Indium

In 1964, a group of local engineers and Nottingham City Council set up an industrial heritage collection at Wollaton Hall and Deer Park.

The engineers became known as the Nottingham Arkwright Society. Their artefacts and items owned by the City Council formed a collection reflecting local industries. They covered textiles, coal mining and light metal trades, such as bicycle and motorcycle manufacturing. In 1971, the collection opened to the public. By 1975, the team had restored many of the engines to working order. The Basford Beam Engine steamed for the first time in public on Easter Monday 1977.

Over time, the collection expanded. It now includes:

• more steam and diesel engines
• textile and transport technologies
• mining
• telecommunications
• pharmaceuticals
• tobacco
• clocks
• printing

This brilliantly lustrous metal has forty-nine protons in the nucleus of its atoms. 

Friedrich Reich and Theodor Richter discovered indium in 1863.

After isolating zinc chloride from several minerals, they searched for the element thallium using spectroscopy.

Indium metal sticks to glass and can be used to give a mirror finish to windows of tall buildings, and as a protective film on welders’ goggles. It has also been used to coat ball bearings in Formula 1 racing cars because of its low friction.