science

Prior Scientific

Prior Scientific is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Prior Scientific rather than just read about it. In short: Prior Scientific Instruments Ltd. was established in London in 1919 as a manufacturer of optical microscopes. It is the last traditional microscope manufacturer of makers such as Vickers, W.

Key takeaways

Prior Scientific belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Prior Scientific to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Prior Scientific from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Prior Scientific Instruments Ltd. was established in London in 1919 as a manufacturer of optical microscopes. It is the last traditional microscope manufacturer of makers such as Vickers, W. Watson and Son, Baker, Charles Perry, Cooke, Troughton & Simms and many others who have ceased to produce microscopes.

History

Early history W. R. Prior & Co. Ltd. (W. R. Prior) was founded by Walter Robert Prior and Andrew Physicks in 1919. The Blitz in 1941 destroyed the factory building, so the company moved to their new facility in Bishop's Stortford in 1942. Many records and a collection of microscopes from the early days of the company were lost in a fire in 1988, but some illustrated catalogues have survived which give an indication of the range of instruments produced by W. R. Prior over the years. W. R. Prior's offices were originally located at 9,10,11 Eagle Street, Holborn, London and later at 28a Devonshire Street, London W1. Little is known about the company during this time, and no records or catalogues exist as to when, and why they began to produce microscopes under the Prior name. A W. R. Prior catalogue of microscopes and accessories dated February 1950 gives the location of the office as Devonshire Street and the factory as Bishop's Stortford, Herts. England (13 Northgate End) where manufacturing was carried out from 1942-1957.

Wartime The Eagle Street factory was destroyed during the London Blitz and the company relocated to 13 Northgate End, Bishop's Stortford, Herts. The building was a garage and work began producing optical gun sights, tank periscopes, and range finders for the Ministry of Defence. No microscopes were produced during the war. The first post-war abridged catalogue includes a wood block illustration of a student "C" limb microscope, with the limb engraved with the Eagle Street address.

Post-war On 10 January 1947, Walter Robert Prior died at the age of 55. 1953 brought the start of manufacturing micromanipulators for Prior, and later the micropositioner was developed. The company relocated to a new factory at London Road, Bishop's Stortford in 1956 and continued to produce and develop microscopes. Because of the need for new universities and colleges during the post-war period, there was a demand for microscopes and accessories, so Prior developed instruments for this market. The Science Master Microscope, introduced in 1957, was used in schools. The established Prior Monocular Dissecting Microscope was supplied for educational use. For the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London, 1962, Prior supplied a Modular Inverted Microscope housed in a temperature controlled cabinet for cell culture examination. The provision of a cine camera enabled continuous or time-lapse cine-photography to be carried out. The Cinemicroscope was adaptable for still photography or closed circuit television. This microscope was one of the fore-runners of the modern inverted microscope, which is commonly used in cell biology and tissue culture work today. A Prior Tissue Culture Chamber was also supplied and enabled work to be carried out when using an inverted or standard erect microscope.

1970-2000 In 1978, W. R. Prior & Co.Ltd. was acquired by The Gwyndann Group of Companies. The company name was changed in 1979 to Prior Scientific Instruments Ltd. (Prior). Throughout the 1970s, Prior continued to launch new microscope models, including the Priorlux laboratory microscope in 1970 and the Student 400 series, designed for young scientists, in 1975. In 1981, Prior Scientific Instruments Ltd. merged with James Swift and Son Ltd. James Swift & Son was founded in 1854, producing student and research polarising microscopes. The Swift Point Counter complemented the polarising microscope range and was sold worldwide. The James Swift factory was initially at Basingstoke, Hants. It was closed after a year and the company joined Prior Scientific Instruments at London Road, Bishop's Stortford. Also in 1981, Prior launched a modular series of stereomicroscopes: the S2000 series. The intention was that this instrument would replace and upgrade the Stereomaster microscope. The design had been based on that of an operating microscope featuring a long working distance. It also had a tumbler rotating magnification system and a common objective. The design was a complete deviation from that of the previous Prior Greenough type microscope. In 1984, Prior collaborated with British Telecom to produce the first hand-held fibre optic inspection microscope. Prior then embarked on further development of fibre optic inspection systems for other customers, including automated production systems with integrated image analysis. In 1987, Prior started the development of an automated high speed XY microscope stage for the Milk Marketing Board. This stage was used in the screening of bacteria in milk samples. Prior soon identified the wider market potential of the automated microscope stage and embarked on the development of motorised systems for light microscope applications. Fire at the Bishop's Stortford factory in 1988 meant the company had to relocate to its present site in Fulbourn, Cambridge, England, offering precision mechanical engineering, optics, electronics and precision assembly. Expanding its operations further, the company opened a new office in 1991, Prior Scientific Inc, based in Rockland near Boston, USA.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Prior Scientific

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Prior Scientific claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Prior Scientific before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Prior Scientific ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Prior Scientific

In research: Prior Scientific appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Prior Scientific in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Prior Scientific is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics British brands, Companies based in London, Electronics companies of the United Kingdom, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Prior Scientific outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Prior Scientific in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Prior Scientific means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Prior Scientific out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Prior Scientific in simple terms?

Prior Scientific Instruments Ltd. was established in London in 1919 as a manufacturer of optical microscopes. It is the last traditional microscope manufacturer of makers such as Vickers, W.

Why does Prior Scientific matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Prior Scientific?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Prior Scientific.