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Article ID: CBB849444285

Tools for Chemists: The Desreux-Bischoff Viscosimeter (2015)

Laszlo, Pierre (Author)

Bulletin for the History of Chemistry
Volume: 40
Issue: 2
Pages: 95-102
Publication date: 2015
Language: English

URI: http://acshist.scs.illinois.edu/bulletin_open_access/v40-2/vol40-2%20p95-102.pdf

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Laboratory notebooks Social class Laboratory technicians Chemistry Glass and glassmaking Scientific apparatus and instruments 20th century Desreux, Victor

The previous paper in this series was devoted to the so-called Dean-Stark trap, used to remove water from a solvent or a solution (1). The name of the glassblower, Mr. Demuth, who actually made the apparatus, was absent from the roster of authors, even though his contribution was acknowledged at the end of the article. This was not an oversight. As a rule, glassblowers, and technicians more generally, were not included in print. It was a social class distinction. Laboratory technicians, during that period of the 1920s, were like blue-collar workers in industry. They were deemed mere manual workers. Authorship of scientific publications was reserved for scientists, typically those with a Ph.D. degree, whose contributions were recorded in a laboratory notebook, prior to possible transfer to journal pages (2). Such an inferior status of technicians endured into the 1950s, as the present paper will showcase. Another glassblower, Mr. Wenig, was the “invisible man” in the paper I am about to describe and comment upon (3). Since I was professionally acquainted with this gentleman, this article also draws on personal recollections.

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