Boerhaave Museum
Encyclopedia
Museum Boerhaave is a museum of the history of science
and medicine, based in Leiden, the Netherlands. The museum hosts a collection of historical scientific instrument
s from all disciplines, but mainly from medicine
, physics
, and astronomy
.
This museum is located in a building that was originally a convent in central Leiden. It includes a reconstructed traditional anatomical theatre
. It also has many galleries that include the apparatus with which Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
first liquefied helium
(in Leiden), the electromagnet equipment used by Wander Johannes de Haas
(a Leiden physicist) for his low-temperature research, and an example of the Leiden jar, among many other objects in the extensive collection.
The museum is named after Herman Boerhaave
, a Dutch physician and botanist who was famous in Europe for his teaching at Leiden and lived to a great age, receiving brilliant students from all over Europe, including Peter the Great, Voltaire
and Linnaeus.
. The many objects in the exhibition came from all the learned corners of the country. It was a great success and there were immediately calls to set up a permanent science history exhibit.
In 1928 a foundation was initiated by physicist Claude August Crommelin, who worked at Leiden university, for a museum for the history of natural sciences. The aim of the museum was described in the preliminary statutes of the foundation: "the collection of instruments, tools, slides and specimens, documents and other objects, which are important for the history of the natural sciences; to look after these objects, describe them and keep them in a museum which is to be located in Leiden". The sciences to be represented included: Astronomy
, Physics
, Chemistry
, Botany
, Zoology
, Pharmacy
, all medical sciences - including Physiology
, Anatomy
et cetera, and Mathematics
.
In 1931 the museum opened as "The Dutch Historical Museum of the Natural Sciences" (Het Nederlandsch Historisch Natuurwetenschappelijk Museum). To the view of Crommelin, the museum was to become a national museum: the 's Gravesande-Musschenbroek collection would form the starting point, to which collections from other institutes were to be added.
In 1947 the museum, which was in fact a private foundation, became formally a national museum
. It was renamed to "The Dutch National Museum for the History of the Natural Sciences" (Rijksmuseum voor de Geschiedenis van Natuurwetenschappen). An advisory board was installed in which members of Dutch universities would take seat. It underlined the ambition to become a national museum, not a museum solely connected to the Leiden University. The plan was to merge collections of all scientific institutes in one museum, but this did not truly succeed.
From 1967 on it became clear that a new location was needed to properly display the collection: the former nunnery of St Caecilia. With the prospect of a new location the name of the Museum was changed to "Museum Boerhaave". However, it took more than twenty years before the museum finally moved.
The Boerhaave Museum is running a project to document approx. 3000 objects in its collection online, with pictures and descriptions for every single object. In April 2010 the site featured over 1750 objects, ordered by room and showcase. This overview is in large part based on the museum's online documentation.
The museum has 25 rooms, which are by and large organised chronologically, with thematical subgroupings per room.
Gaper
s (wooden heads miming the swallowing of pills) and other shop signs for pharmacies
and druggists. Also a 'dictionary of health': a tall book-shaped wooden chest (1660) filled with simple
s (basic substances used in medicine).
1 The Leiden Anatomical Theater
The room shows a reconstruction (1988) of the Theatrum Anatomicum (anatomical theatre
) (built 1596). A richly decorated instrument chest (1670) which belonged to the Leiden surgeon
's guild
. A small collection of objects (largely Egyptian antiquities) that survived from the now gone Leiden Theatrum (one of the oldest museums of Europe ) are shown as well. On the wall three paintings: one depicting the magistrates of the Catharina and Caecilia Hospitals (the latter now houses the museum), a second showing a Prussian peasant from whom a 10 inch sword, swallowed in a drinking bout, has surgically been removed, a third showing renowned surgeon and designer of medical instruments Cornelis Solingen (1680). One of Solingen's inventions (part of the collection) was a screw to unindent a soldiers skull who had been hit by a bullet. Often in those days bullets did not fully penetrate a skull, merely deformed it.
2 Drawn from life
Four large allegoric
paintings (± 1610) show in stages how the appreciation of a patient for his physician declines, from being a true savior when the illness is at its height, towards being a devil
when the bill has been delivered. Three solid figures of Saints Cosmas and Damian
, patrons of doctors and pharmacists. Six anatomical
books and drawings (1520–1570) and six books on herbs (1480–1590) testify how in the Renaissance
there was an urge to study life diligently and not take traditional beliefs for granted. A large collection of baked and painted apothecary jars
(1550–1650) and (often ornamented) cast-iron and bronze mortars (1350-1700).
3 The Golden Age
4 The University of Leiden. Boerhaave and ‘s Gravensande
This large room is dedicated to physician, botanist and chemist Herman Boerhaave
, physicist Willem 's Gravesande
and instrument-maker Jan van Musschenbroeck. On display are large globe
s and a tiny pocket globe (all ~1700), each depicting heaven and earth. A table size planetarium by clock-maker Steven Tracy Mercury shows Venus, Earth with its moon, Mars, Jupiter with four moons and Saturn. There is also a large star atlas.
Air pumps (1670–1730) and demonstration devices, notably several Magdeburg hemispheres, were made to explore the properties of the newly discovered vacuum
. Other devices did the same for centrifugal force
, collision
s and laws of momentum
, and gravity.
Hydrometer
s, an aerometer, a hydrostatic bellows
, a balance and steam pump, several table-top fountain
s all were used to look into hydrostatic pressure, and capillary attraction.
Also shown are a large set of mathemical instruments to measure angles: sector
s, a protractor
and beam compass.
A collection of balances, lever
s, tackle
s demonstrate laws of statics
.
A variety of lens
es, prism
s, a slit, trays and screens explore optics
. About ten screw-barrel and compound miscroscope
s (1710–1780) demonstrate how this young science underwent dramatic progress in few years. A veriety of curved mirrors, used as anamorphic
toys, show how a deliberately distorted image can be restored back to the original.
The room also houses a range of instruments (lever
s and forceps) used to facilicate child birth.
Lastly, shown are models of three out of five of Archimedes
' so called simple machines (lever, inclined plane, wedge, screw and wheel), several hydrostatic balances to demonstrate Archimedes' law and two tables of forces which demonstrate interactions of forces in a horizontal plane.
5 The University of Leiden. Linnaeus and Van Musschenbroek
Carl Linnaeus published his famous Systema Naturae
in 1735, during his 3 year stay in Holland, in which he also earned a degree in medicine, and closely worked together with Boerhaave. At display are paintings of Linnaeus and Boerhaave. Also 18th century models and scientific measuring instruments: models that demonstrate basic physics
principles, and instruments: several antique thermometer
s, a barometer
, a theodolite
and several pyrometer
s. Also two antique globe
s (one showing the heavens, one earth) and two mirror telescopes
. The room is conamed after the brothers van Mussenbroeck: Pieter
a professor, credited with the invention of the first capacitor
in 1746: the Leyden jar
, and Jan a famous instrument maker, who shipped his hand crafted precision thermometers all over Europe.
6 The wonders of nature
Over 30 antique microscope
s are shown, most from the 18th century, in a large variety, with different solutions for lighting the subject and minimization of lens defects (e.g. chromatic aberration
): simple, compound and reflecting microscopes, so called English microscopes (renowned for their quality), solar microscopes (which project their image on a wall, using sunlight only). Several wooden cabinets with microscopic slides are testimony of the craftsmanship than went into collections of ready made samples, which at the time were highly fashionable among well-to-do citizens who took an interest in scientific developments.
