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Instruments

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Science and technology

Scientific instrument - Wikipedia

A scientific instrument is a device or tool used for scientific purposes, including the study of both natural phenomena and theoretical research.[1]

History[edit]

Historically, the definition of a scientific instrument has varied, based on usage, laws, and historical time period.[1][2][3] 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."[1][3] 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.[4][5]

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."[6]

By World War II, the demand for improved analyses of wartime products such as medicines, fuels, and weaponized agents pushed instrumentation to new heights.[7] 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.[8][9]

Scope[edit]

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),[10] 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.[11][12]

The digital era[edit]

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).[13][14] 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.[15]

Examples of scientific instruments

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

Meteorological instruments (or weather instruments), including meteorological sensors (weather sensors), are the equipment used to find the state of the atmosphere at a given time. Each science has its own unique sets of laboratory equipment. Meteorology, however, is a science which does not use much laboratory equipment but relies more on on-site observation and remote sensing equipment. In science, an observation, or observable, is an abstract idea that can be measured and for which data can be taken. Rain was one of the first quantities to be measured historically. Two other accurately measured weather-related variables are wind and humidity. Many attempts had been made prior to the 15th century to construct adequate equipment to measure atmospheric variables.

History

Devices used to measure weather phenomena in the mid-20th century were the rain gauge, the anemometer, and the hygrometer. The 17th century saw the development of the barometer and the Galileo thermometer while the 18th century saw the development of the thermometer with the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales. The 20th century developed new remote sensing tools, such as weather radars, weather satellites and wind profilers, which provide better sampling both regionally and globally. Remote sensing instruments collect data from weather events some distance from the instrument and typically stores the data where the instrument is located and often transmits the data at defined intervals to central data centers.

In 1441, King Sejong's son, Prince Munjong, invented the first standardized rain gauge. These were sent throughout the Joseon Dynasty of South Korea as an official tool to assess land taxes based upon a farmer's potential harvest. In 1450, Leone Battista Alberti developed a swinging-plate anemometer, and is known as the first anemometer.[1]

In 1607, Galileo Galilei constructs a thermoscope. In 1643, Evangelista Torricelli invents the mercury barometer.[1] In 1662, Sir Christopher Wren invented the mechanical, self-emptying, tipping bucket rain gauge. In 1714, Gabriel Fahrenheit creates a reliable scale for measuring temperature with a mercury-type thermometer.[2] In 1742, Anders Celsius, a Swedish astronomer, proposed the 'centigrade' temperature scale, the predecessor of the current Celsius scale.[3] In 1783, the first hair hygrometer is demonstrated by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure. In 1806, Francis Beaufort introduced his system for classifying wind speeds.[4] The April 1960 launch of the first successful weather satellite, TIROS-1, marked the beginning of the age where weather information became available globally.

This was also used to measure the temperature of the surrounding air.

Types

Modern 2020 aneroid barometer

See also: List of weather instruments

A thermometer measures air temperature, or the kinetic energy of the molecules within air. A barometer measures atmospheric pressure, or the pressure exerted by the weight of the Earth's atmosphere above a particular location. An anemometer measures the wind speed and the direction the wind is blowing from at the site where it is mounted.

A hygrometer measures the relative humidity at a location, which can then be used to compute the dew point. Radiosondes directly measure most of these quantities, except for wind, which is determined by tracking the radiosonde signal with an antenna or theodolite. Supplementing the radiosondes a network of aircraft collection is organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which also use these instruments to report weather conditions at their respective locations. A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its suborbital flight.

A pyranometer is a type of actinometer used to measure broadband solar irradiance on a planar surface and is a sensor that is designed to measure the solar radiation flux density (in watts per metre square) from a field of view of 180 degrees. A ceilometer is a device that uses a laser or other light source to determine the height of a cloud base. Ceilometers can also be used to measure the aerosol concentration within the atmosphere.

A ceiling balloon is used by meteorologists to determine the height of the base of clouds above ground level during daylight hours. The principle behind the ceiling balloon is a balloon with a known ascent rate (how fast it climbs) and determining how long the balloon rises until it disappears into the cloud. Ascent rate times ascent time yields the ceiling height. A disdrometer is an instrument used to measure the drop size distribution and velocity of falling hydrometeors. Rain gauges are used to measure the precipitation which falls at any point on the Earth's landmass.

Remote sensing, as used in meteorology, is the concept of collecting data from remote weather events and subsequently producing weather information. Each remote sensing instrument collects data about the atmosphere from a remote location and, usually, stores the data where the instrument is located. The most common types of remote sensing are radar, lidar, and satellites (also photogrammetry). The main uses of radar are to collect information concerning the coverage and characteristics of precipitation and wind.

Satellites are chiefly used to determine cloud cover, as well as wind. SODAR (SOnic Detection And Ranging) is a meteorological instrument as one form of wind profiler, which measures the scattering of sound waves by atmospheric turbulence. Sodar systems are used to measure wind speed at various heights above the ground, and the thermodynamic structure of the lower layer of the atmosphere. Radar and lidar are not passive because both use electromagnetic radiation to illuminate a specific portion of the atmosphere.[5] Weather satellites along with more general-purpose Earth-observing satellites circling the earth at various altitudes have become an indispensable tool for studying a wide range of phenomena from forest fires to El Niño....