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, lenticular burning glass, or Archimedes’ mirror, in the form of a water lens. The instrument is presented on four-legged pedestal (figure 1). With a section through the lens (figure 2), showing its construction, and a detail of the swivel mount (figure 3).
Plate 13 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 XIII.’
The accompanying text describes the mechanism as two glass plates with a central reservoir of water. Water was added via a two-necked bottle at the top of the lens, which had a communicating channel between the two glasses..
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 13 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 XIII.’
The accompanying text describes the mechanism as two glass plates with a central reservoir of water. Water was added via a two-necked bottle at the top of the lens, which had a communicating channel between the two glasses..
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