The groundbreaking Spectronic 20 was born 50 years ago, and - thanks to its versatility, adaptability and ruggedness - is still manufactured today
The Spectronic 20 pioneered the field of low-cost grating spectrophotometers for industry, research and education.
Around half a million instruments have been sold since its launch in 1953, which is testament to its versatility, adaptability and ruggedness - it has truly stood the test of time.
This groundbreaking analytical tool is still manufactured today by Thermo Electron, and has remained in laboratories as an essential tool through five decades of rapid technological development.
It continues to be used worldwide for teaching purposes and a number of core industrial applications including water testing, food and beverage, chemical quality control, biological fluids, drug, soil and fertiliser analyses.
Affectionately nicknamed the Spec 20, this instrument opened spectrophotometry up as an analysis technique to a wider range of analytical and teaching laboratories.
In this respect, the Spec 20 accelerated the move towards instrumental analytical chemistry in areas where, for cost implications, wet analytical chemistry would normally have been performed.
The longevity of the Spec 20 system is due to the quality of its design, says Thermo.
Once established in teaching institutions and analytical laboratories, it was rapidly adopted by the industrial market as the most practical and reliable spectrophotometer available.
Today, visible and UV-visible spectrophotometers are a permanent fixture in almost every analytical laboratory around the world.
The instrument's basic appearance has changed very little over the years. Nevertheless, its analysis power has continued to improve, integrating up-to-date developments such as the latest grating technology for improved optical performance, lamps with longer lifetimes, and optical mirror coatings for improved resistance to deterioration and damage.
Readings have progressively been made more accurate with the introduction of larger meters and digital readout models.
LED displays, sophisticated PC software and Lims interfaces now offer data manipulation, acquisition, storage, recording and archiving capabilities.
This functionality has ensured the continued reliability and accuracy of the Spectronic 20 and contributed to its usefulness.
Not only has the Spec 20 been a star performer in the laboratory, it also had a cameo role in the movie, Back to the Future.
It appeared in a scene as one of the few surviving pieces of equipment in the laboratory that was destroyed by an explosion resulting from an errant experiment.
A fitting tribute to a product that has continually 'performed under fire' and over time.
