The Laboratory Revolution 1850-1950

The Rise of the Laboratory and the Changing Nature of the University

The laboratory is the ultimate place where knowledge is created.  What had originally only been the workplace of alchemists and chemists, by the end of the nineteenth century had become a standard element in the infrastructure of science.  The rise of the laboratory revolutionized the sciences in many ways and it continues to do so up to this moment. This is all common knowledge and well studied, but what is not so well known is that laboratories also had a tremendous impact on the universities, which in the nineteenth century were becoming the most common institution for science and scholarship.  Read more.