Musee des Arts et Metiers

September 18, 2015

This is the museum associated with the National Conservatory of Arts and Industry (Conservatoire Nationale des Arts et Metiers), which I mentioned in my earlier blog post ("Back to Paris"), in which I visited the exterior of the buildings and the copper-clad Metro station.

The museum houses a collection of scientific instruments and displays dating back to 1794.  It's one of those museums in Paris that you usually don't have to stand in line for (especially on a weekday), but it's worth a visit if you are interested in science and/or engineering.  I found many of the displays fascinating, but there is quite a lot to see, and towards the end I was cruising through pretty quickly... though I suppose that describes my experience at the Louvre as well.

It's a nice walking route from the apartment to the museum, past Notre Dame and through the Marais. On the way, I passed this acacia, in a square across the river from Notre Dame, which is reportedly the oldest tree in the city, planted in 1500 something.  It has a couple of supports holding it up, but it's clearly very much alive:


Then I saw this beautiful mural in the Marais, with writing that reads (taken literally) "the spirit of the places":


So, on to the museum.  Here are a couple of slide rules and protractors; the larger slide rule is from 1671:


This is an adding machine from 1678.  (There were a couple from the same era built by Blaise Pascal, who has name recognition, but they were not as photogenic!)   (If you like audio guides, be sure to ask.  They apparently have them, judging from the little orange icon, but I saw no sign of them at the ticket counter, and I didn't feel like going back.)


An air pump, presumably for evacuating the bell jar at the top, from the 18th century:


Antoine Lavoisier is considered the "father of modern chemistry".  The collection included a large display of items from his laboratory, including an apparatus, in the center below, that was used in experiments supporting the principle of conservation of matter (where known amounts of hydrogen and oxygen were reacted to produce water).  The notes pointed out that he was quite well off financially and was thus able to afford the very precise instrumentation (by the standards of the day) needed to carry out his work.


Some more glassware, with brass (I presume) fittings:


Now we're no longer in Lavoisier's lab.  On the left is a Fresnel lens (of the type still used in lighthouses) from 1825, and on the right is an apparatus (1864) used to reproduce the phenomenon of the aurora borealis!


As indicated, this is a multiplication machine invented by Leon Bollee.  


Below is one of the elements used in the machine, showing the multiplication table from 1x1 (lower left) to 9x9 (upper right, with the tall rod in the corner representing 80 and the short rod just in front of it representing 1).  According to family history, I was fascinated with the "times tables" at the age of 4, when my older brother was learning them in 3rd grade.  I can vaguely remember that.  I probably liked the alliteration as well as the numbers.  So this little device appealed to me.  There was a video (available in English) that explained how the machine operated to multiply two three-digits numbers... but it went on and on and on, even for me, so after getting the general idea I wandered off.


The museum covered quite a few industries, including materials such as textiles.  This a loom from 1725 which could be programmed, using hole punched paper, to produce a specific pattern.  (They had quite a few of these on display.)


At that point I was getting a little tired, so I cruised through a number of displays about motors, automation, robotics, etc. etc.  I did want to see the Foucault's pendulum, which is housed in a former church (along with other large displays, such as automobiles and airplanes!).



Apparently this room is featured in Umberto Eco's novel of the same name.  The Pantheon, which is just around the corner from my apartment, normally has an even longer pendulum, since its dome is much higher, but it has been in storage for over a year while the building is being renovated.

On the way home, even though I was a little tired, I visited the remains of a medieval castle/fortress, the tower of Jean Sans Peur (since it has limited hours and was in the neighborhood).  That will be the subject of my next post...

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