Rachel McCarthy and her elements mug. Credit: Ian Beech Images.

I’ll come clean. I’m an instrumentation geek. Squeals of joy that only dogs can hear are emitted whenever I stray into the vicinity of astrolabes, early microscopes and yes, of course, the periodic table. I worry that we forget in our world of ‘invisible’ technology (the internet, mobile phone signals etc) the journey humankind has taken to get to such innovations and of the sacrifices involved.

The Museum of the History of Science charts that history and also shares it through public events.  I was very honoured to present ‘Alphabet of Our Universe’; part social history, part poetry reading, part chemistry talk, there on the 12th January to a sell-out crowd in the lab. Especially as it was accompanying their excellent exhibition ‘Dear Harry’, detailing the discoveries and life of the incredibly talented Harry Moseley. Moseley’s work on the X-ray spectra of the elements provided a new foundation for the Periodic Table and contributed to the development of the nuclear model of the atom. Yet Moseley’s life and career were cut short when he was killed in 1915, aged 27, in action at Gallipoli, Turkey.

Together we talked about Moseley, war, octopuses, iphones and why Henry VIII was called ‘old coppernose’.  We discussed inappropriate dinner parties, spermicide, a small outer villiage in Sweden, Marvel Comics and lunacy. Essentially, we talked about humanity. Elements are, well, elements. It is how we use them, for good or evil, love or war, that defines us.

Thank you; to everyone who came on the journey with me, the staff at the Museum of the History of Science, particularly its Director Dr Silke Ackerman,  Assistant Keeper Dr Stephen Johnston, Designer extraordinaire Keiko Ikeuchi  and for organising me, Public Engagement Officer Robyn Haggard. It was great meeting and conversing with you all.

Museums like this are jewels. In the same way I worry about us losing tales of awe in early science, I worry about us ‘not knowing what we got until it’s gone’ with museums. The Museum of the History of Science deserves every penny of funding it gets, and could do more with more – you can donate here.

Rachel McCarthy is a Senior Scientist at the Met Office, as well as an award-winning poet, essayist and broadcaster. In 2015 her collection Element caught the attention of the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, who picked it out as marking one of the best new voices in British poetry, and Rachel as “one to watch”.  To find out more, visit her website.

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Scientists and their work have long inspired writers too, so we were pleased to bring together our current exhibition on Henry Moseley with members of poetry group Oxford Stanza Two. These poets have been working with us to produce original new work, as well as running workshops in the Museum for local sixth form students, helping the students to explore and create their own poetry. You can read one student’s thoughts on workshop here.

Oxford Stanza Two and some of the students will present their work at the Museum at 7pm on Thursday 8 October in Harry Moseley: “…meteor of a summer night…”. Everyone is welcome, and the event is free, but we recommend reserving a ticket through our Eventbrite page.

Ahead the event, Oxford Stanza Two share a few thoughts and feelings that shaped their work, below. Now the event has taken place you can read the poetry produced here.

Amabel’s Diaries
“I’ve always kept diaries and I still do, so seeing [Harry’s mother] Amabel Moseley’s diaries for 1915 caught me up in a web of remembering. Like her I used my own small, lined Letts diary mainly for engagements … Amabel had gone back through 1915 crossing out appointments and adding events relating to Harry, turning [her diary] in fact, into a memorial to Harry. I was struck by how in this way the past had been both fixed and altered for her… I hope the resulting poem will do justice to all this.” – Hilda

Harry’s Eyes
“It’s his eyes that took hold of me: as clear as a schoolboy’s, as penetrating as a poet’s. The photographer has him forever gazing directly into the camera, with the vigilant but calm concentration of the experimental scientist. I wanted to write about that young man, Harry Moseley.” – Bill

Harry Moseley and the War
“Looking round the exhibition, the everyday quality of the war is evident. The heavy equipment, the matter-of-fact letters home, the complaints about the heat … the day-to-day problems. The ordinariness and irritations of war. It was your job to deal with the matter in hand – and to trust in the high command back home to deal with strategy, the wider picture. After Harry was killed at Gallipoli, the high command was forced to consider an even wider picture. Maybe such great minds should be preserved? I wondered what Harry’s surviving men would have thought of this new directive … My poem ‘The Line’ is written from their point of view.” – Meg

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