AVOmeter used by biophysicist Archibald Hill

Made:
1920-1930 in London
maker:
Automated Coil Winder and Electrical Company Limited
Avometer made by the Automated Coil Winder and Electrical Avometer made by the Automated Coil Winder and Electrical Avometer made by the Automated Coil Winder and Electrical Avometer made by the Automated Coil Winder and Electrical

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

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Avometer made by the Automated Coil Winder and Electrical
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Avometer made by the Automated Coil Winder and Electrical
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Avometer made by the Automated Coil Winder and Electrical
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Avometer made by the Automated Coil Winder and Electrical
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

AVOmeter brand of multimeter and electrical measurement instrument, with probes and battery, made by the Automated Coil Winder and Electrical Company Limited, used by the biophysicist Archibald V Hill at University College London c. 1930-1950

Archibald V Hill (1886-1977) was the one of the pioneers of biophysics. Biophysics applies quantitative measurement to reactions in body such as nerve and muscles reactions - the field that Hill studied extensively from 1910 onwards. He shared the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work. A year after his retirement, the Biophysics Department at University College London, was established in 1952. Hill was one of the members of the Academic Assistance Council which became the Society of the Protection of Science and Learning to assist refugees researchers escaping persecution from the Nazi Germany regime.

AVOmeters were the first multi-purpose electrical measuring device. Developed in the 1920s by the head of the General Post Office Telephones in London, Donald Macadie, it combines a measure for amps, volts and ohms. It is a device more typically owned by physicists or engineers at the time and show’s Hill’s commitment to electrical measurement. He also scratched his name into the casing.

Details

Category:
Laboratory Medicine
Object Number:
2007-89
Materials:
metal, plastic and paper
Measurements:
overall (estimated): 165 mm x 115 mm x 190 mm,
type:
multimeter
credit:
The Physiological Society