Instruments and Their Makers: a study of experiment, collaboration and identity in seventeenth-century London

This thesis argues that the history of instruments of science has neglected to focus on the
materiality of the physical artefacts for too long. A material cultural approach therefore
provides a useful corrective to the technology-based studies. This neglect means much of the
wider social and cultural use and function of the objects during the seventeenth century has
not been fully appreciated by historians. This is especially true because of the relative
absence of detailed documentary evidence in archives for how instruments were made.

However, a ‘one-size-fits-all’ material methodology does not work because the multiplicity
of types of objects is reflected in their traditional categories (Bennett/Baker et al). Why?
In short: the definition of ‘instrument’ changed during the period 1650 – 1730, in the face of
new technologies emerging in the early century. The meaning of ‘instrument’ therefore
evolved from ‘precise’ mathematical devices used for practical application, to novel and
curious luxury objects such as telescopes and microscopes, that were consumed as desirable
collectables, rather than used as mathematical tools. This is evident in the material qualities
of many objects, reflective of the contemporary demands and tastes, as well as in advertising
techniques from the time that demonstrate a widening clientele for more novel instruments
for entertainment.

As a result of this change in definition of ‘instrument’, the contemporary understanding of
who and what a ‘maker’ was began to expand too, as social boundaries crossed, and users
became consumers and both groups assumed a greater agency. The nature of collaboration in
production was different for separate instruments. The traditional distinction between
different roles and makers changed. Whereas Hooke may have been a hybrid figure, as
optical instrument making grew, the ‘maker’ came to be the workshop owner, without claims
to invention or commission.