Historical Society of Frankford April Meeting and Lecture

The Historical Society of Frankford (HSF) today announced that Roger Turner, curator of instruments and artifacts at the Science History Institute of Philadelphia, will speak at its monthly meeting on April 14, 2026 at 7:30 PM. Doors open at 7:00 PM. His topic will be “Weird, Wonderful, Playful and Profound: Treasures of the Science History Institute”. The venue is the HSF library/museum, located at 1507 Orthodox St, Philadelphia. The event is free and open to the public, and parking is available across Orthodox Street at the Frankford Friends School. Light refreshments will be served after the lecture.

The Science History Institute is a free museum in Old City Philadelphia with some fascinating stuff. This talk explores surprising stories behind a few remarkable things from the collections. Why did Beatrix Potter draw mice around a Bunsen burner dreaming of toasted cheese? What can we learn about the history of plastic from a washed-up Lego dragon, an ESPN producer’s vuvuzela, and a song by Shel Silverstein? Added together, these stories illustrate some of the ways that science and technology have created the world we live in today.

Roger Turner is the curator of instruments and artifacts at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, USA. He studies the role of science in our daily lives, from chemistry labs to pollution control to weather forecasting. Among his recent exhibits are “How to Read a Plastic Bag,” and “Astroturf: Field of Contention.” His favorite scientific instrument is a spectrometer that has a label warning users about its “emotional crisis detector”.