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05.11.2020 10:30 •  Английский язык

TEXT 2 History of Science Museum in Oxford 8. Read the text and formulate the main idea of it. Write out the key words and word combinations from every paragraph. Now write the summary of the text in English. 1. The text tells us about… 2. According to it... 3. The text also mentions... 4. It emphasizes... 5. I want to point out the following facts that were new for me… 6. The text concludes… 7. In as much as … 8. In conclusion I’d like to mention that... History The History of Science Museum in Broad Street, Oxford, England, holds a leading collection of scientific instruments from Middle Ages to the 19th century. The museum building is also known as the Old Ashmolean Building to distinguish it from the newer Ashmolean Museum building completed in 1894. The museum was built in 1683, and it is the world's oldest surviving purpose-built museum. The museum is open to the general public every afternoon except Mondays, with free admission. Built in 1683 to house Elias Ashmole's collection, it was the world's first purpose-built museum building and was also open to the public. The original concept of the museum was to institutionalize the new learning about nature that appeared in the 17th century and experiments concerning natural philosophy were undertaken in a chemical laboratory in the basement, while lectures and demonstration took place in the School of Natural History, on the middle floor. Ashmole's collection was expanded to include a broad range of activities associated with the history of natural knowledge and in 1924 the gift of Lewis Evans' collection allowed the museum further improvement, becoming the Museum of the History of Science and appointing Robert Gunther as its first curator. Collections and exhibitions Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford is the collection of early scientific instruments and apparatus. Although not given its present name until 1935, the museum began in 1924. In that year, the collection of early instruments in the possession of Lewis Evans (whose brother Sir Arthur Evans had been curator of the Ashmolean Museum) was housed in the Old Ashmolean Building. Other exhibits were added to that collection by its first curator, Robert Gunther, and by the early 1930s the museum occupied all three floors of the building, where it still remains. The building itself was erected in 1683 to house the Ashmolean Museum, which moved to new premises in the late 19th century. The present range of exhibits includes some of the largest collections of sundials, astrolabes, and microscopes in the world. The collection and the building itself now occupies a special position in the study of the history of science and in the development of western culture and collecting. One of the most iconic objects in the collection is Einstein's Blackboard that Albert Einstein used on 16 May 1931 in his lectures while visiting the University of Oxford, rescued by dons including and E. J. Bowen and Gavin de Beer. The current collection contains around 18,000 objects from antiquity to the early 20th century, representing almost all aspects of the history of science and is used for both academic study and enjoyment by the visiting public. The museum contains a wide range of scientific instruments, such as quadrants, astrolabes (the most complete collection in the world with c.170 instruments), sundials, early mathematical instruments (used for calculating, astronomy, navigation, surveying and drawing), optical instruments (microscopes, telescopes and cameras), equipment associated with chemistry, natural philosophy and medicine, and a reference library regarding the history of scientific instruments that includes manuscripts, incunabula, prints and printed ephemera, and early photographic items. The museum shows the development of mechanical clocks. Lantern clocks and longcase clocks are exhibited in the Beeson Room, named after the antiquarian horologist Cyril Beeson (1889–1975)[4] who gave his collection to the museum. Early turret clocks are exhibited above the stairs from the basement to the raised ground floor. From October 2009 until February 2010, the Museum hosted the first major exhibition of Steampunk art objects, curated by Art Donovan and presented by Dr Jim Bennett, then the museum director.[5][6] The museum is also home to the Rochester Avionic Archive, which includes a collection of avionics that originated with the Elliot Brothers, but also includes pieces from Marconi and BAE Curators The following have been Curator or Secretary to the Committee or Director at the museum: R. T. Gunther (1924–40) • F. Sherwood Taylor (1940–45, temporary; 1945–50) • C. H. Josten (1950–64; 1964–94, emeritus) • F. R. Maddison (1964–94) • J. A. Bennett (1994–2012) • Stephen Johnston (acting director, 2012–