Scientific instruments provide crucial historical information about the research process, and are valuable sources for historians of science and technology. The design of the radiometers which William Crookes constructed for his own use in experimentation in the mid-1870s show technical features originally developed by the German instrument maker Heinrich Geissler in the construction of his “lightmills”. Further analysis reveals a myriad of connections between scientists and instrument makers. Members of this group such as Geissler or his former apprentice and co-worker Goetze participated in the discussion of radiometer effects and their place within the kinetic theory of gases, going beyond a passive role as invisible technicians to actively intervene in the research process. These technological improvements contributed both to basic and applied scientific knowledge, and the proliferation of their instruments created a network of cooperation and competition which lay the foundations for a new field of research.
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