The full Physics 300 Catalogue can be found here.

The Catalogue Fitzgerald Building

A lodestone is a rock that is rich in the mineral magnetite and has become magnetised naturally.  Lodestones have been known to have the property that they attract iron since antiquity. The lodestone in Trinity’s School of Physics instrument collection was donated to Richard Helsham by the Lord Chancellor, Thomas Wyndham, Baron of Finglas.  In its pure form, magnetite exists as shiny black crystals and its chemical formula is Fe₃O₄.  

History: ‘A Course of Lectures on Natural Philosophy’ by Richard Helsham was first published, posthumously, in 1739 by his former pupil and friend Bryan Robinson.  To place the lectures in context, Daniel Dafoe’s ‘Robinson Crusoe’ had been published in 1719 and Jonathan Swift’s ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ in 1726.  Isaac Newton’s revolutionary ‘Principia’ and ‘Opticks’ were first published in 1687 and 1704 in Latin and English, respectively, but were hardly suited for study by undergraduate students.  

The life and work of George Francis Fitzgerald is celebrated in a short volume edited by Denis Weaire [1]. It contains five articles which were originally published in the European Review [2] that focus on his life, membership of a circle known as the Maxwellians, which included Fitzgerald, Oliver Lodge, Oliver Heaviside and others, his correspondence with Heinrich Hertz and his contributions to industry and technology.  The article on the Maxwellians by Bruce Hunt of the University of Texas is an abridged version of his book with that title [3].  This article draws on these references.

After years of obscurity the Trinity pitch drop demonstration became an overnight sensation. The pitch tar was placed in the funnel in the School of Physics in October 1944, beginning what is now a 70 year continuously running demonstration. While appearing solid at room temperature, pitch tar flows very slowly with a drop falling from the end of the funnel approximately once in a decade. 

The silvered brass medal depicts on the obverse three of our most celebrated Erasmus Smith’s Professors of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, one from each of the three centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin. 

The commemoration medal was designed by Christopher Smith.

A brief summary of the career of Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton is provided in the section on the Erasmus Smith’s professors of natural and experimental philosophy. While studying for his PhD in Cambridge with Ernest Rutherford, Walton worked on the development of particle accelerators. This led to the Cockcroft-Walton linear accelerator described in their first Nature paper in February 1932. They reported accelerating protons from a discharge in hydrogen to a velocity of 1.16 x 10⁹ cm/s....

William Rowan Hamilton (1805–1865) is considered to be one of the world’s greatest mathematicians and physicists. His life and work have been extensively described by others [1-4]. Hamilton was a child prodigy. He displayed an extraordinary aptitude for languages from a very young age and when he was sixteen he uncle gave him a copy of Bartholomew Lloyd’s textbook in preparation for going to university, which stimulated his interest in mathematics. In 1823 he began his studies in Trinity College Dublin and he came first place in every examination and received “optimes” (a rarely awarded distinction) during his studies. 

Internal conical refraction is a striking optical phenomenon which arises when a beam of light is incident along one of the optic axes of a slab of transparent biaxial crystal. The beam propagates as a skewed hollow cone inside the crystal, and on leaving the crystal it refracts into a hollow cylinder of light, as shown in Figure 1. Conical refraction was predicted by William Rowan Hamilton in 1832 [1], and experimentally verified by Humphrey Lloyd [2], later that year.

Edward (known as Hutchie) was born on June 1^st, 1890. He arrived in Trinity College Dublin as a student in 1908, top among the sixteen student who secured “High Places at Entrance”. His stellar academic achievements continued with the Townsend Prize in mathematics at the end of his first year, followed by a Foundation Scholarship at the end of his second year.  Unexpectedly in 1911 following the death of JM Synge, he inherited almost half of his uncle’s estate and withdrew from Trinity without completing his degree. He remained a recluse for the rest of his adult life.

The life and work of Thomas Preston is described in an article by D. Weaire and S. O’Connor [1]. Herein is a short description of Preston’s career in physics in Trinity College Dublin and his discovery of the Anomalous Zeeman Effect. Preston was the subject of Weaire’s Trinity Monday Memorial Discourse in 1990.

In 1993 physicists Denis Weaire and Robert Phelan discovered, using computer simulations, the lowest energy structure known of an ideal monodisperse foam in the dry limit, i.e., it is the lowest energy arrangement of packed bubbles of equal volume. entered the world of foams. This structure is now commonly known as the Weaire-Phelan structure. A sculpture representing the Weaire-Phelan structure is on display on the third floor of the SNIAM Building.

John Joly is considered one of the most distinguished Irish scientist of his time. He made important contributions to geology, physics, engineering, medicine and  photography.

George Johnstone Stoney FRS (1826-1911) was born in the townland of Oakley Park, Clareen, near Birr, Co. Offaly.  He was educated at home and then at Trinity College Dublin, where he was awarded a BA degree in 1848.  Following his degree he became an assistant to William Parsons the 3^rd Earl of Rosse at Birr Castle, close to his childhood home in Co. Offaly. 

Further information on the  Erasmus Smith’s Professors from 1724 to 2024 is provided.

Physics Antique Instruments Catalogue 

Physics Antique Instrument Catalogue