Speaking at the launch of the Science Museum’s new Research and Public History Department, Ludmilla Jordanova offered insights that resonate with many of us trained in history of science, especially those concerned with collections of historical scientific material:

‘I was mainly taught about abstract ideas; now it is taken as read that embodied knowledge, material and visual culture, and the close analysis of social practices are central to our field. But we must confess that the full potential of integrating museum collections and the expertise of museum professionals into academic understanding is yet to be realised’.

And, while academic historians of science are increasingly acknowledging the importance of material and visual culture, few have had opportunities to work on such material first-hand, within a museum. At the same time, in many museums object-based research is now something of a luxury; curators are often too busy with other important tasks to study objects in their care. Collections-based research is done on the fly, meeting deadlines for exhibitions or performance indicators.

The Whipple Museum of the History of Science, part of the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, has over many years been the base of a remarkably rich and varied research output, communicated to a range of audiences via a number of formats. This research has been conducted largely by students (undergraduate, MPhil and PhD). In particular, the MPhil essay (5000 words, produced in about 6-7 weeks) has provided a wonderful template for enabling original object-based research to be undertaken in a form that can be shared readily with others. An impressive number of MPhil essays on objects held in the Whipple have resulted in publications, often taking the form of studies of the ‘lives’ or ‘careers’ of scientific objects (cf. Alberti, “Objects and the Museum,” Isis 2005, 96:559–71); this research is accessible on the Explore website (hps.cam.ac.uk/whipple/explore) and in the galleries. Usually, students have no prior experience of working with material culture, yet produce excellent work of broad benefit.

Adopting the MPhil essay model for tightly-focused research projects, museums could offer internal staff, external students and academics 6-week opportunities to study objects in their collections; such projects would benefit all concerned. Examples from the Whipple, with specific recommendations for implementation will be offered.