Tranverse scale for astronomical observation
Date
31 December 1673
Creator
Henry Oldenburg (1612 - 1677, German) , Scientific correspondent
After
John Wallis (1650, British) , Mathematician
Object type
Archive reference number
Manuscript page number
p353
Material
Dimensions
height (page): 313mm
width (page): 200mm
width (page): 200mm
Subject
Description
Diagram of a transverse scale.
Johannes Hevelius’s Machina coelestis pars prior (Gdansk: S. Reiniger for J. Hevelius, 1673), included descriptions of the instruments Hevelius used for his astronomical observations. These included open-sighted astronomical instruments using transversal scales. Robert Hooke, in his Animadversions on the first part of the machine Coelestis (London: T. R. for John Martyn, 1674), criticised Hevelius for not using telescopic sights, given the limitations of human eyesight. In this letter dated 31 December 1673, John Wallis offered a mathematical justification for the use of transversal scales, thus siding with Hevelius in the subsequent dispute between Hooke and Hevelius about the appropriate instrument for accurate astronomical observations. This letter is a copy in Henry Oldenburg's hand.
This is a copy of the image at EL/W2/16/002. There is another copy at LBC/6/424.
Johannes Hevelius’s Machina coelestis pars prior (Gdansk: S. Reiniger for J. Hevelius, 1673), included descriptions of the instruments Hevelius used for his astronomical observations. These included open-sighted astronomical instruments using transversal scales. Robert Hooke, in his Animadversions on the first part of the machine Coelestis (London: T. R. for John Martyn, 1674), criticised Hevelius for not using telescopic sights, given the limitations of human eyesight. In this letter dated 31 December 1673, John Wallis offered a mathematical justification for the use of transversal scales, thus siding with Hevelius in the subsequent dispute between Hooke and Hevelius about the appropriate instrument for accurate astronomical observations. This letter is a copy in Henry Oldenburg's hand.
This is a copy of the image at EL/W2/16/002. There is another copy at LBC/6/424.
Related fellows
Johannes Hevelius (1611 - 1687, German/Polish) , Astronomer
Associated place