With support from the F. Page Newton '75 Fund, the history major traveled to the U.K. to research the artifacts that inspired her senior thesis.
Haverford students passed their weeklong fall break in a multitude of ways: on service learning trips, visiting family, practicing with sports teams, and conducting research. But for Samara Flug '15 the break provided a chance to travel through time. Thanks to support from the F. Page Newton '75 Fund, the history major went to England, visiting both Oxford and London to view 16th-century scientific objects in preparation for her senior thesis.
Flug's thesis focuses on the court of Elizabeth I and the political role played by technical, scientific objects, such as astrolabes—ancient astronomical tools that were the most common scientific instruments of the pre-telescope era. Specifically, she is using these objects to try to understand the court's attitude toward science and the political use of knowledge as a symbol of power.
The Thomas Gemini astrolabe, for example, was commissioned for the queen by Robert Dudley as a thank-you gift for being made a Knight of the Garter.“It suggests that Elizabeth I understood science and technical, scientific instruments to be a valuable part of her reign,” says Associate Professor of History Darin Hayton, Flug's advisor.“That's amazing when you think about it for a second. Here is the queen of England who, apparently, knew how to use an astrolabe, understood the complex mathematics and astronomy behind it, and wanted one. Dudley gave her the astrolabe in 1559, less than a year after she came to the throne a young, beleaguered, Protestant queen. She didn't do anything that wouldn't solidify and advance her authority and her claim to the throne. And she wanted an astrolabe?!”
Though Flug had been able to see many of these astrolabes in online galleries from her home on campus, it was transformative for her to actually view and interact with them in person.
“Getting to take the Thomas Gemini astrolabe out of its case at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford was an amazing experience,” she says.“You never get to take things out of museum cases! Yet, I got to hold, take apart, and examine the 16th-century instrument that I had spent so much time thinking about. Sitting with the astrolabe made me feel closer to that particular historical moment than I could've imagined.”
Seeing objects like the Gemini astrolabe in person also helped Flug discover details or flaws in their craftsmanship that were invisible to her in photographs. Upon examining one with a magnifying glass, for example, she saw that the engraver had used different tools on different parts of it and had even made a lot of mistakes.
“With the rise of digital options, it is easy to forget how important it is to see sources in person,” says Hayton.“Only in person can you understand the size, the weight, the shape of an artifact, or the craftsmanship, the mistakes, the traces of use. … Only by seeing such material in person can we begin to understand what these objects meant to the people who produced them, the people who commissioned them, the people who received them as gifts, or the people who used them.”
Hayton was instrumental in helping Flug set up her trip. He connected her with Stephen Johnston, the assistant director of the Museum of the History of Science and a professor of the history of science at the University of Oxford, with whom he had worked prior to coming to Haverford. Johnston not only helped Flug gain access to the materials she was interested in while in Oxford, but, as an expert in Elizabethan mathematical instruments, he also helped inspire her topic in the first place. (She first read his work while studying abroad in Scotland last year.)
Over the fall break, Flug split her time between Oxford, and London, where she visited the British Museum, the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery. She also visited the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. By the time she returned to Haverford she was more certain of her thesis topic than ever.
“The trip and the experience of working with these 16th-century instruments reminded me of why I was initially so fascinated with these objects,” Flug says.“The trip has pushed me to refocus my research on them, as opposed to all of the politics in Queen Elizabeth's reign. I was interested in the objects for their materiality and being able to see them firsthand reminded me to continue using them as the center of my research.”
