Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
Archimedes : Rudolph Koenig's Acoustical Workshop in Nineteenth-Century Paris - David Pantalony

Archimedes

Rudolph Koenig's Acoustical Workshop in Nineteenth-Century Paris

By: David Pantalony

Paperback | 14 March 2012

At a Glance

Paperback


$279.00

or 4 interest-free payments of $69.75 with

 or 

Ships in 5 to 7 business days

Introduction

Workshops in the history of science

Showroom: The business of instrument making

Laboratory: Instrument making and experimentation

Life as an instrument maker

Sound in history

Chapter 1 - Training

Journey to Paris

Vuillaume's violin workshop - 1851-1858

From violins to tuning forks

The scientific instrument trade in Paris

Chapter 2 - Hermann von Helmholtz and the Sensations of Tone

Hermann von Helmholtz

Physical acoustics - theory and instruments (tuning forks, tonometer, double siren)

Instruments as agents of change

Experimental results

Physiological acoustics - the piano as a model for the inner ear

Psychological acoustics - resonators as aids for hearing simple tones

The first sound synthesizer

A theory of harmony and music

Chapter 3 - Transformations in the workshop

Inside Parisian workshops

The phonautograph and the origins of graphical acoustics

Precision and graphical acoustics

The "Plaque tournante"at Rue Hautefeuille: Transforming Helmholtz's acoustics Demonstrating Helmholtz: Adam Politzer and Koenig at the Acad©mie des Sciences Manometric flame capsule and optical acoustics

Chapter 4 - The market and its influences

The first year of business - from the workshop to the classroom

1862 London Exhibition

Selling Helmholtz's instruments

Function replaces beauty: 1867 Exposition in Paris.

Americans at the Fair. William B. Rogers, Alexander Graham Bell and MIT

The Parisian science monopoly and a Portuguese customer

Chapter 5 - Constructing a reputation, 1866-1879

Measuring the velocity of sound in the sewers of Paris

Creating vowel sounds out of wood, brass and steel

Seeing a voice: manometric vowel studies

Extending the tonometer one file mark at a time

Choosing the right steel

Bringing the workshop into combination-tone studies

Precision and livelihood under attack: the Koenig clock fork

Chapter 6 - Expanding the North American Market, 1871-1882.

Recovery from the turmoil of 1870-71

Third catalogue, 1873

Joseph Henry and the Smithsonian Institution

Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, 1876

James Loudon and the University of Toronto

"Cette ville de malheur"

Public lectures at Toronto

Chapter 7 - The Faraday of sound

Life at Quai d'Anjou: 1882-1901

The combination-tone controversy in England

Workshop as theatre

Heidelberg 1889: the German response

The dispute over timbre

Wave sirens

Back to vibrations

Ultrasonics and le domaine de la fantaisie

Conclusion - Beyond Sensations

Appendix 1. Key dates in Rudolph Koenig's life.

Catalogue Raisonn©

I. The principal means for producing sound

II. Cause and nature of sound

III. Pitch of sounds

IV. Timbre of sound

V. Propagation of sound

VI. Simple vibrations of the different bodies

VII. Communications of vibrations - Vibrations of simple bodies - Compound vibrations in simple bodies

VIII. Phenomena due to the coexistance of two or more sounds in air

IX. Methods for studying sonorous vibrations without assistance of the ear

X. Apparatus for the mechanical representation of vibrations and wave movements

XI. Acoustic apparatus for practical use

Notes

References

Industry Reviews

From the reviews:

"Altered Sensations should of course be read by those with an interest in the science of sound and its development ... . a valuable resource for anyone seeking to identify nineteenth-century acoustic apparatus and indeed could serve as inspiration for anyone presenting physical acoustics demonstrations today. ... The volume is well endowed with scholarly endnotes to each chapter and a comprehensive bibliography; it is liberally illustrated ... ." (Tacye Phillipson, ISIS, Vol. 102 (4), 2011)

Pantalony's work offers historians of technology and science and STS scholars an invaluable study of Rudolph Koenig's nineteenth-century acoustical workshop. In so doing, he explores in exquisite detail the importance of musical-instrument making to the production of scientific instruments and the crucial influence of market forces on Koenig's work. Rather than merely limiting himself to written sources, Pantalony forges a historical narrative based on a reading of the instruments themselves, in a sense providing us with an archaeology of artifacts. He also deftly recounts how crucial Koenig's instruments were to the development of nineteenth-century acoustics. This book superbly fills a tremendous gap in the secondary literature.

Myles W. Jackson, Professor of the History of Science, The Gallatin School, New York University

More in History of Medicine

The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine - Maoshing Ni

RRP $62.00

$34.99

44%
OFF
A Bitter Remedy : A totally compelling historical mystery - Alis Hawkins
I, Vera : The Many Lives of Vera Gedroits, a Radical Princess - Miranda Seymour
Hildegard of Bingen's Medicine : Folk Wisdom Series - Dr. Wighard Strehlow
The Birth of the Clinic : Routledge Classics - Michel Foucault

RRP $31.99

$27.75

13%
OFF
Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine : Roots of Modern Practice - Charles Buck
Ten Days in a Mad-House : Story of the Intrepid Reporter - Nellie Bly
Quackery : A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything - Lydia Kang
The Medicine Book : Big Ideas Simply Explained - DK

RRP $39.99

$31.75

21%
OFF
Born : The Untold History of Humanity - Lucy Inglis

RRP $34.99

$28.75

18%
OFF
Born : The Untold History of Humanity - Lucy Inglis

RRP $52.99

$47.99