Members may be interested to learn that highlights of the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon, normally on display in Dresden, are currently on show at the Maximilian Museum in Augsburg. The Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon is among the oldest collections of historic scientific instruments worldwide and its staff have been very active in the Scientific Instrument Society for many years.

While the Salon's wing in the Zwinger, its home for more than two and a half centuries, is closed for renovation, a selection of some 70 of the museum's finest objects has been sent to Augsburg. Many of these - works by makers such as Christoph Schissler and Georg Friedrich Brander - stem from Augsburg, and a number of the earliest pieces were acquired there personally by Elector August of Saxony in the 16th century. They are now returning to southern Germany for the first time in four centuries and being shown beside their Augsburg counterparts. The exhibition 'Weltenglanz' is on display until February 14th 2010. A fully illustrated catalogue (in German) has been published by Deutscher Kunstverlag (Berlin/Munich, ISBN 9783422069422).