Spinthariscope
date: label: date made
content: early 20th century
notes: label: Description
content: A spinthariscope consists of a fluorescent screen, a magnifying eyepiece, and a speck of radium. By looking through the eyepiece, one sees scintillations caused by alpha particles from the radium hitting the screen. William Crookes, a prominent English chemist, designed the form in 1903, coined the term (deriving it from the Greek word for scintillation), and arranged for its manufacture. The inscription on this example reads “W. CROOKES / SPINTHARISCOPE / GRIFFIN, LONDON.”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England, London
topic: label: Subject
content: Science & Scientific Instruments
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Biological Sciences
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, School of Science, Department of Chemistry
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1994.3029.04
label: nonaccession number
content: 1994.3029
label: catalog number
content: 1994.3029.04
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Spinthariscope
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: leather (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4.8 cm x 2.2 cm; 1 7/8 in x 7/8 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 in x 4 in x 2 1/2 in; 10.16 cm x 10.16 cm x 6.35 cm