"Most, but not all, of these papers were presented to a Royal Institution Centre for the History of Science and Technology three-day symposium held from 17 to 19 September 1986 under the title Laboratories: the Place of Experiment"--P. [xvi].

Includes bibliographical references (p. 242-254) and index.

Humphry Davy / June Z. Fullmer -- The Lectureship in Chemistry and the Chemical Laboratory, University of Glasgow, 1747-1818 / David V. Fenby -- Amusement chests and portable laboratories / Brian Gee -- History in the laboratory / David Gooding -- The spirit of investigation / Lawrence Aronovitch -- J.J. Thomson and "Cavendish" physics / Isobel Falconer -- Astronomical observatories as practical space / Mari E.W. Williams -- The geopolitics and architectural design of a metrological laboratory / David Cahan -- Building England's first technical college / W.H. Brock -- Pragmatism in particle physics / Andrew Pickering -- Fermilab / Catherine Westfall -- The CERN beam-transport programme in the early 1960's / John Krige -- "Monsters" and colliders in 1961 / Dominique Pestre.