7 Collection: The Albinus Brothers
The room is dedicated to famous 18th-century anatomist Bernhard Siegfried Albinus
and his brother and successor Frederik Bernhard Albinus, showing a few of the over 750 wet and dry anatomical samples that Bernhard Siegfried collected, and a wide variety of medical instruments (most 1670-1700) collected by his brother: several amputation
saws and knives, cauterizing irons
, a wide variety of forceps
and clamps
, spatula's, an elevator, a bullet
extractor and brace
, several (drill) crowns, two drills, a lenticular, several elevatoriums, a chuck key
, a coach screw, a retractor
, lithotomy
scoops, a Phimosis
knife, gorgerets, a catheter
, a bistoury cache, a combined syringotome
and seton needle, a wound retractor
, lithotomy
directors, probes, a tobacco enema
8 Collection: Sebaldus Justinus Brugmans
Sebald Justinus Brugmans
was a Dutch botanist, physician
and professor of natural sciences. As an army physician he became notable for his battle against unsanitary
conditions, and spread of contagious diseases. The room shows a large collection of fish skins ('the protected body'), human skull
s (some affected by accident or disease), animal skulls (mainly birds) and a variety of other anatomic samples, including some foetusses in a jar.
10 Hendrik Bosch's collection of medicine, Butterfly cabinet
The room houses a large simple
s cabinet
(1760), from Amsterdam physician Hendrik Bosch. Also a large cabinet with butterflies (1760) (content lost) from Christiaan Sepp and son, who published a work on butterflies and insects in several volumes (1762–1860).
: Nature in drawers and cabinets
A large collection of shells. Four book shaped boxes (1809), out of a collection of 150, each box made of wood of a particular tree or shrub and filled with its wood, leaves, seeds and fruits. Also on display cases with butterflies and beetle
s. Lastly a portrait of Abraham Nieuwland (1780).
11 Collection: Theodoor Gerard van Lidth de Jeude
Shown are a collection of 19th century animal organ specimens (protected against decay with wax and varnish) which had been prepared for research (e.g. comparative anatomy
), and educational purposes (e.g. veterinarian
school). Also shown are anatomical drawings from that same period. Many specimens and drawings are from large mammals, cattle but even more large mammals of non European origin.
12 Collection: Repositories of the animal kingdom
The room shows wax
models of human and animal brain
s (1850–1870), prepared for educational purposes. Also display boxes with carefully arranged human hand bones and foot bones, and several skeleton
s of small animals. Also some 25 jars containing animals in preservative fuels (alcohol
, formalin), some anatomically prepared to show inner organs (1830–1910). Part of the collection in the room was prepared by Jan van der Hoeven (1802–1868), professor of Zoology
, Comparative Anatomy
, Anthropology
, Mineralogy
and Geology
at the University of Leiden. His portrait is on display. Van der Hoeven studied members of 'exotic races' (as it was called at the time), and produced a large amount of visual materials (drawing
s, engraving
s, lithographs). Three of these visual studies are on display.
13 Collection: Petrus Koning
Anatomical wax models by Petrus Koning (1787–1834), anatomical gouaches
14 Temporary exhibition space
15 Temporary exhibition space
16 Electricity and light
This room is dedicated to the scientific and technical progress in fields of electricity and optics in the 19th Century. Inventions like telegraphy and the camera had a revolutionary and lasting impact on everyday life.
The room shows a collection of microscopes (compound, binocular, achromatic, inverted) (1730–1860) and attributes. A set of instruments for optical chemical analysis (1850–1900): a crystal goniometer
, a polarimeter
, a saccharimeter
, a spectroscope, a bunsen burner
, a solution tube, gas-discharge
tubes. Devices to study, demonstrate and explain the physical qualities of light: prism
s and lenses
, a heliostat
and carbon arc lamp (with clockwork)(1820–1870). A collection of applied optics: a camera
, sextant
, stereoscope, several telescope
s, mechanical lantern slides, a repeating reflecting circle (?), a phantascope
(two discs, one with slits, one with images, which when rotating in opposite directions create a cinematographic
effect), a projection
lantern (1770–1860). Several telescopes: achromatic telescope
s (1770 and 1850) and a reflecting telescope
(1830). Several electrostatical devices: batteries composed of leyden jar
s and electrical machine
s (1770–1800) that were used to generate electricity
. A variety of electrostatic toys and experimentation kits (1770–1820) to amuse and educate the public. Some show cases still to do.
17 Zander Devices
Devices for physiotherapy using the method of Swedish physician Gustav Zander
, developed ca. 1865. These devices featured on two world exhibitions. Their succes led to 120 Zander institutes world-wide.
18 Specialisation in medicine
19 The Anatomical world of Dr Auzoux
French doctor Louis Auzoux (1797–1870) pioneered the use of papier-mâché
for highly detailed and colored anatomical models, with detachable parts, which allowed mass production
for educational purposes. A selection of the many models on display: many human body parts, for example a box set with a model of female sexual organs plus almost 20 embryonic stages
, models of the womb for every month of pregnancy. For purposes of comparative anatomy
: models of brain
or nervous system
of diverse animals, models of blood circulation in diverse animals (e.g. a turtle
, a crocodile
), models of stomach
or alimentary canal (e.g. octopus
, honey bee
).
: The Netherlands First Nobel Prize
Dutch scientist Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff
(1852–1911) was the first person to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for his discovery of the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure
in solutions.
In the room hangs a painted portrait of van 't Hoff. His golden Nobel prize medal, and a lab journal are also shown. Also a variety of elementary equipment for a chemical laboratory
: a distilling
apparatus for water (1860), dilatometer
s, thermometer
s, hydrometer
s, alcohol
meters, an oleometer, a colorimeter
(1880), pycnometers (some with thermometer), pipette
s, burette
s, volumetric flask
s, a boiling flask, a spectral
burner and spectroscope (1880), polarimeter
s, a kipp generator
(1850), sample collections of experimental chemicals (some in wooden boxes), an evaporating basin
, gas burners, an oxyhydrogen voltmeter
, apparatus for electrolysis
, an analytical balance, cork presses, a refractometer
(1910), a flash point
apparatus for petroleum, a circular slide rule.
21 Physics: Factories of Science
In the early years of the 19th Century, 4 Dutch physicists received a Nobel Prize in quick succession. This room is dedicated to their work and legacy.
On display are a helium liquefier and associated tools, devices to measure superconductivity (e.g. rheostats), and to automatically record measurements: a cathode
tube, a thermograph, drum recorders and a paper tape recorder.
Also large (from today's perspective) devices, mostly made from wood and copper, to measure and display electricity
(1900–1930): volt meters, a resistance
box, radio valves, a universal bridge
, mirror galvanometer
s, a quadrant electrometer
.
Apparatusses to study radiation: a Wilson cloud chamber
, an electrometer
with ionization chamber
, X-ray
, cathode-ray and canal ray tubes, a fluorescent lamp.
Equipment to study the properties of light (and radio waves in general), including the wave–particle duality
(most 1900-1910): a slit
, a polarizer
, a photo-electric cell
, a Fresnel double mirror, lenses
, a induction coil
, a photosensitive resistor
, a spectroscope, an oscillograph
, a wireless
receiver
, a microphone
, standards of self-induction
.
Also Zeeman's Nobel Prize diploma and medal and a lab diary, an electromagnet
with polar pieces, 3D plaster models to visualize thermodynamic properties (e.g. phase transition
s).
22 Medicine: man as machine
Pieces at display include: a gigantic microtome
, the first heart-lung machine
(prototype) by inventor Jacob Jongbloed (1948), the first kidney dialysis machine by inventor Willem Johan Kolff
, X-ray equipment, an iron lung
, galvanometer
tools, a bow and arrow used to draw ultra thin quartz fibres (by shooting away a droplet of molten quartz), the original golden Nobel Prize
medal from Willem Einthoven
(for developing the first practical electrocardiogram
in 1903)
23 Astronomy: Celestial Accounting
24 Microscopy
: new ways
The room houses two electron microscopes (1947–1950) and related equipment (gold vaporiser, lens, object holders, a cooler, a goniometer
), a collection of compound and specimen microscopes (some binocular
) (1840–1870) plus accompanying microscope lamps and a tool box, a binocular polarisation microscope (1850), several microtome
s (a.o. a cryomicrotome) and ultramicrotomes, a phase contrast microscope, a fluorescence microscope
(plus several epi-illuminators, to exploit the difference between emitted and reflected light frequencies that some substances display), compound microscope with transformer in camera installation, a photomicroscope (photo camera with inverted microscope), a boxed collection of microscopic specimen
s (1870).
