Model for the rising of water in trees
Date
15 August 1673
Creator
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632 - 1723, Dutch) , Naturalist
Object type
Archive reference number
Manuscript page number
p3
Material
Dimensions
height (page): 304mm
width (page): 201mm
width (page): 201mm
Subject
Description
Drawing in the left margin of the letter over the whole height of the paper.
Letter from Antoni van Leeuwenhoek to Henry Oldenburg.
Van Leeuwenhoek is trying to understand how the humidity/liquid circulates in a tree. He observes small holes in the cross cuts of branches of an oak tree. He imagines these holes to be pipes running through the entire tree (like a tube, as in his drawing) and wonders how water can go from the bottom to the top.
Letter from Antoni van Leeuwenhoek to Henry Oldenburg.
Van Leeuwenhoek is trying to understand how the humidity/liquid circulates in a tree. He observes small holes in the cross cuts of branches of an oak tree. He imagines these holes to be pipes running through the entire tree (like a tube, as in his drawing) and wonders how water can go from the bottom to the top.
Object history
For the English translation of Leeuwenhoek's letter on the compression of air, see A. Leeuwenhoek, 'Touching the compression of air', Phil. Trans. vol 9, no. 102 (1674), pp. 21-23. This particular image is not reproduced in Phil. Trans. in contrast to the two following images from the letter.
Related fellows
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632 - 1723, Dutch) , Naturalist
Henry Oldenburg (1612 - 1677, German) , Scientific correspondent
Henry Oldenburg (1612 - 1677, German) , Scientific correspondent
Associated place