Just recently, I have been comparing my lab
book to that of a quite extraordinary Victorian gentleman... Henry Clifton
Sorby (1826-1908) – “Sheffield’s Greatest Scientist”. Unlike most researchers
today, who specialise in very narrow niches, Sorby was a pioneer in fields as
diverse as metallurgy, geology, marine biology and meteorology. Keen to inspire
the inquiring minds of the future, he was also a key founder of the institution
where I currently work, the University of Sheffield. But how did I end up reading
his Diaries? Well…I can never resist checking through the email bulletin
detailing the latest volunteering opportunities at the University, and came
across an ad from Museums Sheffield, who possess Sorby’s handwritten notebooks
from 1859-1907. To make these accessible to all, they were looking for willing
volunteers to help transcribe these documents to raise the profile of this
local hero.
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Sir Henry Clifton Sorby |
Despite his intellectual exploits, Sorby
lived all his life in Sheffield rather than being lured to the Academic
Institutions in London. Having inherited
a considerable sum with the death of his father in 1847, the 21 year old Sorby
found himself in the remarkable position of having the financial means to forgo
work for the rest of his life, and peruse whatever took his fancy. This could
have been a recipe for indulgence and pleasure, however Sorby immediately
channelled his resources and energy into setting up his own laboratory and
devoting himself to solving the mysteries of the time. These days, researchers
can only dream of having such freedom to dedicate to pure research, without
worrying about the next grant proposal or funding application!
My first challenge was deciphering the curling, crawling script, further complicated by Sorby’s unique style of
shorthand and abbreviations ( I presume 'FC' meant 'Firth Court', the oldest
building of the University, but could it be 'Football Club'? ). My top tip for
anyone engaged in similar tasks is this: if you can't make out a word, note
where it is, then LEAVE IT and carry on ... Chances are you will come across
some combination of letters later that will reveal all. I spent quite a while
grappling with one sentence, before giving up and ploughing on to the next section.
When I returned to the phrase, with just one look I suddenly had it - 'I awoke
with swollen face and neuralgia' !!!
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That Troublesome Sentence! |
I felt like a detective at times as I
unravelled the course of his days in 1897. For one passage, I couldn't fathom
what he was up to - a lot of 'trawling', 'dredging' and 'casting off' - until I finally came across the word
'yacht'. Googlemaps then became invaluable for deciphering place names as I
followed his voyages around the East Coast. At one point, I became a bit
suspicious about his doings with a certain 'Mrs Waller' who he would travel
many miles to see in London and then 'sit' for her for several hours at a
time... Rather than meeting an illicit mistress however, Sorby, as an eminent
gentleman, was having his portrait painted! The Victorian turns of phrase were
a delight (“Charming”!) and some of his friends had marvellous surnames:
Shenstone, Spalding, etc. It also appeared that Sorby was a keen advocate of
bringing together scientific minds to share and discuss new research. His “soirees”
could perhaps be considered the forefather of the modern conference… though
probably without all the company freebies!
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Note the shorthand and the wonderful z s in "Drizzle"! |
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A typical page from my own lab book |
It was interesting to compare the content with the pages of my own lab book.
Whilst I feel compelled to record every minor detail of each experiment (
temperatures , times, concentrations, light intensity, etc.) to be able to
answer my supervisor’s questions, Sorby’s entries are remarkably brief and
leave much to the imagination. 'Draw and read' was the most common phrase, a
refrain that surfaced again and again throughout the months. I used to think
that this sounded very idle activity until I chanced upon some results of Sorby’s
drawing in the cabinets outside the Alfred Denny museum. A gifted artist, Sorby’s
depictions of the specimens he encountered are exquisite, meticulous in detail
and alive with colour. The value these would have had before the age of
widespread photography should not be underestimated.
In fact, the more I looked, the more evidence
of Sorby’s work I found. Besides spotting his bust in the Geography department,
I also found a beautiful collection of lantern slides. Perhaps one of Sorby’s
greatest contributions was developing a method to prepare marine specimens to
mount on microscope slides and lantern slides (see photo). At the time, this
would have been the ultimate method for communicating science to a wider
audience but even now, when we have the internet and camera-phones, these
artefacts still have the capacity to mesmerize.
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Just some of Sorby's Beautiful Lantern Slides - that I get to walk past every day at work! |
The main question this task has left me
with is – who was Sorby recording this for? Did he ever have an inkling that
his notebooks would one day be read by unrelated future generations? Or were
they merely a record for himself? In which case – why record when he went to
church and what the weather was like but so little about his scientific work?
And yet, one can draw parallels with today’s culture, where we photograph so
many moments of our lives or capture them on video…just for the peace of mind
that they are recorded there, should we want to find them.
Speaking of lab books, I had better write
up my own doings for the past few days! Until next time…
For a fuller account of Sorby’s life and
work see http://www.sorby.org.uk/hcsorby.shtml