Curator Richard Dunn takes a closer look at a sea clock on display in Versailles: Science and Splendour, and explores French contributions to the development and use of a game-changing navigational innovation.
Richard Dunn has been Keeper of Technologies and Engineering at the Science Museum since 2019. Previously he was Senior Curator for the History of Science at Royal Museums Greenwich, where he was lead curator for the exhibition, Ships, Clocks & Stars: The Quest for Longitude (2014). His publications include The Telescope: A Short History (2009), Finding Longitude (2014, with Rebekah Higgitt) and Navigational Instruments (2016).
Two hundred years ago, British natural philosopher Michael Faraday made a discovery that marked a crucial turning point in our understanding of electricity and magnetism.