Lehre – Sammlung – Objekt

Natural science collections were widespread in the early modern period. This volume focuses on the eventful collection history of the Chamber of Mathematics and Physics of the former Jesuit College in Cologne from its 17th-century beginnings to the present day. Political and (ecclesiastical) historical events influenced the organisation, function, and collection of instruments. As early as the 18th century, but more especially in the French period around 1800, the Jesuit collection developed into one of mathematics and physics, which Georg Simon Ohm later used to prepare for his important discovery of Ohm’s Law. In the context of science’s historical development towards modern natural science, the Cologne chamber played an active role, helping to shape this major transformation on a small scale.