Prince Rupert’s drops
Date
1665
Creator
Unknown, Engraver
After
Robert Hooke (1635 - 1703, British) , Natural Philosopher
Object type
Library reference
RCN 45230
Material
Technique
Subject
Description
Microscopic study of toughened glass beads, or Prince Rupert’s drops. The beads were the result of dropping molten glass into cold water. In the top right [as viewed] are the thin glass pipes that were melted and in the bottom left are the glass beads themselves; tadpole-shaped droplets with a long thin tail.
The Prince Rupert drop was named after Prince Rupert of Rhine (1619-1682) who brought them to England in 1660. The Royal Society studied them as a scientific curiosity. Their description here highlights certain of their key properties, including: ‘That the parts of the Glass, whils in a fluid Consistence and hot, are more rarified or take up more room, then when hard and cold’ and a simultaneously ‘hard, brittle and springy texture’.
Inscribed above: ‘Schem IIII’
Plate 4 from Robert Hooke’s Micrographia: or some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses with observations and inquiries thereupon (1665), the first fully-illustrated book on the topic of microscopy. In the preface Hooke asserts that he had discovered ‘a new visible World’.
Robert Hooke (1635-1703) British natural philosopher was a founding member of the Royal Society, elected in 1663. Before his career with the Royal Society, Hooke had been apprenticed to painter Peter Lely (1618-1680), where he learned to draw and paint. Though he did not engrave the images in Micrographia himself they were engraved after his illustrations.
The Prince Rupert drop was named after Prince Rupert of Rhine (1619-1682) who brought them to England in 1660. The Royal Society studied them as a scientific curiosity. Their description here highlights certain of their key properties, including: ‘That the parts of the Glass, whils in a fluid Consistence and hot, are more rarified or take up more room, then when hard and cold’ and a simultaneously ‘hard, brittle and springy texture’.
Inscribed above: ‘Schem IIII’
Plate 4 from Robert Hooke’s Micrographia: or some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses with observations and inquiries thereupon (1665), the first fully-illustrated book on the topic of microscopy. In the preface Hooke asserts that he had discovered ‘a new visible World’.
Robert Hooke (1635-1703) British natural philosopher was a founding member of the Royal Society, elected in 1663. Before his career with the Royal Society, Hooke had been apprenticed to painter Peter Lely (1618-1680), where he learned to draw and paint. Though he did not engrave the images in Micrographia himself they were engraved after his illustrations.
Associated place