Scientific instrument

For broader coverage of this topic, see Equipment.

A scientific instrument is a device or tool used for scientific purposes, including the study of both natural phenomena and theoretical research.

History

Historically, the definition of a scientific instrument has varied, based on usage, laws, and historical time period. Before the mid-nineteenth century such tools were referred to as "natural philosophical" or "philosophical" apparatus and instruments, and older tools from antiquity to the Middle Ages (such as the astrolabe and pendulum clock) defy a more modern definition of "a tool developed to investigate nature qualitatively or quantitatively." Scientific instruments were made by instrument makers living near a center of learning or research, such as a university or research laboratory. Instrument makers designed, constructed, and refined instruments for purposes, but if demand was sufficient, an instrument would go into production as a commercial product.

In a description of the use of the eudiometer by Jan Ingenhousz to show photosynthesis, a biographer observed, "The history of the use and evolution of this instrument helps to show that science is not just a theoretical endeavor but equally an activity grounded on an instrumental basis, which is a cocktail of instruments and techniques wrapped in a social setting within a community of practitioners. The eudiometer has been shown to be one of the elements in this mix that kept a whole community of researchers together, even while they were at odds about the significance and the proper use of the thing."

By World War II, the demand for improved analyses of wartime products such as medicines, fuels, and weaponized agents pushed instrumentation to new heights. Today, changes to instruments used in scientific endeavors — particularly analytical instruments — are occurring rapidly, with interconnections to computers and data management systems becoming increasingly necessary.

Scope

Scientific instruments vary greatly in size, shape, purpose, complication and complexity. They include relatively simple laboratory equipment like scales, rulers, chronometers, thermometers, etc. Other simple tools developed in the late 20th century or early 21st century are the Foldscope (an optical microscope), the SCALE(KAS Periodic Table), the MasSpec Pen (a pen that detects cancer), the glucose meter, etc. However, some scientific instruments can be quite large in size and significant in complexity, like particle colliders or radio-telescope antennas. Conversely, microscale and nanoscale technologies are advancing to the point where instrument sizes are shifting towards the tiny, including nanoscale surgical instruments, biological nanobots, and bioelectronics.

The digital era

Instruments are increasingly based upon integration with computers to improve and simplify control; enhance and extend instrumental functions, conditions, and parameter adjustments; and streamline data sampling, collection, resolution, analysis (both during and post-process), and storage and retrieval. Advanced instruments can be connected as a local area network (LAN) directly or via middleware and can be further integrated as part of an information management application such as a laboratory information management system (LIMS). Instrument connectivity can be furthered even more using internet of things (IoT) technologies, allowing for example laboratories separated by great distances to connect their instruments to a network that can be monitored from a workstation or mobile device elsewhere.

Examples of scientific instruments

For lists of astronomical instruments, see List of telescope types and List of astronomical interferometers at visible and infrared wavelengths.

• Accelerometer, physical, acceleration
• Ammeter, electrical, amperage, current
• Anemometer, wind speed
• Caliper, distance
• Calorimeter, heat
• DNA sequencer, molecular biology
• Dynamometer, torque/force
• Electrometer, electric charge, potential difference
• Electroscope, electric charge
• Electrostatic analyzer, kinetic energy of charged particles
• Ellipsometer, optical refractive indices
• Eudiometer, gas volume
• Gravimeter, gravity
• Hydrometer
• Inclinometer, slope
• Interferometer, optics, infrared light spectra
• Magnetic tweezers, biomolecular manipulation
• Magnetograph, magnetic field
• Magnetometer, magnetic flux
• Manometer, air pressure
• Mass spectrometer, compound identification/characterization
• Micrometer, distance
• Microscope, optical magnification
• NMR spectrometer, chemical compound identification, medical diagnostic imaging
• Ohmmeter, electrical resistance/impedance
• Optical tweezers, nanoscale manipulation
• photometer, light intensity * Osciloscópio, tensão do sinal elétrico, amplitude, comprimento de onda, frequência, forma/padrão de forma de onda * Sismômetro, aceleração * Espectrograma, frequência sonora, comprimento de onda, amplitude * Espectrômetro, frequência da luz, comprimento de onda, amplitude * Telescópio, ampliação da luz (astronomia) * Termômetro, medição de temperatura * Theodolite, ângulos, levantamento * Termopar, temperatura * Voltímetro, voltage

==Lista de fabricantes de instrumentos científicos==

454 Ciências da Vida, Estados Unidos da América * ADInstruments, Nova Zelândia * Agilent Technologies, Estados Unidos da América * Anton Paar, Áustria * A. Reyrolle & Company * Beckman Coulter, Estados Unidos da América * Bruker, Estados Unidos da América * Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company, Reino Unido * Elementar, Alemanha * First Light Imaging, França * Horiba, Japão * JEOL, Japão * LECO Corporation, Estados Unidos da América * Markes International, Reino Unido * Malvern Instruments, Reino Unido * McPherson Inc, Estados Unidos da América * Mettler Toledo, Suíça / Estados Unidos da América * MTS Systems Corporation, EUA, mecânica * Novacam Technologies, Canadá * Oxford Instruments, Reino Unido * Pall Corp., Estados Unidos da América * PerkinElmer, Estados Unidos da América * Polímero Carvão, Espanha * Shimadzu Corp., Japão * Techtron, Melbourne, Austrália * Thermo Fisher Scientific, Estados Unidos da América * Waters Corporation, Estados Unidos da América

==Lista de designers de instrumentos científicos== Template:Veja também * Jones, William * Kipp, Petrus Jacobus * Le Bon, Gustave * Roelofs, Arjen * Schöner, Johannes * Von Reichenbach, Georg Friedrich ==História dos instrumentos científicos== ===Museus=== * Coleção de Instrumentos Científicos Históricos (CHSI) * Museu Boerhaave * Fundação do Patrimônio Químico * Deutsches Museum * Royal Victoria Gallery para o Incentivo à Ciência Prática * Museu Whipple da História da Ciência ===Historiografia=== * Prêmio Paul Bunge ==Tipos de instrumentos científicos== * Instrumento óptico * Equipamento de teste eletrônico ==Veja também== * Instrumentação * Instrumentalismo, uma teoria filosófica * Lista de colecionáveis * The dictionary definition of -tron at Wiktionary, um sufixo para denotar um instrumento científico complexo, como em cyclotron, phytotron, synchrotron, ... ==Referências==

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