2026-10-06 Science Museum Group Collection (London)
URL: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk
Queries: crookes radiant matter; crookes tube gimingham; maker page william-crookes; crookes notebook.
Found [web]
- Archive MS/0410, "Laboratory Notebooks of William Crookes", July 1875 - July 1883, 5 volumes: - /1 Rough Note Book July 1875 to April 1877 (contents page on "viscosity apparatus" experiments); - /2 Rough Note Book April 1877 to March 1880 ("a few pages at rear contain notes for lectures in Dublin and Sheffield and at Chemical Society"); - /3 Chemical Note Book 7 Feb 1881 to 7 July 1883 (experiments 1-185); - /4 Laboratory Note Book July 1875 to Dec 1877 (experiments 758-1334, indexed); - /5 Laboratory Note Book 1 Jan 1878 to 4 May 1881 (experiments 1335-1646). Access note on the catalogue: "The volumes register slight radiation and are currently unavailable." Copies "may be supplied in accordance with current copyright legislation". https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/documents/aa110067393/laboratory-notebooks-of-william-crookes
- Earlier laboratory notebook April 1858 - April 1862 (thallium discovery), with 31 thallium specimens.
- Objects listed under Crookes as maker (titles from the results list; records not opened): "Crookes' Maltese cross tube"; "Pear shaped Crookes' tube"; "Crookes' shadow tube, 1914"; "Crookes' Magnetic Deflection Tube, 1914"; "Crookes tube with concave cathode"; "Crookes' Tube Showing how Cathode Rays Illuminate Rubies, 1878-1888"; "Crookes' 'Watering Can' Discharge Tube"; "Crookes' tube for showing how a magnet affects cathode rays, 1888"; several "Crookes vacuum tube containing a mineral sample"; "Crookes vacuum tube containing a fluorescent screen". The results count shown (4,615) suggests the maker filter may not have applied, so some of these may be by other makers.
Bearing on the claims
- MS/0410/5 (Jan 1878 - May 1881) and /2 (with notes for the Sheffield lecture) are Crookes's own lab records for the exact period of the lecture. They should hold the pressures, pumps, gas fills and failed runs behind claims 1-6, none of which the lecture gives [read: deep read, "What is not in the document"]. The access restriction (radioactive contamination, presumably from his later radium work) explains why this record is hard to reach; it is not a sign of anything hidden. Ask the Science Museum whether scans exist or copies can be supplied.
- The ruby tube (1878-1888) and the concave-cathode and magnetic tubes are surviving apparatus of the type in Figs. 4, 8, 14-21 (claims 3-5).