Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

'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 . 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. A selection of instruments and artifacts from the collection is on permanent display in the Putnam Gallery on the first floor of the

Harvard Science Center The Harvard University Science Center is Harvard's main classroom and laboratory building for undergraduate science and mathematics, in addition to housing numerous other facilities and services. Located just north of Harvard Yard, the Science Ce ...

, which is free and open to the public on weekdays. In addition, rotating temporary exhibitions drawn from the collection are shown in the Special Exhibitions Gallery on the second floor, and a more modest Foyer Gallery space on the third floor. The CHSI includes a number of scientific instruments and demonstration apparatus purchased circa 1765 under the advice of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

, to replace original equipment which had been lost in a disastrous fire which also destroyed the university's library in the original

Harvard Hall Harvard Hall is a Harvard University classroom building in Harvard Yard, Cambridge, Massachusetts. First Harvard Hall The present Harvard Hall replaces an earlier structure of the same name on the same site. The first Harvard Hall was built bet ...

. A number of items on display in the Putnam Gallery are labeled as originally having been specified by Franklin. One of the larger items in the collection is the Harvard Mark I, a historic room-sized

electromechanical computer A mechanical computer is a computer built from mechanical components such as levers and gears rather than electronic components. The most common examples are adding machines and mechanical counters, which use the turning of gears to increment out ...

commissioned in 1944, which was exhibited next to the central stairwell in the main lobby of the Science Center, and has since been moved to the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The collection continues to be expanded, under the supervision of a Director and several curators and technicians. Originally a part of the Harvard Library system, the CHSI is now affiliated with the Harvard Department of the History of Science, and is one of the four Harvard Museums of Science and Culture. The CHSI is also affiliated with the

American Alliance of Museums American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. A strategic plan has been developed to expand the CHSI's missions of preservation, education, research, and display, including expanded educational outreach and higher-profile public exhibitions.

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References

{{Authority control Harvard University museums Scientific instruments History museums in Massachusetts Science museums in Massachusetts Institutions accredited by the American Alliance of Museums