Descartes and the Hyperbolic Quest

Lens Making Machines and Their Significance in the Seventeenth Century Transactions, American Philosophical Societ

By: D. Graham Burnett

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Hardcover | 1 January 2005

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Hardcover
162 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
25.4 x 17.15 x 1.27

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In 1629, the natural philosopher Ren Descartes enticed a young artisan to undertake a secretive project, one that promised to revolutionize early modern astronomy. Descartes believed he had conceived a new kind of telescope lens, shaped by the light of reason itself, & surpassing anything ever to come from the hands of the glass-working craftsmen of the era. These novel lenses would never be touched by human hands -- they would be cut by an elaborate machine, a self-regulating & automatic device. This study traces the inception, development, & finally the collapse of this ambitious enterprise, which absorbed the energies & attentions of a broad range of 17th-century savants, including Huygens, Wren, Hevelius, Hooke, & even Newton. Illus.

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