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Scientific instruments

2011
Schechner, Sara J. “Division IX/Commission 41/Working Group Historical Instruments.” Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 7, no. T28A (2011): 400-402. PDF
2010
Schechner, Sara J. “Review of Eastern Astrolabes, by David Pingree.” HAD News April 2010, no. 76 (2010): 6-7.
Schechner, Sara J. “Essay Review of Eastern Astrolabes, by David Pingree.” Aestimatio 7 (2010): 7-11.
2009
Schechner, Sara J. “Early American Telescopes.” Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society 41, no. 1 (2009): 186. Abstract at SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Schechner, Sara J. “The Adventures of Captain John Smith Among the Mathematical Practitioners: Cosmology, Mathematics, and Power at the Time of Jamestown.” Rittenhouse: Journal of the Scientific Instrument Enterprise 21, no. 2 (2009): 126-144. rittenhouse_vol21_2007_schechner_adventures_of_caption_john_smith.pdf
2008
Schechner, Sara J. “New Worlds, New Scientific Instruments: Cosmology, Mathematics, and Power at the Time of Jamestown.” In The World of 1607, 229-239. Williamsburg: Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, 2008.
Schechner, Sara J. “Astrolabes and Medieval Travel.” In The Art, Science, and Technology of Medieval Travel, 181-210. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2008. astrolabes_and_medieval_travel_2008_schechner.pdf
2007
Schechner, Sara J. “The Adventures of Captain John Smith, Pocahontas, and a Sundial: Cosmology, Mathematics, and Power at the Time of Jamestown.” Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society 39, no. 4 (2007): 786. Abstract at SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Waywiser
Schechner, Sara J., Jean-Francois Gauvin, and others. “Waywiser.” Online database of the Harvard Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, 2007. Link to Waywiser Abstract
Waywiser, is the online database of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University. It was first developed by Jean-François Gauvin and Sara J. Schechner in 2007--2008, and has since been updated in format by Juan Andres Leon and other museum staff. As curator of the Collection, Schechner is the contributor of thousands of object entries and biographies, particularly in the areas of astronomy, microscopy, optics, time finding, horology, surveying, navigation, psychology, and radio. Work on the database is ongoing. The database is named after an ancient instrument for measuring distance, also called a hodometer.
Surveyor using a waywiser
Schechner, Sara J. “The Adventures of Captain John Smith, Pocahontas, and a Sundial.” The Compendium 14, no. 1 (2007): 19-24. schechner_smith_pocahontas_sundial_compendium_2007.pdf
2006
Schechner, Sara J. “Review of Elizabethan Instrument Makers: The Origins of the London Trade in Precision Instrument Making, by Gerard L’E. Turner.” Isis 97 (2006): 743.
Schechner, Sara J. “The Adventures of Captain John Smith, Pocahontas, and a Sundial.” In East and West: The Common European Heritage, Book of Abstracts of the XXV Scientific Instrument Symposium. Krakow, Poland: Jagiellonian University Museum, 2006.
Chaplin, Joyce, Sara J Schechner, and Thomas Horrocks. “Benjamin Franklin: A How-To Guide, Catalog of the Exhibition.” Harvard Library Bulletin 17, no. 1-2, spring-summer, special double issue, "Benjamin Franklin: A How-To Guide" (2006): 47-99. full text online
Schechner, Sara J. “Benjamin Franklin and a Tale of Two Electrical Machines.” Harvard Library Bulletin 17, no. 1-2, spring-summer, special double issue, "Benjamin Franklin: A How-To Guide" (2006): 33-40. full text online
Schechner, Sara J. “The Adventures of Captain John Smith, Pocahontas, and a Sundial.” East and West: The Common European Heritage, Proceedings of the XXV Scientific Instrument Symposium. Krakow, Poland: Jagiellonian University Museum, 2006.
2005
Schechner, Sara J. “Astronomy behind Enemy Lines in Colonial North America: John Winthrop’s Observations of the Transits of Venus.” Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society 37, no. 4 (2005): 1241. Abstract at SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Schechner, Sara J. “Museum Education and Instruction on the History and Nature of Science.” In Partners in Innovation: Science Education and the Science Workforce, 78-94. Philadelphia: Chemical Heritage Press, 2005.
Schechner, Sara J. “Between Knowing and Doing: Mirrors and Their Imperfections in the Renaissance.” Early Science and Medicine 10 (2005): 137-162.
2004
Transits of Venus
Schechner, Sara J, Stephen Johnston, and Steven Turner. “Transits of Venus,” 2004. Transits of Venus websiteAbstract
Transits of Venus is a global collaboration of institutions holding historical scientific instruments, images, and documents used on Transit of Venus expeditions in the 18th and 19th centuries, creating a database of instruments, observing stations, events, people, and institutions. The site was developed by Stephen Johnston, Sara J. Schechner, and Steven Turner, 2003-2004. Additions to the site's database are ongoing.
Schechner, Sara J. “Against the Hockney-Falco thesis: Glass and metal mirrors of the 15th century could not project undistorted images.” In Technical Digest: Frontiers in Optics 2004. Vol. 88th OSA Annual Meeting. Washington, DC: Optical Society of America, 2004.

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