Preserving the Chemical Memory

23 November 2000, Conference Room of the Science Museum and Imperial College Library

Peter Morris called his presentation "Chemical Treasurehouses", and discussed the role of museums in the preservation of the chemical memory. Dr Morris drew the distinction between collections and exhibitions. The vast majority of what is collected is never put on display. The paper focused on collections, as these are crucial to preservation. Initially, the Science Museum existed to display the latest examples of science and technology for the benefit of teachers keeping up with the recent developments. Only gradually did the Keepers begin to sanction the collection of historic objects.. What kinds of objects should be preserved? The most obvious are "iconic" objects, associated with major scientific events or famous scientists. As we get nearer the present-day, matters become more complicated. The concept of a single famous scientist working more or less alone fades to be replaced by a team. The problem of equipment being reused or cannibalised has always been present, but now that equipment is shared by a whole department, the issue of association becomes all the more fraught. Attention has therefore shifted towards collecting examples of generic equipment. This is very tricky as there is potentially no limit to the number of objects that could be collected. Very recently, the Museum has switched from mass collecting to collecting in depth, by acquiring a group of associated objects rather than one instrument on its own and by collecting documentation about the objects and how they were used. As a chemistry curator, Dr Morris explained that he has several current problems. For legal and practical reasons, he can no longer collect radioactive objects or chemicals unless they are of the utmost importance. Another problem is that the Museum is now in competition with used equipment dealers and auctioneers.

Dr Slater's paper was entitled "Recovering a Usable Past: Oral History and the Chemical Sciences" Dr Slater discussed the process of conducting oral histories, touching on both why and how they should be done. Of three possible ways to reconstruct the past - myth, memory, and history - oral history often partakes more of myth and memory than of history. Nevertheless, these ways of knowing are powerful tools for constructing a usable past. Oral history can be employed to enrich the historical record, generate historical leads, provide new information, and, perhaps most importantly, inform the historical imagination, allowing us to fill the gaps in the record with plausible conjecture and to create coherent narratives. All historical evidence is potentially subjective, arbitrary, biased, or false, but oral history is an interactive process, allowing one to probe and question. The historical actors of our recent past have a profoundly different culture compared to their predecessors. For many reasons, these subjects will leave behind fewer diaries, memoirs, and less extensive personal correspondence than their predecessors. These missing parts of the historical record can be replaced with oral histories, which also supplement more traditional archival collections in practical ways. It is with this in mind that the Chemical Heritage Foundation has conducted more than 200 oral history interviews with chemists, engineers, and chemical business leaders.

Peter Harper, Director of the National Cataloguing Unit for the Archives of Contemporary Scientists at the University of Bath, talked about the NCUACS's work in preserving chemists' archives within its wider remit to preserve the archives of distinguished contemporary British scientists. The NCUACS is a processing centre, locating the archives, cataloguing them and handing them over to established archive repositories for permanent preservation and supervised research access. Most of the chemists whose archives have been preserved have been university researchers. The paper gave examples of the types of records in chemists' archives which documented their personal, professional and public lives. Records of professional life, for example, may document a chemist's contribution to science or the scientific community as learner, teacher, researcher, director of institute or department, writer, editor, lecturer, conference organiser or speaker, and member of learned society or international scientific organisation. For further information about the work of the NCUACS including lists of the archives of chemists catalogued and places of deposit see: http://www.bath.ac.uk/Centres/NCUACS/.

David Cranstone's paper was entitled "Eyesore or Ancient Monument - chemical sites as archaeological heritage". Archaeology was initially mainly about excavation and artefacts, but more recently landscape survey and standing buildings have come to form major parts of archaeology, as it takes up the full meaning of its definition as 'the study of the past from material (as opposed to documentary) evidence'. The more recent past, including industrial archaeology and the 20th century, is also now very much a part of the subject. Conservation has always been an important part of archaeology - the first Ancient Monuments legislation dates from the 1880s, and nowadays the majority of field archaeology is related either to conservation or to investigations in advance of proposed developments. As a result, every local government area holds, or has access to, a Sites and Monuments Record which aims to hold basic data about all known archaeological sites in its area. However, the coverage of industrial archaeology in these SMRs remains patchy, especially for industries such as Chemicals which have not been a focus of attention from industrial archaeologists. It is hoped that many of those interested in the history of chemistry will contribute to the consultation process about future sites, both in terms of academic content and in terms of sites for shortlisting. This is an important opportunity to secure the preservation of sites relating to chemical production on the industrial scale.

Dr Leaback's paper was entitled "Experience with Efforts to Project the Memory of Some Epic London Chemistries into the Future". While the romantic, but hackneyed, 'Perkin Story' has been published hundreds of times, very little original work had been carried out on the London background to the important events involved. It emerged that the story concerned was well known among chemists generally, but that there was almost no living memory of it in its original London locations. A corollary of this was that virtually all traces of that story had vanished locally, so that authorities like English Heritage would not erect much-needed Blue Memorial Plaques there. However, a local trust was persuaded to do so. English Heritage was persuaded to erect a Blue Plaque on Hofmann's Fitzroy Square residence. However J.A.R. Newlands' birthplace in West Square, Southwark, was not regarded as sufficiently meritorious for a plaque, until the Royal Society of Chemistry agreed to erect one. This has already proved its value educationally. Dr Leaback has recently published what is probably the first account of the 8 years the Faradays lived in Newington, leading to a better understanding of Michael's attitudes to life and work.

John Hudson