Give your instruments to the museums?

Also in this week's C&EN, this letter to the editor: 

We read with much interest the article discussing options of what to do with old laboratory equipment and instruments (C&EN, June 17, 2024, page 16). The article describes an ad hoc approach to dealing with surplus equipment, which is not dissimilar to our experiences at other institutions.

The author points out that less attention tends to be paid to expensive instruments after they have been superseded, and she lists three options: “Sell, donate, or scrap.” We would like to propose a fourth option: consider archiving old documents and equipment. Science and medicine museums, such as the Wellcome Collection and Science Museum in London, are considered national treasures in the UK: 89% of adults surveyed earlier this year said museums are important to UK culture. Museums attract visitors. The Science Museum, for example, attracts nearly 3 million visitors per year and appeared in the top 10 visitor attractions in the UK in 2013 and 2023.

People experience and learn science in many different places and ways, not just at school, and science museums are informal learning experiences that help broaden people’s perception of science and medicine. They also have the potential to inspire a broader range of people and bring about more diversity in the field.d

Please consider archiving documents and equipment, and remember that a beaker or an ordinary piece of kit today might constitute a precious artifact tomorrow.

Sami A. Al-Ani and Ilaria Scaglia 

Birmingham, England

Uh, I think that the available old scientific instruments could easily overwhelm museums. But hey, you can ask!