Welcome to

Julian Holland’s

web pages

Tornaghi’s Patent Circumferentor
The Sydney mathematical instrument maker Angelo Tornaghi (1831-1906) patented this simplified form of surveyor’s compass in New South Wales in 1863.  I am presently researching its background and history and would be pleased to hear from any owners of examples of this instrument.  I am aware of several examples in public collections.  My email address is at the bottom of the page. - JH 15/8/06

The purpose of this website is to make available various articles relating to historic scientific instruments, the history of measurement and related topics.

Scientific Instrument Makers and Retailers in Australia

James Blanch - Australia’s first metrologist?

A.L. Franklin - Manufacturer of precision

Selbys - Book review

T.F. Wiesener - Scientific instrument maker in colonial Sydney

Australian Exploration and the Introduction of the Aneroid Barometer

Trial by Fire - product testing in colonial Sydney

Metrology

Curiosities of Measurement in Myth and History

Churches and Measurement

Facts not Opinions - David Kirkaldy’s Testing and Experimenting Works

Weights and Measures in Scotland - Book review

A Testing Machine for Adelaide - The purchase of a Riehle testing machine in 1901

Other Articles

Charles Darwin, W.S. Macleay & Evolution - Could W.S. Macleay have discovered evolution by natural selection?

W.B. Clarke's Scientific Correspondence - Book review

Scientific Instruments - a guide to resources

Public Time - Knowing the time in colonial Australia

Getting Results - Gathering data and drawing conclusions

John Roach’s Instruments in Sydney - American surveying instruments

Scientific Instruments for Sydney University in the 19th Century

Scientific Instrument Collections in Australian Universities (1995)

Cutting it Fine - Microtomes in the Macleay Museum

Picture Tales

Sundials and other Time Pieces

Telescopes and Observatories

Monuments and Gravestones

The Contents of The Stereoscopic Magazine, London, 1858-1865

List of Publications

Hosted Article

Early Chemists of Sydney - by H.H.G. McKern