Scientific Instrument

A scientific instrument is a device or tool used for scientific purposes, including the study of both natural phenomena and theoretical research. The cited article, which is where the Wikipedia term analytical instrument leads, gives this general definition covering every kind of instrument used in scientific work. In the atlas it names the analytical instruments, the devices used to determine what a sample is made of or how it behaves, at the level at which the cited article describes them, which is the general scientific instrument. Instruments recorded in the atlas as analytical instruments are grouped under this concept.