Archive

The present situation

To preserve the archive and to make it both a s source of information to future historians of Oxford Science and a source of interest to memebers of the laboratory, it has ben gathered together, originally in display cabinets in the Clarendon Laboratory room 271 but now in the basement of the Martin Wood building

Other items are in display cabinets located near the main entrance, in the second floor corridor and in the foyer of the Martin Wood building. Filing cabinets of documents, photographs and audio tapes are kept in the Archivist's office.

All items have been place in a database; this lists the item's description, its date and provenance (when known), relevant comments, original location and a cross reference to the Green book. Additionally, a set of keywords for each item assist in finding a specific item or class of items. The database currently holds over 1000 items. It is accessible over the Internet - see below. Some highlights from the archive are available and there is also an on-line tour.

Relation to other archives

The Museum of the History of Science in Broad Street is Oxford's main repository of archival scientific material, but, with a few exceptions (of which Moseley's apparatus is one), their interest ceases before the end of the 19th century. A certain amount of Clarendon material has been donated to the museum.

The Science Museum in London also has a certain amount of apparatus and instruments donated by the laboratory, notably those associated with the pre-war low temperature work.

Accessing the Archive

Search the archive by using telnet at a command prompt: telnet.av14.atm.ox.ac.uk. The user-name is: Archives.

Archive tour

Highlights from the archive

Contact the Archivist [ejw@atm.ox.ac.uk]