. This location of the museum now houses the National Museum of Ethnology.
To create better housing the former nunnery of Saint Cecilia
was bought by the Government Buildings Agency (Rijksgebouwendienst). This historic building has had various functions over time. The building dates from the early 15th century. The building had become municipal property after the Protestant Reformation
and shortly before 1600 was converted into a pest house
and lunatic asylum. The Leiden Academic hospital was founded in this location between 1636 and 1639 . After extensive restoration and expansion, the building is in use as a museum since 1991.
History of science
The history of science is the study of the historical development of human understandings of the natural world and the domains of the social sciences....
and medicine, based in Leiden, the Netherlands. The museum hosts a collection of historical scientific instrument
Scientific instrument
A scientific instrument can be any type of equipment, machine, apparatus or device as is specifically designed, constructed and often, through trial and error, ingeniously refined to apply utmost efficiency in the utilization of well proven physical principle, relationship or technology to...
s from all disciplines, but mainly from medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, and astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
.
Introduction
Anatomical theatre
An anatomical theatre was an institution used in teaching anatomy at early modern universities.The theatre was usually a room of roughly amphitheatrical shape, in the centre of which would stand the table on which the dissections of human or animal bodies took place...
. It also has many galleries that include the apparatus with which Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes was a Dutch physicist and Nobel laureate. He pioneered refrigeration techniques, and he explored how materials behaved when cooled to nearly absolute zero. He was the first to liquify helium...
first liquefied helium
Helium
Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...
(in Leiden), the electromagnet equipment used by Wander Johannes de Haas
Wander Johannes de Haas
Wander Johannes de Haas was a Dutch physicist and mathematician. He is best known for the Shubnikov–de Haas effect, the de Haas–van Alphen effect and the Einstein–de Haas effect.-Personal life:...
(a Leiden physicist) for his low-temperature research, and an example of the Leiden jar, among many other objects in the extensive collection.
The museum is named after Herman Boerhaave
Herman Boerhaave
Herman Boerhaave was a Dutch botanist, humanist and physician of European fame. He is regarded as the founder of clinical teaching and of the modern academic hospital. His main achievement was to demonstrate the relation of symptoms to lesions...
, a Dutch physician and botanist who was famous in Europe for his teaching at Leiden and lived to a great age, receiving brilliant students from all over Europe, including Peter the Great, Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
and Linnaeus.
History
Boerhaave Museum's history began in 1907, when a Historical Exhibition of Natural Science and Medicine was held in the Academy Building Academiegebouw (Leiden) of Leiden UniversityLeiden University
Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...
. The many objects in the exhibition came from all the learned corners of the country. It was a great success and there were immediately calls to set up a permanent science history exhibit.
In 1928 a foundation was initiated by physicist Claude August Crommelin, who worked at Leiden university, for a museum for the history of natural sciences. The aim of the museum was described in the preliminary statutes of the foundation: "the collection of instruments, tools, slides and specimens, documents and other objects, which are important for the history of the natural sciences; to look after these objects, describe them and keep them in a museum which is to be located in Leiden". The sciences to be represented included: Astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, Physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, Botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, Zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
, Pharmacy
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
, all medical sciences - including Physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
, Anatomy
Anatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...
et cetera, and Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
.
In 1931 the museum opened as "The Dutch Historical Museum of the Natural Sciences" (Het Nederlandsch Historisch Natuurwetenschappelijk Museum). To the view of Crommelin, the museum was to become a national museum: the 's Gravesande-Musschenbroek collection would form the starting point, to which collections from other institutes were to be added.
In 1947 the museum, which was in fact a private foundation, became formally a national museum
National museum
A national museum is a museum maintained by a nation.The following is a list of national museums:-Australia:*Australian National Aviation Museum*Australian National Maritime Museum*, Sydney*Australian War Memorial*Museum Victoria...
. It was renamed to "The Dutch National Museum for the History of the Natural Sciences" (Rijksmuseum voor de Geschiedenis van Natuurwetenschappen). An advisory board was installed in which members of Dutch universities would take seat. It underlined the ambition to become a national museum, not a museum solely connected to the Leiden University. The plan was to merge collections of all scientific institutes in one museum, but this did not truly succeed.
From 1967 on it became clear that a new location was needed to properly display the collection: the former nunnery of St Caecilia. With the prospect of a new location the name of the Museum was changed to "Museum Boerhaave". However, it took more than twenty years before the museum finally moved.
Collection
Note: section development in progressThe Boerhaave Museum is running a project to document approx. 3000 objects in its collection online, with pictures and descriptions for every single object. In April 2010 the site featured over 1750 objects, ordered by room and showcase. This overview is in large part based on the museum's online documentation.
The museum has 25 rooms, which are by and large organised chronologically, with thematical subgroupings per room.
16th-17th Century
0 Museum FoyerGaper
Gaper
A gaper is a stone or wooden head, often depicting a Moor, on the front of a building in the Netherlands. It was used to indicate that this building is a pharmacy....
s (wooden heads miming the swallowing of pills) and other shop signs for pharmacies
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
and druggists. Also a 'dictionary of health': a tall book-shaped wooden chest (1660) filled with simple
Simple
Simple may refer to:- Technology :*SIMPLE, an instant messaging protocol*SiMPLE, a programming development system*SIMPLE algorithm, a widely used numerical procedure...
s (basic substances used in medicine).
1 The Leiden Anatomical Theater
 |
The room shows a reconstruction (1988) of the Theatrum Anatomicum (anatomical theatre
Anatomical theatre
An anatomical theatre was an institution used in teaching anatomy at early modern universities.The theatre was usually a room of roughly amphitheatrical shape, in the centre of which would stand the table on which the dissections of human or animal bodies took place...
) (built 1596). A richly decorated instrument chest (1670) which belonged to the Leiden surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
's guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
. A small collection of objects (largely Egyptian antiquities) that survived from the now gone Leiden Theatrum (one of the oldest museums of Europe ) are shown as well. On the wall three paintings: one depicting the magistrates of the Catharina and Caecilia Hospitals (the latter now houses the museum), a second showing a Prussian peasant from whom a 10 inch sword, swallowed in a drinking bout, has surgically been removed, a third showing renowned surgeon and designer of medical instruments Cornelis Solingen (1680). One of Solingen's inventions (part of the collection) was a screw to unindent a soldiers skull who had been hit by a bullet. Often in those days bullets did not fully penetrate a skull, merely deformed it.
2 Drawn from life
Four large allegoric
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
paintings (± 1610) show in stages how the appreciation of a patient for his physician declines, from being a true savior when the illness is at its height, towards being a devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
when the bill has been delivered. Three solid figures of Saints Cosmas and Damian
Saints Cosmas and Damian
Saints Cosmas and Damian were twin brothers, physicians, and early Christian martyrs born in Cilicia, part of today's Turkey. They practiced their profession in the seaport of Ayas, Adana, then in the Roman province of Syria...
, patrons of doctors and pharmacists. Six anatomical
Anatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...
books and drawings (1520–1570) and six books on herbs (1480–1590) testify how in the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
there was an urge to study life diligently and not take traditional beliefs for granted. A large collection of baked and painted apothecary jars
Medicinal jar
A Medicinal jar or drug jar is a jar used to contain medicine.Medicinal jars used to be employed massively in apothecary shops in hospitals. Medicinal jars are an important category of the famous Dutch and English porcelain known as Delftware....
