A number of sessions of Paola Bertucci and Alison Sweeney‘s course Electromagnetism: Physics, Magic, Religion incorporated 19th- and 18th-century instruments from the HST collection. Paola is an Associate Professor of History and of History of Medicine, and Alison is an Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and of Physics. Together they bridged the gaps between historical and modern science and between historical artifacts and archives and hands-on experimentation in order to teach physics in a new and dynamic way. One of their students also did a great research project on a large 19th-century magnet in our collection.
The Peabody Museum’s History of Science and Technology [HST] collection includes at least 15,000 historical objects which tell vivid stories of human innovation, inquiry, and experience. These are stories not only of modern science but also of centuries of practice and of change in activities as diverse as global exploration and conflict, art and media, fashion and entertainment, and everyday life and work. Posts written by Dr. Alexi Baker unless otherwise noted.
As the Spring semester of 2023 begins at Yale, let’s take a look back at the diverse courses which made creative use of our History of Science and Technology collection in Fall 2022!
This story was excerpted from the HST Division of Peabody Museum post of January 23, 2023 by Alexi Baker. See below for full story and related links.