About this Item
Two volumes. 4to. (250 x 192 mm) [4], LXXXVI, [2], 572; [2], (573)-1073, [43] pp. Title-pages in red and black, 126 (of 127) folding engraved plates; marginal water-stain in both volumes, plate XXI torn with loss, plate LIII missing, margins of a few plates reinforced. Contemporary full calf, raised bands, gilt-ruled spines, gilt-stamped red leather spine labels; neatly rebacked, kozo applied to outer joints. Bookplates of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, gift to the California Academy of Sciences, "After the Earthquake and Fire of April, 1906", ink signatures of Isaac Hays, MD on title-pages. Very good (note: lacking pl. LIII). PHILADELPHIA OPHTHALMOLOGIST, ISAAC HAYS' COPY. Third edition, much expanded, of 'sGravedande's extensive experimentation and instruction in Newtonian physics. The experiments range from basics physics, to hydraulics, optics, electricity and astronomy. The entire work is profusely illustrated with folding engraved plates of the apparatus he used, including a steam-powered Hero's Engine (plate 78), generating static electricity (plate 79), the first magic lantern slide projector (plate 109), the prismatic effect of a rainbow (plate 120) and the known solar system (plate 122). 'sGravesande ". . . is the author of Elemens de physique demontrez mathematiquement . . . ou introduction a la philosophie Newtonienne which was translated from the Latin and published at Leyden in 1746. In the second volume, he gives a description of an electrical machine constructed on the plan of that of Hauksbee. It consisted merely of a crystal globe, which was mounted upon a copper stand, and against which was pressed the hand of the operator while it was made to revolve rapidly by means of a large wheel." [Mottelay]. Willem Jacob 'sGravesande was a Dutch philosopher and mathematician. Born in 's-Hertogenbosch, he studied law in Leiden, and wrote a thesis on suicide. In 1715 he visited London and King George I. He became a member of the Royal Society. In 1717 he became professor in physics and astronomy in Leiden, and introduced the works of his friend Newton in the Netherlands. He was opposed against fatalists like Hobbes and Spinoza. In 1724 Peter the Great offered him a job in Saint Petersburg, but Willem Jacob did not accept. His main work is Physices elementa mathematica, experimentis confirmata, sive introductio ad philosophiam Newtonianam or Mathematical Elements of Natural Philosophy, Confirm'd by Experiments (Leiden 1720), in which he laid the foundations for teaching physics. Voltaire and Albrecht von Haller were in his audience, Frederic the Great invited him in 1737 to come to Berlin. His chief contribution to physics involved an experiment in which brass balls were dropped with varying velocity onto a soft clay surface. His results were that a ball with twice the velocity of another would leave an indentation four times as deep, that three times the velocity yielded nine times the depth, and so on. He shared these results with Emilie du Chatelet, who subsequently corrected Newton's formula E = mv to E = mv2. The oldest magic lantern, as far as we know, is located in Leiden, the Netherlands, in the Museum Boerhaave. The projector was made about 1720 by the Dutch instrument maker Jan van Musschenbroek and was once the property of Willem Jacob 'sGravesande, professor of physics at the University of Leiden. After his death in 1742 the university bought with foresight his whole collection. The purchase price of the projection lantern was one hundred guilders. By this purchase the Leids Fysisch Kabinet (Physical Cabinet, Leiden) got the best and most complete collection of scientific instruments in the world. About 250 objects from this Cabinet, among them the magic lantern, have been preserved. Together they form one of the most important collections of the Museum Boerhaave. [See: de Luikerwaal de nederlandse taverlaantarn]. PROVENANCE: Isaac Hays, MD (1796-1879), a prominent American ophthalmologist, na. Seller Inventory # S14093
Contact seller
Report this item