(1550–1650) and (often ornamented) cast-iron and bronze mortars (1350-1700).
3 The Golden Age
18th Century
The following two rooms are dedicated to an era of blossom for the University of Leiden, the oldest university of the Netherlands (founded in 1575).4 The University of Leiden. Boerhaave and ‘s Gravensande
This large room is dedicated to physician, botanist and chemist Herman Boerhaave
Herman Boerhaave
Herman Boerhaave was a Dutch botanist, humanist and physician of European fame. He is regarded as the founder of clinical teaching and of the modern academic hospital. His main achievement was to demonstrate the relation of symptoms to lesions...
, physicist Willem 's Gravesande
Willem 's Gravesande
Willem Jacob 's Gravesande was a Dutch philosopher and mathematician.-Life:Born in 's-Hertogenbosch, he studied law in Leiden and wrote a thesis on suicide. He was praised by John Bernoulli when he published his book Essai de perspective. In 1715, he visited London and King George I. He became a...
and instrument-maker Jan van Musschenbroeck. On display are large globe
Globe
A globe is a three-dimensional scale model of Earth or other spheroid celestial body such as a planet, star, or moon...
s and a tiny pocket globe (all ~1700), each depicting heaven and earth. A table size planetarium by clock-maker Steven Tracy Mercury shows Venus, Earth with its moon, Mars, Jupiter with four moons and Saturn. There is also a large star atlas.
Air pumps (1670–1730) and demonstration devices, notably several Magdeburg hemispheres, were made to explore the properties of the newly discovered vacuum
Vacuum
In everyday usage, vacuum is a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure. The word comes from the Latin term for "empty". A perfect vacuum would be one with no particles in it at all, which is impossible to achieve in...
. Other devices did the same for centrifugal force
Centrifugal force
Centrifugal force can generally be any force directed outward relative to some origin. More particularly, in classical mechanics, the centrifugal force is an outward force which arises when describing the motion of objects in a rotating reference frame...
, collision
Collision
A collision is an isolated event which two or more moving bodies exert forces on each other for a relatively short time.Although the most common colloquial use of the word "collision" refers to accidents in which two or more objects collide, the scientific use of the word "collision" implies...
s and laws of momentum
Momentum
In classical mechanics, linear momentum or translational momentum is the product of the mass and velocity of an object...
, and gravity.
Hydrometer
Hydrometer
A hydrometer is an instrument used to measure the specific gravity of liquids; that is, the ratio of the density of the liquid to the density of water....
s, an aerometer, a hydrostatic bellows
Bellows
A bellows is a device for delivering pressurized air in a controlled quantity to a controlled location.Basically, a bellows is a deformable container which has an outlet nozzle. When the volume of the bellows is decreased, the air escapes through the outlet...
, a balance and steam pump, several table-top fountain
Fountain
A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....
s all were used to look into hydrostatic pressure, and capillary attraction.
Also shown are a large set of mathemical instruments to measure angles: sector
Sector (instrument)
The sector, also known as a proportional compass or military compass, was a major calculating instrument in use from the end of the sixteenth century until the nineteenth century. It is an instrument consisting of two rulers of equal length which are joined by a hinge. A number of scales are...
s, a protractor
Protractor
In geometry, a protractor is a circular or semicircular tool for measuring an angle or a circle. The units of measurement utilized are usually degrees.Some protractors are simple half-discs; these have existed since ancient times...
and beam compass.
A collection of balances, lever
Lever
In physics, a lever is a rigid object that is used with an appropriate fulcrum or pivot point to either multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object or resistance force , or multiply the distance and speed at which the opposite end of the rigid object travels.This leverage...
s, tackle
Block and tackle
A block and tackle is a system of two or more pulleys with a rope or cable threaded between them, usually used to lift or pull heavy loads.The pulleys are assembled together to form blocks so that one is fixed and one moves with the load...
s demonstrate laws of statics
Statics
Statics is the branch of mechanics concerned with the analysis of loads on physical systems in static equilibrium, that is, in a state where the relative positions of subsystems do not vary over time, or where components and structures are at a constant velocity...
.
A variety of lens
Lens (optics)
A lens is an optical device with perfect or approximate axial symmetry which transmits and refracts light, converging or diverging the beam. A simple lens consists of a single optical element...
es, prism
Prism (optics)
In optics, a prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. The exact angles between the surfaces depend on the application. The traditional geometrical shape is that of a triangular prism with a triangular base and rectangular sides, and in colloquial use...
s, a slit, trays and screens explore optics
Optics
Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behavior of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light...
. About ten screw-barrel and compound miscroscope
Optical microscope
The optical microscope, often referred to as the "light microscope", is a type of microscope which uses visible light and a system of lenses to magnify images of small samples. Optical microscopes are the oldest design of microscope and were possibly designed in their present compound form in the...
s (1710–1780) demonstrate how this young science underwent dramatic progress in few years. A veriety of curved mirrors, used as anamorphic
Anamorphosis
Anamorphosis or anamorphism may refer to any of the following:*Anamorphosis, in art, the representation of an object as seen, for instance, altered by reflection in a mirror...
toys, show how a deliberately distorted image can be restored back to the original.
The room also houses a range of instruments (lever
Lever
In physics, a lever is a rigid object that is used with an appropriate fulcrum or pivot point to either multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object or resistance force , or multiply the distance and speed at which the opposite end of the rigid object travels.This leverage...
s and forceps) used to facilicate child birth.
Lastly, shown are models of three out of five of Archimedes
Archimedes
Archimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. Among his advances in physics are the foundations of hydrostatics, statics and an...
' so called simple machines (lever, inclined plane, wedge, screw and wheel), several hydrostatic balances to demonstrate Archimedes' law and two tables of forces which demonstrate interactions of forces in a horizontal plane.
5 The University of Leiden. Linnaeus and Van Musschenbroek
Carl Linnaeus published his famous Systema Naturae
Systema Naturae
The book was one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carolus Linnaeus. The first edition was published in 1735...
in 1735, during his 3 year stay in Holland, in which he also earned a degree in medicine, and closely worked together with Boerhaave. At display are paintings of Linnaeus and Boerhaave. Also 18th century models and scientific measuring instruments: models that demonstrate basic physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
principles, and instruments: several antique thermometer
Thermometer
Developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, a thermometer is a device that measures temperature or temperature gradient using a variety of different principles. A thermometer has two important elements: the temperature sensor Developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, a thermometer (from the...
s, a barometer
Barometer
A barometer is a scientific instrument used in meteorology to measure atmospheric pressure. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather...
, a theodolite
Theodolite
A theodolite is a precision instrument for measuring angles in the horizontal and vertical planes. Theodolites are mainly used for surveying applications, and have been adapted for specialized purposes in fields like metrology and rocket launch technology...
and several pyrometer
Pyrometer
A pyrometer is a non-contacting device that intercepts and measures thermal radiation, a process known as pyrometry.This device can be used to determine the temperature of an object's surface....
s. Also two antique globe
Globe
A globe is a three-dimensional scale model of Earth or other spheroid celestial body such as a planet, star, or moon...
s (one showing the heavens, one earth) and two mirror telescopes
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
. The room is conamed after the brothers van Mussenbroeck: Pieter
Pieter van Musschenbroek
Pieter van Musschenbroek was a Dutch scientist. He was a professor in Duisburg, Utrecht, and Leiden, where he held positions in mathematics, philosophy, medicine, and astrology. He is credited with the invention of the first capacitor in 1746: the Leyden jar. He performed pioneering work on the...
a professor, credited with the invention of the first capacitor
Capacitor
A capacitor is a passive two-terminal electrical component used to store energy in an electric field. The forms of practical capacitors vary widely, but all contain at least two electrical conductors separated by a dielectric ; for example, one common construction consists of metal foils separated...
in 1746: the Leyden jar
Leyden jar
A Leyden jar, or Leiden jar, is a device that "stores" static electricity between two electrodes on the inside and outside of a jar. It was invented independently by German cleric Ewald Georg von Kleist on 11 October 1745 and by Dutch scientist Pieter van Musschenbroek of Leiden in 1745–1746. The...
