Scientific Instruments, 1500-1900 : an Introduction

Turner, Gerard L'Estrange

ISBN 10: 0856674915 / ISBN 13: 9780856674914

Published by Philip Wilson Pub Ltd, 2004

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 101898

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Scientific Instruments, 1500-1900 : an Introduction
• Publisher: Philip Wilson Pub Ltd
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0856674915
• ISBN 13: 9780856674914
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 2nd Edition
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

The development of modern science, beginning in the late Middle Ages, required the development of accurate tools for measuring such things as distance, weight, luminosity, temperature, and time. The earliest such instruments, writes University of London historian Gerard L'E Turner, were "An astrolabe which incorporates a means for measuring the elevation angles of stars or the Sun, as well as a stereographic representation of the Earth, can be used equally well for telling the time, for finding the latitude, and for collecting data to cast a horoscope." With the passage of time, they became more specialized, yielding such fine devices as binocular telescopes and stereoscopic viewers. (The latter, Turner writes, became internationally popular in the mid-19th century after Queen Victoria expressed amusement at one displayed at a London fair.) Turner's well-illustrated catalog of scientific instruments is organized along the old instrument-makers' categories of mathematical, optical, and philosophical tools. Accompanying the photographs are thoughtful essays on the growth of science in the second half of the second millennium, along with notes on how owners can take care of pieces in their collections as well as determine the authenticity and origins of those pieces. The book makes for a pleasing introduction to the history of modern science, and it is an especially useful reference for collectors of clocks, stereopticons, and other antique scientific instruments. --Gregory McNamee

Review

The development of modern science, beginning in the late Middle Ages, required the development of accurate tools for measuring such things as distance, weight, luminosity, temperature, and time.

The earliest such instruments, writes University of London historian Gerard L'E Turner, were multifaceted: "An astrolabe which incorporates a means for measuring the elevation angles of stars or the Sun, as well as a stereographic representation of the Earth, can be used equally well for telling the time, for finding the latitude, and for collecting data to cast a horoscope." With the passage of time, they became more specialized, yielding such fine devices as binocular telescopes and stereoscopic viewers. (The latter, Turner writes, became internationally popular in the mid-19th century after Queen Victoria expressed amusement at one displayed at a London fair.)

Turner's well-illustrated catalog of scientific instruments is organized along the old instrument-makers' categories of mathematical, optical, and philosophical tools. Accompanying the photographs are thoughtful essays on the growth of science in the second half of the second millennium, along with notes on how owners can take care of pieces in their collections as well as determine the authenticity and origins of those pieces. The book makes for a pleasing introduction to the history of modern science, and it is an especially useful reference for collectors of clocks, stereopticons, and other antique scientific instruments. --Gregory McNamee