close look at every detail can reveal information about the actual use of this instrument that can not simply be obtained by reading historical documents. Specifically, the detailed analysis of the object provides insights into periods of use and neglect by the owning institutions. By examining missing and replaced parts as well as their arrangement, different scientific practices regarding the use of the instrument can be uncovered.
The second part will widen the perspective to determine the object’s position within the history of weather observations in Bavaria during the 19th century. Again, the starting point is the object itself since it contains some explicit information about its history that can initiate and guide the investigation. This methodological chronology shifts the perspective from which additional sources and secondary literature are studied in order to further determine the object’s biography.

Author

• Stefan Walberer, University of Regensburg