The physics of the museum environment

These pages are no longer maintained. The up to date version is at:
www.padfield.org/tim/cfys/

The window in context: a discussion of the microclimatic consequences of modern building methods.
Climate control in an archive by mixing heat from the building with heat from the outside
Condensation in film containers during cooling and warming, an examination of humidity buffering in a temperature gradient  7/2002
How to protect glazed pictures from climatic insult A sequel to 'The Hunt Ball' (below), also in pdf(1.6Mb). Just the core arguments in academic brevity: pdf (800Kb) 2/2002
The second seismograph of Chang Heng A tragic demonstration of the difference between temperature and heat and a tribute to Gaël de Guichen on the occasion of his retirement from the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property in Rome (ICCROM)   7/2001
Humidity buffering of interior spaces by porous, absorbent insulation
The Hunt Ball - the climatic mysteries of glass cases. in pdf (640 kb)   1/00
How air conditioning works, in html and in pdf (1.2Mb)
What happens to water absorbent materials below zero degrees celsius?  5/99
Humidity buffering by absorbent materials in walls
   Note that this is a long article that may take some time to download.
The role of absorbent materials in moderating changes of relative humidity (ph.d. thesis)
Buffering the indoor relative humidity with porous walls: a case study of Gundsømagle Church
Casting mud in the debate about climate standards in museums with a technical note:
  A climate chamber that generates a moisture flux instead of RH
Measuring lux with a camera
  The lux is an imperfect measure of photochemical threat  5/97
Data loggers and climate sensors  3/97
Measuring stress and strain  2/97
Condensation in the walls of humidified museums  1/97
Humidity buffering by museum walls  1/97
Bending the evidence (permanent deformation in wood)  12/96
The response of wood to changing RH   11/96
Stress, strain and craquelure 10/96
Evidence from thin air (influence of pressure change on relative humidity)  7/96
Lumen and Lux 6/96
Effects of light on museum objects - light units 5/96
A Himalayan Legend (influence of temperature gradient on moisture transfer in boxes) 4/96
Humidity buffering by absorbent materials 3/96
The Absorption of water by materials 2/96
The Mollier Diagram (and the psychrometric chart) 1/96
The Great Art Robbery at Skamkloster (damage by water soluble salts) 12/95
   The Great Art Robbery in pdf (66kb)
Humidifying apparatus for relaxing paper, mark 2 11/95
with notes on saturated salts (updated 6/5/96) and thermocouples.
Humidifying device for relaxing paper 10/95
The breath of Arrhenius: air conditioning in photographic archives   with Jesper Stub Johnsen