Burning glass
Date
1799
Creator
Unknown, Engraver
Object type
Library reference
RCN30834
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 206mm
width (print): 132mm
width (print): 132mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Study of a circular, concave burning glass, or Archimedes’ mirror, presented on a three-legged pedestal mount (figure 1). With a section through the mirror (figure 2), showing its construction, and two details (figure 3).
Plate 12 from the book Histoire naturelle, généralle et particuliére…Nouvelle edition, by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon and C.S. Sonnini, volume 5 (Paris 1799).
Inscribed above: ‘Planche XII.’
The accompanying text describes the mechanism as a reflecting mirror with a perfectly flat glass, backed by an iron plate, forming a pressure vessel or cylinder. Air is drawn out through the pump attached to the rear of the iron plate by flanges, thereby making the glass concave.
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788), French naturalist and man of science, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1740.
Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt (1751-1812), French naturalist.
Plate 12 from the book Histoire naturelle, généralle et particuliére…Nouvelle edition, by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon and C.S. Sonnini, volume 5 (Paris 1799).
Inscribed above: ‘Planche XII.’
The accompanying text describes the mechanism as a reflecting mirror with a perfectly flat glass, backed by an iron plate, forming a pressure vessel or cylinder. Air is drawn out through the pump attached to the rear of the iron plate by flanges, thereby making the glass concave.
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788), French naturalist and man of science, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1740.
Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt (1751-1812), French naturalist.
Associated place