, and Jan a famous instrument maker, who shipped his hand crafted precision thermometers all over Europe.
6 The wonders of nature
Over 30 antique microscope
Microscope
A microscope is an instrument used to see objects that are too small for the naked eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy...
s are shown, most from the 18th century, in a large variety, with different solutions for lighting the subject and minimization of lens defects (e.g. chromatic aberration
Chromatic aberration
In optics, chromatic aberration is a type of distortion in which there is a failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same convergence point. It occurs because lenses have a different refractive index for different wavelengths of light...
): simple, compound and reflecting microscopes, so called English microscopes (renowned for their quality), solar microscopes (which project their image on a wall, using sunlight only). Several wooden cabinets with microscopic slides are testimony of the craftsmanship than went into collections of ready made samples, which at the time were highly fashionable among well-to-do citizens who took an interest in scientific developments.
7 Collection
The room is dedicated to famous 18th-century anatomist Bernhard Siegfried Albinus
Bernhard Siegfried Albinus
Bernhard Siegfried Albinus was a German-born Dutch anatomist.Albinus was born at Frankfurt , where his father, Bernhard Albinus , was professor of the practice of medicine...
and his brother and successor Frederik Bernhard Albinus, showing a few of the over 750 wet and dry anatomical samples that Bernhard Siegfried collected, and a wide variety of medical instruments (most 1670-1700) collected by his brother: several amputation
Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...
saws and knives, cauterizing irons
Cauterization
The medical practice or technique of cauterization is the burning of part of a body to remove or close off a part of it in a process called cautery, which destroys some tissue, in an attempt to mitigate damage, remove an undesired growth, or minimize other potential medical harmful possibilities...
, a wide variety of forceps
Forceps
Forceps or forcipes are a handheld, hinged instrument used for grasping and holding objects. Forceps are used when fingers are too large to grasp small objects or when many objects need to be held at one time while the hands are used to perform a task. The term 'forceps' is used almost exclusively...
and clamps
Clamp (tool)
A clamp is a fastening device to hold or secure objects tightly together to prevent movement or separation through the application of inward pressure...
, spatula's, an elevator, a bullet
Bullet
A bullet is a projectile propelled by a firearm, sling, or air gun. Bullets do not normally contain explosives, but damage the intended target by impact and penetration...
extractor and brace
Brace (tool)
A brace or brace and bit is a hand tool used to drill holes, usually in wood. Pressure is applied to the top and the tool is rotated with a U-shaped grip....
, several (drill) crowns, two drills, a lenticular, several elevatoriums, a chuck key
Chuck (engineering)
A chuck is a specialized type of clamp used to hold an object, usually an object with radial symmetry, especially a cylindrical object. It is most commonly used to hold a rotating tool or a rotating workpiece...
, a coach screw, a retractor
Retractor (medical)
A retractor is a surgical instrument by which a surgeon can either actively separate the edges of a surgical incision or wound, or can hold back underlying organs and tissues, so that body parts under the incision may be accessed. The two are each available in many shapes, sizes, and styles...
, lithotomy
Lithotomy
Lithotomy from Greek for "lithos" and "tomos" , is a surgical method for removal of calculi, stones formed inside certain hollow organs, such as the kidneys , bladder , and gallbladder , that cannot exit naturally through the urinary system or biliary tract...
scoops, a Phimosis
Phimosis
Phimosis , from the Greek phimos ), is a condition where, in men, the foreskin cannot be fully retracted over the glans penis...
knife, gorgerets, a catheter
Catheter
In medicine, a catheter is a tube that can be inserted into a body cavity, duct, or vessel. Catheters thereby allow drainage, administration of fluids or gases, or access by surgical instruments. The process of inserting a catheter is catheterization...
, a bistoury cache, a combined syringotome
Syrinx (biology)
Syrinx is the name for the vocal organ of birds. Located at the base of a bird's trachea, it produces sounds without the vocal cords of mammals. The sound is produced by vibrations of some or all of the membrana tympaniformis and the pessulus caused by air flowing through the syrinx...
and seton needle, a wound retractor
Retractor (medical)
A retractor is a surgical instrument by which a surgeon can either actively separate the edges of a surgical incision or wound, or can hold back underlying organs and tissues, so that body parts under the incision may be accessed. The two are each available in many shapes, sizes, and styles...
, lithotomy
Lithotomy
Lithotomy from Greek for "lithos" and "tomos" , is a surgical method for removal of calculi, stones formed inside certain hollow organs, such as the kidneys , bladder , and gallbladder , that cannot exit naturally through the urinary system or biliary tract...
directors, probes, a tobacco enema
Enema
An enema is the procedure of introducing liquids into the rectum and colon via the anus. The increasing volume of the liquid causes rapid expansion of the lower intestinal tract, often resulting in very uncomfortable bloating, cramping, powerful peristalsis, a feeling of extreme urgency and...
8 Collection
Sebald Justinus Brugmans
Sebald Justinus Brugmans
Sebald Justinus Brugmans was a Dutch botanist, physician and professor of natural sciences.Brugmans studied at the University of Groningen, where he earned doctorates in medicine and philosophy, and also a masters degree in liberal arts...
was a Dutch botanist, physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and professor of natural sciences. As an army physician he became notable for his battle against unsanitary
Sanitation
Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
conditions, and spread of contagious diseases. The room shows a large collection of fish skins ('the protected body'), human skull
Human skull
The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...
s (some affected by accident or disease), animal skulls (mainly birds) and a variety of other anatomic samples, including some foetusses in a jar.
10 Hendrik Bosch's collection of medicine, Butterfly cabinet
The room houses a large simple
Simple
Simple may refer to:- Technology :*SIMPLE, an instant messaging protocol*SiMPLE, a programming development system*SIMPLE algorithm, a widely used numerical procedure...
s cabinet
Cabinet (furniture)
A cabinet is usually a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors or drawers for storing miscellaneous items. Some cabinets stand alone while others are built into a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood or, now increasingly, of synthetic...
(1760), from Amsterdam physician Hendrik Bosch. Also a large cabinet with butterflies (1760) (content lost) from Christiaan Sepp and son, who published a work on butterflies and insects in several volumes (1762–1860).
19th Century
9 CollectionA large collection of shells. Four book shaped boxes (1809), out of a collection of 150, each box made of wood of a particular tree or shrub and filled with its wood, leaves, seeds and fruits. Also on display cases with butterflies and beetle
Beetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...
s. Lastly a portrait of Abraham Nieuwland (1780).
11 Collection
Shown are a collection of 19th century animal organ specimens (protected against decay with wax and varnish) which had been prepared for research (e.g. comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny .-Description:...
), and educational purposes (e.g. veterinarian
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
school). Also shown are anatomical drawings from that same period. Many specimens and drawings are from large mammals, cattle but even more large mammals of non European origin.
12 Collection
The room shows wax
Wax
thumb|right|[[Cetyl palmitate]], a typical wax ester.Wax refers to a class of chemical compounds that are plastic near ambient temperatures. Characteristically, they melt above 45 °C to give a low viscosity liquid. Waxes are insoluble in water but soluble in organic, nonpolar solvents...
models of human and animal brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
s (1850–1870), prepared for educational purposes. Also display boxes with carefully arranged human hand bones and foot bones, and several skeleton
Skeleton
The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...
s of small animals. Also some 25 jars containing animals in preservative fuels (alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
, formalin), some anatomically prepared to show inner organs (1830–1910). Part of the collection in the room was prepared by Jan van der Hoeven (1802–1868), professor of Zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
, Comparative Anatomy
Comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny .-Description:...
, Anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, Mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
and Geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
at the University of Leiden. His portrait is on display. Van der Hoeven studied members of 'exotic races' (as it was called at the time), and produced a large amount of visual materials (drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
s, engraving
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
s, lithographs). Three of these visual studies are on display.
13 Collection
Anatomical wax models by Petrus Koning (1787–1834), anatomical gouaches
14 Temporary exhibition space
15 Temporary exhibition space
16 Electricity and light
This room is dedicated to the scientific and technical progress in fields of electricity and optics in the 19th Century. Inventions like telegraphy and the camera had a revolutionary and lasting impact on everyday life.
The room shows a collection of microscopes (compound, binocular, achromatic, inverted) (1730–1860) and attributes. A set of instruments for optical chemical analysis (1850–1900): a crystal goniometer
Goniometer
A goniometer is an instrument that either measures an angle or allows an object to be rotated to a precise angular position. The term goniometry is derived from two Greek words, gōnia, meaning angle, and metron, meaning measure....
, a polarimeter
Polarimeter
A polarimeter is a scientific instrument used to measure the angle of rotation caused by passing polarized light through an optically active substance....
, a saccharimeter
Saccharimeter
A saccharimeter is an instrument for measuring the concentration of sugar solutions.This is commonly achieved using a measurement of refractive index or the angle of rotation of polarization of optically active sugars ....
, a spectroscope, a bunsen burner
Bunsen burner
A Bunsen burner, named after Robert Bunsen, is a common piece of laboratory equipment that produces a single open gas flame, which is used for heating, sterilization, and combustion.- Operation:...
, a solution tube, gas-discharge
Gas-discharge lamp
Gas-discharge lamps are a family of artificial light sources that generate light by sending an electrical discharge through an ionized gas, i.e. a plasma. The character of the gas discharge critically depends on the frequency or modulation of the current: see the entry on a frequency classification...
tubes. Devices to study, demonstrate and explain the physical qualities of light: prism
Prism (optics)
In optics, a prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. The exact angles between the surfaces depend on the application. The traditional geometrical shape is that of a triangular prism with a triangular base and rectangular sides, and in colloquial use...
s and lenses
Lens (optics)
A lens is an optical device with perfect or approximate axial symmetry which transmits and refracts light, converging or diverging the beam. A simple lens consists of a single optical element...
, a heliostat
Heliostat
A heliostat is a device that includes a mirror, usually a plane mirror, which turns so as to keep reflecting sunlight toward a predetermined target, compensating for the sun's apparent motions in the sky. The target may be a physical object, distant from the heliostat, or a direction in space...
and carbon arc lamp (with clockwork)(1820–1870). A collection of applied optics: a camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
, sextant
Sextant
A sextant is an instrument used to measure the angle between any two visible objects. Its primary use is to determine the angle between a celestial object and the horizon which is known as the altitude. Making this measurement is known as sighting the object, shooting the object, or taking a sight...
, stereoscope, several telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
s, mechanical lantern slides, a repeating reflecting circle (?), a phantascope
Phantascope
The Phantoscope was a film projection machine, a creation of Charles Francis Jenkins. Created in the early 1890s, he projected the first motion picture before an audience in his hometown of Richmond, Indiana on June 6, 1894. He later met Thomas Armat who provided financial backing for necessary...
(two discs, one with slits, one with images, which when rotating in opposite directions create a cinematographic
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
effect), a projection
Projection
Projection, projector, or projective may refer to:* The display of an image by devices such as:** Movie projector** Video projector** Overhead projector** Slide projector** Camera obscura** Projection screen...
lantern (1770–1860). Several telescopes: achromatic telescope
Achromatic telescope
The achromatic telescope is a refracting telescope that uses an achromatic lens to correct for chromatic aberration.-How it works:When an image passes through a lens, the light is refracted at different angles for different wavelengths. This produces focal lengths that are dependent on the color of...
s (1770 and 1850) and a reflecting telescope
Reflecting telescope
A reflecting telescope is an optical telescope which uses a single or combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century as an alternative to the refracting telescope which, at that time, was a design that suffered from...
(1830). Several electrostatical devices: batteries composed of leyden jar
Leyden jar
A Leyden jar, or Leiden jar, is a device that "stores" static electricity between two electrodes on the inside and outside of a jar. It was invented independently by German cleric Ewald Georg von Kleist on 11 October 1745 and by Dutch scientist Pieter van Musschenbroek of Leiden in 1745–1746. The...
s and electrical machine
Electrical machine
An electrical machine is the generic name for a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy, converts electrical energy to mechanical energy, or changes alternating current from one voltage level to a different voltage level....
s (1770–1800) that were used to generate electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
. A variety of electrostatic toys and experimentation kits (1770–1820) to amuse and educate the public. Some show cases still to do.
17 Zander Devices
Devices for physiotherapy using the method of Swedish physician Gustav Zander
Gustav Zander
Jonas Gustav Vilhelm Zander was a Swedish physician, orthopedist and one of the originators of mechanotherapy. He is known for inventing a therapeutic method of exercise carried out by means of a special apparatus...
, developed ca. 1865. These devices featured on two world exhibitions. Their succes led to 120 Zander institutes world-wide.
18 Specialisation in medicine
19 The Anatomical world of Dr Auzoux
French doctor Louis Auzoux (1797–1870) pioneered the use of papier-mâché
Papier-mâché
Papier-mâché , alternatively, paper-mache, is a composite material consisting of paper pieces or pulp, sometimes reinforced with textiles, bound with an adhesive, such as glue, starch, or wallpaper paste....
for highly detailed and colored anatomical models, with detachable parts, which allowed mass production
Mass production
Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...
for educational purposes. A selection of the many models on display: many human body parts, for example a box set with a model of female sexual organs plus almost 20 embryonic stages
Embryo
An embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...
, models of the womb for every month of pregnancy. For purposes of comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny .-Description:...
: models of brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
or nervous system
Nervous system
The nervous system is an organ system containing a network of specialized cells called neurons that coordinate the actions of an animal and transmit signals between different parts of its body. In most animals the nervous system consists of two parts, central and peripheral. The central nervous...
of diverse animals, models of blood circulation in diverse animals (e.g. a turtle
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
, a crocodile
Crocodile
A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
), models of stomach
Stomach
The stomach is a muscular, hollow, dilated part of the alimentary canal which functions as an important organ of the digestive tract in some animals, including vertebrates, echinoderms, insects , and molluscs. It is involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication .The stomach is...
or alimentary canal (e.g. octopus
Octopus
The octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...
, honey bee
Honey bee
Honey bees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis...
).
20th Century
20 Chemistry |
Dutch scientist Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff
Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff
Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, Jr. was a Dutch physical and organic chemist and the first winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry. He is best known for his discoveries in chemical kinetics, chemical equilibrium, osmotic pressure, and stereochemistry...
(1852–1911) was the first person to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for his discovery of the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure
Osmotic pressure
Osmotic pressure is the pressure which needs to be applied to a solution to prevent the inward flow of water across a semipermeable membrane....
in solutions.
In the room hangs a painted portrait of van 't Hoff. His golden Nobel prize medal, and a lab journal are also shown. Also a variety of elementary equipment for a chemical laboratory
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
: a distilling
Distillation
Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatilities of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
apparatus for water (1860), dilatometer
Dilatometer
A dilatometer is a scientific instrument that measures volume changes caused by a physical or chemical process. A familiar application of a dilatometer is the mercury-in-glass thermometer, in which the change in volume of the liquid column is read from a graduated scale...
s, thermometer
Thermometer
Developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, a thermometer is a device that measures temperature or temperature gradient using a variety of different principles. A thermometer has two important elements: the temperature sensor Developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, a thermometer (from the...
s, hydrometer
Hydrometer
A hydrometer is an instrument used to measure the specific gravity of liquids; that is, the ratio of the density of the liquid to the density of water....
s, alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
meters, an oleometer, a colorimeter
Colorimeter (chemistry)
Not to be confused with a calorimeter.A colorimeter is a device used in colorimetry. In scientific fields the word generally refers to the device that measures the absorbance of particular wavelengths of light by a specific solution...
