From Workshop to Factory: The Evolution of the Instrument-Making Industry, 1850–1930

Abstract

This article focuses on the evolution and transformations of the instrument-making industry between 1850 and 1930. It begins with an overview of some broad categories of instruments, namely: research and precision measurement instruments, didactic and teaching instruments, industrial instruments, professional instruments, and scientific instruments. It then examines the history of the production of physics instruments and how workshops were organized, along with some of the techniques and materials used in the production of instruments. It also discusses the advertising, trading, and selling of instruments during the period; how instrument-makers in France, Britain, and Germany fared; the state of instrument-making from 1900 to World War I; and instrument-making in the United States and other countries in Europe. Finally, it evaluates instrument-making during the inter-war years.

Perspectival Instruments

“…For historical accounts of instruments, seeTurner (2013),McConnell (2013),Brenni (2013) andHackman (1989). For a conceptual classification, seeLauwerys (1937).…”