A nucleic acid amplification and detection apparatus, including: a support configured to receive a plurality of reaction vessels containing respective samples of one or more nucleic acids to be amplified, the support being rotatable about an axis of rotation and the reaction vessels being received in the support at respective receiving locations distributed about the axis of rotation; a temperature control component thermally coupled to the support and configured to control the temperature of the support in order to amplify the nucleic acids contained in the reaction vessels while received in the support; a plurality of measurement components configured to measure respective characteristics of the nucleic acids within the reaction vessels at respective measurement locations distributed about the axis of rotation; an actuator coupled to the support and configured to rotate the support about the axis of rotation; and a sample position controller coupled to the actuator and being configured: (i) to selectively cause the actuator to rotate the support about the axis of rotation in an oscillatory manner to cause mixing of the contents of the reaction vessels; and (ii) to rotate the support about the axis of rotation so as to position a selected one of the plurality of reaction vessels to a selected one of the plurality of measurement locations to allow a corresponding one of the plurality of measurement components to perform a corresponding measurement on the corresponding sample. a support configured to receive a plurality of reaction vessels containing respective samples of one or more nucleic acids to be amplified, the support being rotatable about an axis of rotation and the reaction vessels being received in the support at respective receiving locations distributed about the axis of rotation; a temperature control component thermally coupled to the support and configured to control the temperature of the support in order to amplify the nucleic acids contained in the reaction vessels while received in the support; a plurality of measurement components configured to measure respective characteristics of the nucleic acids within the reaction vessels at respective measurement locations distributed about the axis of rotation; an actuator coupled to the support and configured to rotate the support about the axis of rotation; and a sample position controller coupled to the actuator and being configured: (i) to selectively cause the actuator to rotate the support about the axis of rotation in an oscillatory manner to cause mixing of the contents of the reaction vessels; and (ii) to rotate the support about the axis of rotation so as to position a selected one of the plurality of reaction vessels to a selected one of the plurality of measurement locations to allow a corresponding one of the plurality of measurement components to perform a corresponding measurement on the corresponding sample. (i) to selectively cause the actuator to rotate the support about the axis of rotation in an oscillatory manner to cause mixing of the contents of the reaction vessels; and (ii) to rotate the support about the axis of rotation so as to position a selected one of the plurality of reaction vessels to a selected one of the plurality of measurement locations to allow a corresponding one of the plurality of measurement components to perform a corresponding measurement on the corresponding sample.