Welche Arten von wissenschaftlichen Instrumenten wurden um die Wende zum 19. Jahrhundert in Griechenland, damals eine Provinz des Osmanischen Reiches, verwendet? Artemis Yagou skizziert die Verwendung wissenschaftlicher Instrumente und die damit verbundenen neuen Praktiken und Mentalitäten in Griechenland.
What kinds of scientific instruments were used around the turn of the nineteenth century in Greece, then a province of the Ottoman Empire? Artemis Yagou outlines the uses of scientific instruments and the associated emerging practices and mentalities in Greece.
The bearded, long-haired man shown on a copperplate portrait of the late eighteenth century appears intelligent and confident (title picture). He wears the attire of an Orthodox Christian priest, holds a small book, and is surrounded by objects underpinning his activities as an educated man: numerous leather-bound volumes, a pair of compasses, and a globe. He is the Greek scholar Anthimos Gazis (1758–1828), from the village of Milies (Pilio mountain, Thessaly). The portrait is printed on the frontispiece of his book Γραμματική των Φιλοσοφικών Επιστημών, a translation of The Philosophical Grammar, originally published in 1735 by Benjamin Martin (1705–1782), the English lexicographer and maker of scientific instruments. This translation was one of several publishing initiatives meant to introduce the Greek-speaking public to the latest scientific developments.
In 1813, Gazis also founded a school at Milies, in collaboration with other Greek scholars. He equipped the school with scientific instruments that he brought from Vienna, some of which still survive at the Public Library of Milies; one of them is a standard electrostatic machine. This object is very similar to the machine with Accession number 2231 kept in the Whipple Museum of the History of Science in Cambridge, dated c. 1775–1800 and typically used for demonstration purposes (Fig. 2). The electrostatic machine at the Milies School was likewise used to conduct electrical demonstrations and familiarise students and other locals with electricity and its properties; the experiments conducted there greatly impressed those who attended them. Such scientific experimental performances ushered in a new, critical outlook. The teachers of that school aimed to make students – and anyone else interested – aware that natural phenomena had logical and scientific interpretations. Through their pioneering activities, these men aimed to fight superstition and prejudice by popularising scientific findings and applying them to the daily lives of people.

Fig. 2: Electrostatic machine, British, c. 1775–1800, Whipple Museum of the History of Science, Cambridge, Accession No 2231.
Clearly, Gazis and other Greek scholars had realised the seminal significance of experiments. Nevertheless, they could only perform relatively simple experiments, serving primarily purposes of demonstration and proof and only rarely of research. In other words, experiments were not used for measurements that could lead to the formulation of physical laws. Making experiments in Ottoman Greece was not easy at all; one of the major obstacles was the lack of appropriate equipment and materials. In their publications, Greek intellectuals discussed numerous physical and chemical experiments, as well as the instruments and materials required for their realisation, among others: electrostatic machines, Leyden jars, precision scales, precision timers, air pumps, Magdeburg hemispheres, armillary spheres, magnets, lenses, sufficient quantities of mercury, chemical reagents, etc. (Fig. 3). Alas, most of these were difficult or impossible to find locally, therefore many experiments were not feasible. Despite the limitations of their experimental practices, Greek scholars of the time managed to develop their way of thinking, assimilate new scientific ideas, and become more confident in their teaching activities. They realised the significance of direct, hands-on practice for acquiring new knowledge and felt empowered.

Fig. 3: Copperplate illustration of an air pump included as ‘Table a’ in Anthimos Gazis, Γραμματικὴ τῶν Φιλοσοφικῶν Επιστημῶν [Grammar of Philosophical Sciences], Vienna: Schraembl, 1799.
The actions of these highly educated individuals were embedded within a broader sociocultural transformation that was taking place during the last decades of the eighteenth century and the first of the nineteenth. An emerging Greek middle class was enjoying financial prosperity and intellectual growth, and had internalised the significance of education. That period, later termed Greek (or Neohellenic, or Balkan) Enlightenment, was directly influenced by the wider philosophical and intellectual movement in eighteenth-century Western Europe, and is considered a local manifestation of the overall European Enlightenment. The major characteristic of the Greek Enlightenment was a shift in consciousness, a fundamental change in the way people had begun to think about themselves. The Greek Enlightenment encompassed the belief in rational thinking, self-improvement, and the pursuit of happiness; the usage of scientific instruments contributed to these themes.
Historians often also describe the decades of the Greek Enlightenment as ‘pre-revolutionary’, since they prepared the ground for the Greek Revolution (Greek War of Independence) (1821–c.1830), a protracted and extremely violent struggle for self-determination and liberty by Greek populations of the Ottoman Empire. As soon as the Greek Revolution erupted, scientific instruments for education inevitably became sidelined, lost, and destroyed during the chaotic and harrowing times that followed. During the revolutionary years, the scientific instruments that became more visible and critical were telescopes, marine compasses, and other nautical instruments. Such portable items were already familiar and available to Greek sailors of the pre-revolutionary merchant marine; they were subsequently used by for war-related purposes. Originating primarily from England, France, Russia, and the Habsburg Empire, these instruments were acquired through various channels. Typically, Greeks ordered them from the countries of origin or purchased them locally in Europe; Philhellenes also sponsored and donated them. Diasporic Greeks and various foreigners brought such instruments with them when they came to Greece to join the liberation struggle. But that is another story.

Fig. 4: Ramsden Electrostatic Machine, late eighteenth century, National Historical Museum, Athens.
My personal involvement with the topic of scientific instruments is a spin-off from my work on late eighteenth to early nineteenth century pocket watches and, more generally, on the material culture of early modern Greece. Small numbers of the scientific instruments under discussion survive today in various collections, predominantly in Athenian museums: the National Historical Museum, the Benaki Museum, the War Museum, the Athens University History Museum, the National Observatory of Athens, and the Philhellenism Museum (Fig. 4). Early scientific instruments may also be found in the Historical Archive–Museum of Hydra island, in the Municipal Library of Milies, in the Kairios Library (Andros Island), as well as in various private collections. Systematic, object-based investigation of these artefacts remains to be conducted; further research and hands-on examination of the artefacts are needed in order to acquire a deeper understanding of the provenance and circulation practices of scientific instruments, the mentalities of individual actors, and the appropriation processes involved.
Recommendations for further reading
Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation, London: Allen Lane, 2019.
Artemis Yagou, PhD, is a historian of design and technology, Research Associate at the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
Title picture: Portrait of Anthimos Gazis used as a frontispiece in his book Γραμματικὴ τῶν Φιλοσοφικῶν Επιστημῶν [Grammar of Philosophical Sciences], Vienna: Schraembl, 1799.