Microscope
Production date
1850
Country
Australia
State/Province
Queensland
Object detail
Description
English Drum Microscope c.1850. Developed in England during the second half of the nineteenth century, this drum microscope is constructed entirely from brass, and was made in large numbers for general sale in London and its nearby communities.
Classification
SCIENCES Instruments Optical microscope
Maker
Production date
1850
Production place
Media/Materials description
Brass
History and use
These basic brass sliding body microscopes were produced in large numbers for general sale to amateur microscopists between 1820 and 1880, and continued to be sold into the early twentieth century. This particular fully restored microscope was possibly Noel Monkman’s first microscope during his childhood.
Noel and Kitty Monkman were largely based at Green Island with their laboratory and theatre, and devoted their energies to making educational natural history movie documentaries and feature films. They went on to produce and direct 23 films, including 2 feature films. The film ‘Invisible Wonders of the Great Barrier Reef’ in 1961 was Noel’s apogee in cine micrography. Much of Noel’s film was used in the Academy Award winning film ‘The Sea Around Us’, from Rachel Carson’s book of the same name. For his skill as a microscopist and also for the excellence of his work in cine-micrography and photomicrography, Noel was elected a Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society, London in April 1948. He was also made an Associate of the Cinematographers Society, Sydney.
The entire Monkman collection at Museum of Tropical Queensland consists of four microscopes, microscopical equipment, transparencies, and commercial microslides.
Noel and Kitty Monkman were largely based at Green Island with their laboratory and theatre, and devoted their energies to making educational natural history movie documentaries and feature films. They went on to produce and direct 23 films, including 2 feature films. The film ‘Invisible Wonders of the Great Barrier Reef’ in 1961 was Noel’s apogee in cine micrography. Much of Noel’s film was used in the Academy Award winning film ‘The Sea Around Us’, from Rachel Carson’s book of the same name. For his skill as a microscopist and also for the excellence of his work in cine-micrography and photomicrography, Noel was elected a Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society, London in April 1948. He was also made an Associate of the Cinematographers Society, Sydney.
The entire Monkman collection at Museum of Tropical Queensland consists of four microscopes, microscopical equipment, transparencies, and commercial microslides.
Associated person
Registration number
H48191
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