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#technicianjourney

Stories and musings about technicians.

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Category Archives: Chemistry

Robert Hooke

Robert Hooke

Hooke was a 17th century polymath who started his scientific career as a technician working primarily for Robert Boyle.

Posted byAndy ConnellyMay 13, 2023May 13, 2023Posted in17th century, Biology, Chemistry, Location, London, Oxford, Physics, Subject area, UK, When they workedLeave a comment on Robert Hooke

Otto Baumbach

Otto Baumbach in 1928

Otto Baumbach (1882-1966) was a glass blower whose work in Manchester was vital to Nobel Laureate Ernest Rutherford.

Posted byAndy ConnellyMay 15, 2019May 13, 2023Posted in20th century, Chemistry, Germany, Location, Manchester, Musings, Physics, Subject area, UKLeave a comment on Otto Baumbach

Blanche Lawrence

Blanche Lawrence. Image from the September 1949 edition of the magazine Ebony.

Blanche J. Lawrence (1921-?) graduated from Tuskegee University before going on to work as a technician and then junior chemist on the Manhattan Project.

Posted byAndy ConnellyOctober 10, 2018January 4, 2022Posted in20th century, Biology, Chemistry, Location, Subject area, USA, When they worked2 Comments on Blanche Lawrence

Irène Curie

Irene Curie on a mobile x-ray unit, 1916 (unknown source)

Irène Curie (1897-1956) was the daughter of Pierre and Marie Curie. Hers was a glittering scientific career that started when she was an X-ray radiographer in WW1.

Posted byAndy ConnellyOctober 8, 2018January 4, 2022Posted in20th century, Chemistry, France, Location, Medicine, Physics, Subject area, When they worked1 Comment on Irène Curie

Peter Desaga

Bunsen’s original design.

Peter Desaga (1812 – 1879) was an instrument maker from Heidelberg who designed and built the first Bunsen burner.

Posted byAndy ConnellyJuly 17, 2018January 4, 2022Posted in19th century, Chemistry, Engineering, Germany, Location, Subject area, When they workedLeave a comment on Peter Desaga

Christopher White

Old Ashmolean 1685

Christopher White (c.1650-1695?) was the first professional laboratory technician. Working in Oxford he was apothecary, alchemist, experimenter, teacher, and demonstrator.

Posted byAndy ConnellyJune 18, 2018January 4, 2022Posted in17th century, Chemistry, Location, London, Oxford, Subject area, Teaching, When they workedLeave a comment on Christopher White

Matthew Broadbent: a bespoke technician

Matthew working at a lathe

Matthew is a mechanical engineer working in the School of Chemistry building bespoke apparatus. He works with aluminium, steel, Teflon, and bikes, although the latter is (mostly) in his spare time. This is his #TechnicianJourney.

Posted byAndy ConnellyJanuary 5, 2018May 26, 2018Posted in21st century, Chemistry, Engineering, Leeds, Location, Subject area, UK, When they workedLeave a comment on Matthew Broadbent: a bespoke technician

Denis Papin – a technician under pressure

Denis Papin (1647-1712) fleeing religious persecution in France he found work in London with Robert Boyle and at the Royal Society. He is the forgotten inventor of the pressure cooker and the first practical steam engine.

Posted byAndy ConnellyNovember 27, 2017January 4, 2022Posted in18th century, Chemistry, France, Location, London, Paris, Physics, Subject area, UK, When they worked1 Comment on Denis Papin – a technician under pressure

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