The Leclanche Cell: Notes from the Oesper Collections, No. 24, January/February 2014

The Leclanché cell as depicted in Benjamin’s 1893 treatise on the voltaic cell.

The Leclanché cell as depicted in Benjamin’s 1893 treatise on the voltaic cell.

 

The 24th issue of Museum Notes highlights the Leclanché voltaic cell in both its original wet-cell form and modern dry-cell form. This cell is the basis of most of our current everyday batteries from the D-cells used in traditional flashlights to the smaller AAA-cells used in many of our everyday electronic devices.

Click here for all other issues of Notes from The Oesper Collections and to explore the Jensen-Thomas Apparatus Collection.

The Bunsen and Grove Cells : Notes from the Oesper Collections, No. 23, November/December 2013

An actual surviving example of the Grove cell and a spare ceramic spacer.

An actual surviving example of the Grove cell and a spare ceramic spacer.

 

The 23rd issue of Notes from The Oesper Collections highlights the famous Grove nitric acid cell and its later modification by Robert Bunsen which made it into a standard commercial and laboratory source of electrical energy for more than 50 years.

Click here for all other issues of Notes from The Oesper Collections and to explore the Jensen-Thomas Apparatus Collection.

Oesper Collections Attract International Scholars

(Contributed by Dr. William Jensen, Curator of the Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry)

As the global reputation of the Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry continues to grow, these special collections are attracting the attention of more and more international scholars.

Starting in January 2013, Professor José Chamizo of the University of Mexico spent three months of his sabbatical  working in the collections and  returned once more in  June for another two weeks. While at Cincinnati his research focused on the role of instrumentation in initiating chemical revolutions and on the life and work of the 19th-century Mexican chemist, José Ortigiosa.

Detailed image from the Splendor Solis manuscript

Detailed image from the Splendor Solis manuscript

Detailed image from the Splendor Solis manuscript

Detailed image from the Splendor Solis manuscript

In late June, the Oesper collections were also visited by Dr. Eberhard Slenczka, former Director of Libraries for the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremburg, who came to examine our facsimile of the 16th century alchemical manuscript known as the Splendor Solis in order to make comparisons with the copies found in Nuremburg, Paris, London and Spain.

Please direct questions regarding access and use of the Oesper collections to  Professor William B. Jensen or Ted Baldwin, Director of Science and Engineering Libraries.

Fire Protection, Optics/Photonics, Welding : New Knovel E-Books

Three new subject areas are now available via UC’s subscription to the Knovel e-book and e-data resource.  (All links will prompt for your UC Central Login when off-campus)

Note: once you access a link, scroll down to view a list of included titles.

Knovel contains e-books and interactive data sets for science, engineering, and related areas: sustainable energy, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and operations management.

E-Book Collection of IET now available

Institution of Engineering and Technology logoThe e-book collection of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is now available.  This collection is part of the IET Digital Library and contains more than 300 e-books dated 1979 through 2011.  These e-books are also discoverable through the UC Library catalog (series IET Digital Library) and the Summon search system.

Content covers twelve major areas:

  • Circuits, Devices and Systems
  • Control Engineering
  • Electrical Technology
  • Electromagnetic Waves
  • History of Technology
  • Manufacturing
  • Management of Technology
  • Power and Energy
  • Professional Applications of Computing
  • Radar, Sonar, Navigation and Avionics
  • Renewable Energy
  • Telecommunications

These e-books are downloadable in PDF format as either individual chapters or the entire book.

SPIE E-Books in Optics and Photonics Now Available

UC Libraries recently purchased the eBooks collection on the SPIE Digital Library platform.  Find these at http://spiedl.org/ebooks (UC Central Login required to view off-campus).   For now, please utilize the SPIE link for direct access.  Access via the UC Library catalog and the Summon search system is forthcoming.

SPIE is one of the world’s foremost non-profit societies in the field of light research.  The eBook collection includes more than 150 titles from SPIE Press.  Dating from 1989 to 2012, these titles include field guides, reference books, and tutorial texts in the field of optics and photonics.

SPIE Digital Library - ebooks and more

Subject coverage for SPIE eBooks and the broader SPIE Digital Library includes:

  • Astronomy & Astronomical Optics
  • Biomedical Optics and Imaging
  • Communication and Information Technologies
  • Defense and Industrial Sensing
  • Electronic Imaging and Processing
  • Micro- and Nano- Technologies
  • Optics and Electro-Optics

OhioLINK Notice

OhioLINK will be switching to a new book delivery vendor in early March. This change may lead to minor delays in service as a new system is put in place. If you anticipate needing library materials at that time, we recommend allowing extra time to receive your requests. Questions? Please contact a librarian.

UC Libraries Present Talk from Renowned Book Conservator William Minter

Join UC Libraries at a talk by renowned book conservator William Minter who will display and discuss the conservation treatment he did to the historic Martyrs Mirror. Scheduled for Friday, October 28th from 1:30-3:00pm in 814 Blegen, the talk is free and open to the public. A Q&A will follow and refreshments will be served.

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