The City of Geneva can be proud to have a jewel in the crown of science museums which is here described. Housed in a nineteenth century palace built in the Palladian style, the Villa Bartholoni, it displays a splendid collection of astronomical and other scientific instruments. Particularly noteworthy, as only appropriate for Geneva, is its connection with the family of de Saussure, recalling the famous eighteenth century physicist, alpinist, and meteorologist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure.
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References
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For an example of such entertaining ways of presenting science seeHackmannW. D.: ‘Scientific amusement arcade. An exhibition commemorating the 150th meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Oxford’; 1988, Oxford, British Association.
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For some indications of the origins of instruments in the museum's collections seeArchinardM.: ‘A la recherche des collections perdues à Genève’, Musées de Genève. Révue mensuelle des Musées et collections de la ville de Genève (henceforth Mus. Gen.), June1987, 276, 3–9.
For a detailed description of the building, its origin and history together with accounts of its owners, architect, and present use seeLapaireC., Winiger-LabudaA., ZumthorB., and ArchinardM.: ‘La Villa Bartholoni, une villa pour une musée’; 1991, Geneva.
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ArchinardM.: ‘Réouverture du Musée d'Histoire des Sciences de Genève’, Mus. Gen., 1993, 325, 2–7.
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For the collection of de Saussure seeArchinardM.: ‘Collection de Saussure’, Images du Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Genève, 1979, 15; ‘La collection de Saussure’, Mus. Gen., 1980, 204, 2–9; ‘Les instruments scientifiques d'Horace-Bénédict de Saussure’, Le Mode Alpin et Rhodanien, 1988, 1–2, 151–164; and ‘The scientific instruments of Horace-Bénédict de Saussure’, in ‘Studies in the history of scientific instruments’, (ed. C. Blondel, F. Parot, A. Turner, and m. Williams), 83–96; 1989, London. The entire collection with the exception of one or two empty boxes is presented and illustrated in a. Turner: ‘Early scientific instruments: Europe 1400–1800’, 255–274; 1987, London, Philip Wilson Publishers.
8.
For the history of the observatory seeGautierR. and TiercyG.: ‘L'Observatoire de Genève 1772–1830–1930’; 1930, Geneva, Publications de l'Observatoire.
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For these seeArchinardM.: ‘Microscopes’, Images du Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Genève, 1976, 9; ‘Nouvelle Salle de microscopes au Musée d'Histoire des Sciences’, Mus. Gen., 1982, 224, 7–13; and ‘Le Microscope d'Abraham Trembly’, Mus. Gen., 1985, 253, 3–8.
10.
ArchinardM.: ‘Baromètres’, Images du Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Genève, 1978, 13.
11.
A recent important acquisition is described inArchinardM.: ‘La “Navicula de Venetiis” du Musée d'Histoire des Sciences de Genève’, Mus. Gen., 1995, 334, 2–8; and ‘Navicula de Venetiis: une acquisition prestigieuse du Musée d'Histoire des Sciences’, Geneva, 1995, NS 43, 87–94.
12.
See for example three historical/technical studies generated from the collection of sundials by m. Archinard: ‘Les cadrans solaires rectilignes’, Nuncius. Annali di Storia della Scienza, 1988, III, (2), 149–181; ‘Constructions géometrique des cadrans solaires de direction’, Scienza e Storia. Bolletino del Centro Internazionale di Storia dello Spazio e del Tempo, 1988, 7, 35–44; and ‘The diagram of unequal hours’, Ann. Sci., 1990, 47, 173–190.
