Laboratories and the rise of the physics profession in the nineteenth century

There were no established research laboratories before the nineteenth century. Galileo had a small shop, Hooke was a curator of instruments, Boyle worked at home, Newton in his college rooms. Scientists were often amateurs with their own laboratory facilities. Even in universities they could obtain prominence as individuals, but took students only privately, as assistants or apprentices. There was no profession of physics to which one could aspire as a career. The tradition of modern research laboratories and the research school can be traced to Liebig in chemistry, and the extension to physics can be attributed in large part to Gustav Magnus of the University of Berlin, who also invented the physics colloquium. German universities continued to lead the way throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, but by 1900 other industrialized countries (especially Britain, France, and the United States) had developed research schools leading to careers in physics. Research laboratories were also being established by industry and officially by governments.