art of the apparatus

this evening i found a hole in the internet, or at very least my search-fu failed me spectacularly. i was planning on doing another installment of in search of this time on anamorphosis… no perceptually distorted dice. though i found almost nothing worth sharing on the subject (i’ll keep at it) what i did find was well worth the effort. the physics museum of the university of coimbra. absolutely incredible. “this Museum houses an unrivalled collection of scientific and didactic instruments from the 18th and 19th centuries. The patrimony consists exclusively of instruments used in the Physics Cabinet of the University of Coimbra since its origin in 1772.” and when they say unrivalled they ain’t kidding. this collection makes the plastic molded, chip crammed, gadgets we all lust over seem positively vulgar. aesthetically at least. here is an index of the collection (be sure to click the thumbs for larger images and in some cases technical drawings.) here are some quicktime movies of instruments, and hell, why not take a virtual tour? highly recommended.