(1880), pycnometers (some with thermometer), pipette
Pipette
A pipette is a laboratory tool used to transport a measured volume of liquid.-Use and variations:Pipettes are commonly used in molecular biology, analytical chemistry as well as medical tests...
s, burette
Burette
A burette is a vertical cylindrical piece of laboratory glassware with a volumetric graduation on its full length and a precision tap, or stopcock, on the bottom. It is used to dispense known amounts of a liquid reagent in experiments for which such precision is necessary, such as a titration...
s, volumetric flask
Volumetric flask
A volumetric flask is a piece of laboratory glassware, a type of laboratory flask, used in analytical chemistry for the preparation of solutions. It is made of glass or plastic and consists of a flat bottomed bulb with a long neck, usually fitted with a stopper. The stopper is normally made in a...
s, a boiling flask, a spectral
Spectroscopy
Spectroscopy is the study of the interaction between matter and radiated energy. Historically, spectroscopy originated through the study of visible light dispersed according to its wavelength, e.g., by a prism. Later the concept was expanded greatly to comprise any interaction with radiative...
burner and spectroscope (1880), polarimeter
Polarimeter
A polarimeter is a scientific instrument used to measure the angle of rotation caused by passing polarized light through an optically active substance....
s, a kipp generator
Kipp's apparatus
Kipp's apparatus, also called Kipp generator, is an apparatus designed for preparation of small volumes of gases. It was invented around 1860 by the Dutch pharmacist Petrus Jacobus Kipp and widely used in chemical laboratories and for demonstrations in schools into the second half of the 20th...
(1850), sample collections of experimental chemicals (some in wooden boxes), an evaporating basin
Evaporating basin
An evaporating basin or evaporating dish is a small basin used to evaporate liquids to obtain the dry forms of the substances dissolved in them. Evaporating basins typically have a diameter, are made out of white ceramic, and have a lip for the pouring of excess liquid...
, gas burners, an oxyhydrogen voltmeter
Voltmeter
A voltmeter is an instrument used for measuring electrical potential difference between two points in an electric circuit. Analog voltmeters move a pointer across a scale in proportion to the voltage of the circuit; digital voltmeters give a numerical display of voltage by use of an analog to...
, apparatus for electrolysis
Electrolysis
In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a method of using a direct electric current to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction...
, an analytical balance, cork presses, a refractometer
Refractometer
A refractometer is a laboratory or field device for the measurement of an index of refraction . The index of refraction is calculated from Snell's law and can be calculated from the composition of the material using the Gladstone-Dale relation....
(1910), a flash point
Flash point
The flash point of a volatile material is the lowest temperature at which it can vaporize to form an ignitable mixture in air. Measuring a flash point requires an ignition source...
apparatus for petroleum, a circular slide rule.
21 Physics
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In the early years of the 19th Century, 4 Dutch physicists received a Nobel Prize in quick succession. This room is dedicated to their work and legacy.
- In 1902 Hendrik LorentzHendrik LorentzHendrik Antoon Lorentz was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pieter Zeeman for the discovery and theoretical explanation of the Zeeman effect...
(1853–1928) and Pieter ZeemanPieter ZeemanPieter Zeeman was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Hendrik Lorentz for his discovery of the Zeeman effect.-Childhood and youth:...
(1865–1943). For their combined work on and discovery of the Zeeman effectZeeman effectThe Zeeman effect is the splitting of a spectral line into several components in the presence of a static magnetic field. It is analogous to the Stark effect, the splitting of a spectral line into several components in the presence of an electric field...
, where spectral lines split under the influence of a magnetic field. - In 1910 Johannes Diderik van der WaalsJohannes Diderik van der WaalsJohannes Diderik van der Waals was a Dutch theoretical physicist and thermodynamicist famous for his work on an equation of state for gases and liquids....
(1837–1923) thermodynamicistThermodynamicistIn thermodynamics, a thermodynamicist is one who studies thermodynamic processes and phenomena, i.e. the physics that deals with mechanical action and relations of heat...
famous for his work on an equation of stateEquation of stateIn physics and thermodynamics, an equation of state is a relation between state variables. More specifically, an equation of state is a thermodynamic equation describing the state of matter under a given set of physical conditions...
for gases and liquids. - In 1913 Heike Kamerlingh OnnesHeike Kamerlingh OnnesHeike Kamerlingh Onnes was a Dutch physicist and Nobel laureate. He pioneered refrigeration techniques, and he explored how materials behaved when cooled to nearly absolute zero. He was the first to liquify helium...
(1853–1926). Onnes was the first to liquefyLiquefaction of gasesLiquefaction of gases includes a number of phases used to convert a gas into a liquid state. The processes are used for scientific, industrial and commercial purposes. Many gases can be put into a liquid state at normal atmospheric pressure by simple cooling; a few, such as carbon dioxide, require...
heliumHeliumHelium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...
(1908), and the discoverer of superconductivitySuperconductivitySuperconductivity is a phenomenon of exactly zero electrical resistance occurring in certain materials below a characteristic temperature. It was discovered by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes on April 8, 1911 in Leiden. Like ferromagnetism and atomic spectral lines, superconductivity is a quantum...
. For many years his laboratory was the coldest place on earth.
On display are a helium liquefier and associated tools, devices to measure superconductivity (e.g. rheostats), and to automatically record measurements: a cathode
Cathode
A cathode is an electrode through which electric current flows out of a polarized electrical device. Mnemonic: CCD .Cathode polarity is not always negative...
tube, a thermograph, drum recorders and a paper tape recorder.
Also large (from today's perspective) devices, mostly made from wood and copper, to measure and display electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
(1900–1930): volt meters, a resistance
Electrical resistance
The electrical resistance of an electrical element is the opposition to the passage of an electric current through that element; the inverse quantity is electrical conductance, the ease at which an electric current passes. Electrical resistance shares some conceptual parallels with the mechanical...
box, radio valves, a universal bridge
Bridge circuit
A bridge circuit is a type of electrical circuit in which two circuit branches are "bridged" by a third branch connected between the first two branches at some intermediate point along them. The bridge was originally developed for laboratory measurement purposes and one of the intermediate...
, mirror galvanometer
Mirror galvanometer
thumb|right|200px|A mirror galvanometerA mirror galvanometer is a mechanical meter that senses electric current, except that instead of moving a needle, it moves a mirror. The mirror reflects a beam of light, which projects onto a meter, and acts as a long, weightless, massless pointer...
s, a quadrant electrometer
Electrometer
An electrometer is an electrical instrument for measuring electric charge or electrical potential difference. There are many different types, ranging from historical hand-made mechanical instruments to high-precision electronic devices...
.
Apparatusses to study radiation: a Wilson cloud chamber
Cloud chamber
The cloud chamber, also known as the Wilson chamber, is a particle detector used for detecting ionizing radiation. In its most basic form, a cloud chamber is a sealed environment containing a supersaturated vapor of water or alcohol. When a charged particle interacts with the mixture, it ionizes it...
, an electrometer
Electrometer
An electrometer is an electrical instrument for measuring electric charge or electrical potential difference. There are many different types, ranging from historical hand-made mechanical instruments to high-precision electronic devices...
with ionization chamber
Ionization chamber
The ionization chamber is the simplest of all gas-filled radiation detectors, and is used for the detection or measurement of ionizing radiation...
, X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
, cathode-ray and canal ray tubes, a fluorescent lamp.
