Scientific Toys

Abstract

Homo ludens is a fundamental but often overlooked aspect when considering how human beings acquire knowledge. All of us, from earliest childhood, learn through play, later called recreation or hobbies. This type of learning is particularly important in discovering how the natural world works, that is, in basic science. Through my study of philosophical instruments it has become clear that the scientific lecture-demonstrations to literate audiences from about 1700 set a pattern for the demonstration of the fundamentals of science that is still with us. Some of the set pieces used by the early lecturers passed into recreational use during the Victorian period, and became toys in the twentieth century. © 1987, British Society for the History of Science. All rights reserved.