Early Scientific Instruments: Europe, 1400-1800

This lavishly illustrated book surveys the main types of scientific instruments used in Europe during the Early Modern period. For historians, scientists, teachers of science and collectors, it provides a welcome survey of the instruments used during the first age of European science. Early Scientific Instruments covers devices employed by scientists to assist in the examination of natural phenomena or for demonstration purposes, those used by practitioners such as astronomically or mathematically based activities such as navigation and surveying; and the instruments of everyday use which are based on scientific principles, such as sundials, barometers or calculating devices. Within a chronological narrative structure, Anthony Turner describes what instruments were available at given periods, explains their origins, and technical functions, and indicates the main lines of their development. He also summarizes the manufacturing context in which they were produced and relates their evolution to the intellectual and social background of the times. The illustrations show a wide range of instruments and their chief variants, chosen internationally from public and private collections, and have full descriptive captions. Extensive notes and bibliography provide thorough references to the contemporary and modern literature of the subject.