The Collection of scientific instruments of the University of Lausanne reflects more than two centuries of teaching and research in experimental physics at the University and in the Lausanne region. In 2003, when the Department of Physics moved from the University to EPFL, Prof. Jean-François Loude, who had just retired, rediscovered the collection, started to catalogue the instruments and envisioned a public display of a selection of artifacts. His vision materialized in 2009, when the Museum of Physics opened in the Cubotron building. In parallel, each object was photographed, measured, identified and documented using primary sources such as historical physics treatises, trade catalogues, patents, user manuals, and so on. As of today, the catalogue of the Collection contains more than 1,000 entries, representing various fields, from optics to nuclear physics, including acoustics, electricity, etc., and dating from approximately 1775 to 1960.
