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From Earth-Bound to Satellite
History of Science and Medicine Library VOLUME 23
Scientific Instruments and Collections Studies Published under the Auspices of the Scientific Instrument Commission General Editor
Giorgio Strano Museo Galileo, Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Florence Editorial Board
Stephen Johnston, Museum of the History of Science, Oxford Mara Miniati, Museo Galileo, Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Florence Alison Morrison-Low, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh
VOLUME 2
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl.hsml
From Earth-Bound to Satellite Telescopes, Skills and Networks
Edited by
Alison D. Morrison-Low Sven Dupré Stephen Johnston Giorgio Strano
LEIDEN • BOSTON 2012
Cover illustration: Large transit instrument of Berlin Observatory in Potsdam-Babelsberg (“Astronomische und Astrophysikalische Instrumente—Astronomische Optik”, Astro 40, Berlin, 1924, p. 46). This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data From Earth-bound to satellite : telescopes, skills, and networks / edited by Alison D. Morrison-Low . . . [et al.]. p. cm. — (History of science and medicine library ; v. 23) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-21150-6 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Telescopes—History. I. Morrison-Low, A. D. QB88.F86 2012 522’.209—dc23 2011037982
ISSN 1872-0684 ISBN 978 90 04 21150 6 Copyright 2012 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change.
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ............................................................................ Notes on Contributors ......................................................................
vii xvii
Foreword ............................................................................................. Alison Morrison-Low
xxi
Introduction: Writing the History of the Telescope: Makers, Markets and Mapping .................................................................. xxiii Sven Dupré Colour Plates I–XIII Galileo’s Shopping List: An Overlooked Document about Early Telescope Making ............................................................... Giorgio Strano Johann Wiesel’s Telescopes and his Clientele .............................. Inge Keil The ‘Invisible Technician’ Made Visible: Telescope Making in the Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth-century Dutch Republic .......................................................................................... Huib J. Zuidervaart
1
21
41
The Art of Polishing: Practice and Prose in Eighteenth-century Telescope Making .......................................................................... Jim A. Bennett
103
Networks of Telescope Makers and the Evolution of Skill: Evidence from Observatory and Museum Collections ........... Gloria Clifton
123
Scoping Longitude: Optical Designs for Navigation at Sea ....... Richard Dunn
141
vi
contents
Following the Stars: Clockwork for Telescopes in the Nineteenth Century ................