17 Spring 2022 Issue 17

Welcome to Issue 17 of the Science Museum Group Journal. Here James Mansell et al explore how audiences can engage with sound objects through listening; Sophie Vohra traces the complex meanings behind commemorative celebrations of the Stockton and Darlington Railway and Efram Sera-Shriar goes back to the original photographic material to re-examine Harry Price’s famous investigation of spiritualist William Hope. Two space objects are discussed in depth – the Black Arrow rocket (by Doug Millard) and the BepiColombo model (by Abigail McKinnon), while Meredith Greiling reflects on curatorial challenges in collecting contemporary transport. An article by Elizabeth Bruton et al focusing on the Zygalski sheet (a tool developed by Polish code-breakers to help crack the Enigma code) gives this achievement deserved attention, while also considering the role of reconstructed objects within exhibitions. The issue is rounded off with two book reviews – Shelly Saggar’s reflections on Jack Davy’s Native Americans in British Museums, and Sara Stradal’s discussion of Volume 16 in the Studies in the Visual Culture of the Middles Ages (edited by Marcia Kupfer, Adam S Cohen and J H Chajes), which explores the visualisation of knowledge.
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Editorial
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Zygalski sheets: Polish codebreaking and the role of reconstruction in the Top Secret exhibition at the Science Museum
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Smart and sustainable: collecting urban transport and mobility innovation in the 2020s
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Staging listening: new methods for engaging audiences with sound in museums
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The BepiColombo ‘model’: looking beyond the ‘original’
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Black Arrow R4: the object behind the screen
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Photographic plates and spirit fakes: remembering Harry Price’s investigation of William Hope’s spirit photography at its centenary
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Commemorating the past, shaping the future: the jubilee and centenary celebrations of the Stockton and Darlington Railway
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Book review: The Visualization of Knowledge in Medieval and Early Modern Europe
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Book review: Native Americans in British Museums by Jack Davy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021)
Featured content
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Staging listening: new methods for engaging audiences with sound in museums
This article reports on the methodology and findings of the project ‘Sonic Futures: Collecting, Curating and Engaging with Sound at the National Science and Media Museum’. The article argues that engaging with listening audiences can diversify and enrich museum listening scenarios.
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Photographic plates and spirit fakes: remembering Harry Price’s investigation of William Hope’s spirit photography at its centenary
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Harry Price’s famous investigation into the spirit photography of William Hope in February 1922, this paper explores the surviving records of the case, including printed materials and photographic evidence.
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Commemorating the past, shaping the future: the jubilee and centenary celebrations of the Stockton and Darlington Railway
Analysing the jubilee (1875) and centenary (1925) celebrations of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, this paper examines the forms and functions of commemoration cultures centred on important moments in this industry’s history.