Saturday, September 1, 2012
Portrait of a Genius
If I had the opportunity to pick a portrait to hang in the Fred Jones, Jr. Museum, I would pick the portrait of Edward Bromfield. First and foremost, Edward Bromfield displayed extreme acuity and intelligence with his vast improvements to the microscope - an invaluable tool in the field of science. I believe his portrait is important because it shows him gesturing to a microscope, deeming it important and valuable to society and further scientific developments. Furthermore, his style of clothing has been mentioned to mark him a man of "studious habit" and genius. I think that it is this emulation of genius that makes this portrait interesting to the realm of science. Here is a man who has made valuable contributions to science and has been marked by them. It is these conclusions that I would advise a tour guide to help his audience realize while showing them this portrait in the museum.
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He definitely has helped push the envelope of human understanding at the microscopic level opening our eyes to a much larger world. Good choice!
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what I thought!
DeleteInteresting choice of scientists! I thought it was pretty darn interesting to read that he had passed away at such as young age. He seemed to be so promising in his post-graduate work. I found it quite interesting how many of these individuals, or the artists, used clothing quite frequently to tell a tale of their character and demeanor! For example, I chose David Rittenhouse for my portrait and he is depicted in two paintings as wearing an identical "banyan" to that of Benjamin Franklin's to show their similar level of intellect. The things you learn when you actually take the time to study them.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with you. It's kinda fun to see all the things we can learn if we just study all of the details!
DeleteWhile your post does a great job of explaining who Edward Bromfield was, I think it would also benefit from an explanation of what the improvements he made to the microscope actually were, since it seems to be a major point. But overall good work.
ReplyDeleteBlake