Equipment to study the properties of light (and radio waves in general), including the wave–particle duality
Wave–particle duality
Wave–particle duality postulates that all particles exhibit both wave and particle properties. A central concept of quantum mechanics, this duality addresses the inability of classical concepts like "particle" and "wave" to fully describe the behavior of quantum-scale objects...
(most 1900-1910): a slit
Double-slit experiment
The double-slit experiment, sometimes called Young's experiment, is a demonstration that matter and energy can display characteristics of both waves and particles...
, a polarizer
Polarizer
A polarizer is an optical filter that passes light of a specific polarization and blocks waves of other polarizations. It can convert a beam of light of undefined or mixed polarization into a beam with well-defined polarization. The common types of polarizers are linear polarizers and circular...
, a photo-electric cell
Photoelectric effect
In the photoelectric effect, electrons are emitted from matter as a consequence of their absorption of energy from electromagnetic radiation of very short wavelength, such as visible or ultraviolet light. Electrons emitted in this manner may be referred to as photoelectrons...
, a Fresnel double mirror, lenses
Lens (optics)
A lens is an optical device with perfect or approximate axial symmetry which transmits and refracts light, converging or diverging the beam. A simple lens consists of a single optical element...
, a induction coil
Induction coil
An induction coil or "spark coil" is a type of disruptive discharge coil. It is a type of electrical transformer used to produce high-voltage pulses from a low-voltage direct current supply...
, a photosensitive resistor
Resistor
A linear resistor is a linear, passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical resistance as a circuit element.The current through a resistor is in direct proportion to the voltage across the resistor's terminals. Thus, the ratio of the voltage applied across a resistor's...
, a spectroscope, an oscillograph
Oscillograph
An oscillograph is an instrument for measuring alternating or varying electric current in terms of current and voltage. There are two instruments that are in common use today:*Electromagnetic oscillograph*Cathode-ray oscilloscope...
, a wireless
Wireless
Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...
receiver
Receiver (radio)
A radio receiver converts signals from a radio antenna to a usable form. It uses electronic filters to separate a wanted radio frequency signal from all other signals, the electronic amplifier increases the level suitable for further processing, and finally recovers the desired information through...
, a microphone
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
, standards of self-induction
Inductance
In electromagnetism and electronics, inductance is the ability of an inductor to store energy in a magnetic field. Inductors generate an opposing voltage proportional to the rate of change in current in a circuit...
.
Also Zeeman's Nobel Prize diploma and medal and a lab diary, an electromagnet
Electromagnet
An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by the flow of electric current. The magnetic field disappears when the current is turned off...
with polar pieces, 3D plaster models to visualize thermodynamic properties (e.g. phase transition
Phase transition
A phase transition is the transformation of a thermodynamic system from one phase or state of matter to another.A phase of a thermodynamic system and the states of matter have uniform physical properties....
s).
22 Medicine
Pieces at display include: a gigantic microtome
Microtome
A microtome is a sectioning instrument that allows for the cutting of extremely thin slices of material, known as sections. Microtomes are an important device in microscopy preparation, allowing for the preparation of samples for observation under transmitted light or electron radiation...
, the first heart-lung machine
Heart-lung machine
Cardiopulmonary bypass is a technique that temporarily takes over the function of the heart and lungs during surgery, maintaining the circulation of blood and the oxygen content of the body. The CPB pump itself is often referred to as a heart–lung machine or "the pump"...
(prototype) by inventor Jacob Jongbloed (1948), the first kidney dialysis machine by inventor Willem Johan Kolff
Willem Johan Kolff
Willem Johan "Pim" Kolff was a pioneer of hemodialysis as well as in the field of artificial organs. Willem is a member of the Kolff family, an old Dutch patrician family. He made his major discoveries in the field of dialysis for kidney failure during the Second World War...
, X-ray equipment, an iron lung
Iron lung
A negative pressure ventilator is a form of medical ventilator that enables a person to breathe when normal muscle control has been lost or the work of breathing exceeds the person's ability....
, galvanometer
Galvanometer
A galvanometer is a type of ammeter: an instrument for detecting and measuring electric current. It is an analog electromechanical transducer that produces a rotary deflection of some type of pointer in response to electric current flowing through its coil in a magnetic field. .Galvanometers were...
tools, a bow and arrow used to draw ultra thin quartz fibres (by shooting away a droplet of molten quartz), the original golden Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
medal from Willem Einthoven
Willem Einthoven
Willem Einthoven was a Dutch doctor and physiologist. He invented the first practical electrocardiogram in 1903 and received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1924 for it....
(for developing the first practical electrocardiogram
Electrocardiogram
Electrocardiography is a transthoracic interpretation of the electrical activity of the heart over a period of time, as detected by electrodes attached to the outer surface of the skin and recorded by a device external to the body...
in 1903)
23 Astronomy
24 Microscopy
Microscope
A microscope is an instrument used to see objects that are too small for the naked eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy...
The room houses two electron microscopes (1947–1950) and related equipment (gold vaporiser, lens, object holders, a cooler, a goniometer
Goniometer
A goniometer is an instrument that either measures an angle or allows an object to be rotated to a precise angular position. The term goniometry is derived from two Greek words, gōnia, meaning angle, and metron, meaning measure....
), a collection of compound and specimen microscopes (some binocular
Binocular
Binocular may refer to:* Binocular vision, seeing with two eyes* Binoculars, a telescopic tool* Binocular, a thoroughbred race horse* Binocular , Kevin Rudolf's band that released a self-titled album in 2001....
) (1840–1870) plus accompanying microscope lamps and a tool box, a binocular polarisation microscope (1850), several microtome
Microtome
A microtome is a sectioning instrument that allows for the cutting of extremely thin slices of material, known as sections. Microtomes are an important device in microscopy preparation, allowing for the preparation of samples for observation under transmitted light or electron radiation...
s (a.o. a cryomicrotome) and ultramicrotomes, a phase contrast microscope, a fluorescence microscope
Fluorescence microscope
A fluorescence microscope is an optical microscope used to study properties of organic or inorganic substances using the phenomena of fluorescence and phosphorescence instead of, or in addition to, reflection and absorption...
(plus several epi-illuminators, to exploit the difference between emitted and reflected light frequencies that some substances display), compound microscope with transformer in camera installation, a photomicroscope (photo camera with inverted microscope), a boxed collection of microscopic specimen
Specimen
A specimen is a portion/quantity of material for use in testing, examination, or study.BiologyA laboratory specimen is an individual animal, part of an animal, a plant, part of a plant, or a microorganism, used as a representative to study the properties of the whole population of that species or...
s (1870).
Location
Before moving in 1991, the museum was located in the former Boerhaave Laboratory at the Steenstraat 1, Leiden, a building which belonged to the Leiden Academic Hospital (Leiden Academisch Hospital), now part of LUMC, Leiden University Medical CenterLeiden University Medical Center
The Leiden University Medical Center or LUMC, is the university hospital affiliated with Leiden University, of which it forms the medical faculty...
. This location of the museum now houses the National Museum of Ethnology.
To create better housing the former nunnery of Saint Cecilia
Saint Cecilia
Saint Cecilia is the patroness of musicians and Church music because as she was dying she sang to God. It is also written that as the musicians played at her wedding she "sang in her heart to the Lord". St. Cecilia was an only child. Her feast day is celebrated in the Roman Catholic, Anglican,...
was bought by the Government Buildings Agency (Rijksgebouwendienst). This historic building has had various functions over time. The building dates from the early 15th century. The building had become municipal property after the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
and shortly before 1600 was converted into a pest house
Pest house
In the past, a pest house or pesthouse was a hospital or hostel used for persons afflicted with communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, cholera, or smallpox...
and lunatic asylum. The Leiden Academic hospital was founded in this location between 1636 and 1639 . After extensive restoration and expansion, the building is in use as a museum since 1991.