Scientific Inst~ u: nent SOciety • ~ ~': ~z ~ ........ ....... ~ :~,,, _~ , ......~ ,~ ., .. ~. "i I, ~'~..~ i;.)~ i!~ ~' • Bulletin March No. 68 2001 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society IssN 0956-8271 For Table of Contents, see back cover President Gerard Turner Vice-President Howard Dawes Honorary Committee Stuart Talbot, Chairman Gloria Clifton, SecretaW John Didcock, Treasurer WiUem Hackmann, Editor Sunon Chetfetz Alexander Crum-Ewmg Peter de Clercq Tom l~mb Svh'ia Sunmra L~ba Taub Membership and Administrative Matters The Executive Officer (Wg Cdr Geoffrey Bennett) 31 HJ~h Sweet Stanford m the Vale Farmgdon Tel: 01367 710223 Oxon SNr7 8LH Fax: 01367 718963 e-mail: [email protected] See outside back cover for infvrmation on membership Editorial Matters Dr. Willem D. Hackmann Museum of the History of Science Old Ashmolean Building Tel: 01865 277282 (office) Broad Street Fax: 01865 277288 Oxford OXI 3AZ Tel: 01608 811110 (home) e-mail: willemhackmann@m~.ox,ac.uk " Society's Website http://ww~,.sis.org.uk Advertising .See 'Summary of Advertising Services' panel elsewhere in this Bulletin. Further enquiries to the Executive Officer. Typesetting and Printing IJthoflow Ltd 26-36 Wharfdale Road Tel: 020 7833 2344 King's Cross Fax: 020 7833 8150 London N1 9RY Price: £6 per issue, including back numbers where available. (Enquiries to the Executive Officer) The Scientific Instrument Society is Registered Charily No. 326733 :~ The Scientific Instrument Society 2001 i; Editorial Spring is in the Air - Somewhere maxnum opus on Elizabethan Lnstruments. Getting the March Bulletin ready always Object' brings with it a special excitement as it This issue's 'Mystery has elicited a coincides with nature awakening from its great deal of interest,and has been correctly winter slumber; there is a sense of renewal, identified as what the German's call a for measunng the of new plausibilities. What I am trying to Scheitelbrechuwrfmesser, power of spectacle lenses (in dioptries) describe is akin to what collectors feel when and astigmatism. The instrument was used they fi~t come across a new collection - by ophthalmologists and opticians to check seeing the future only minutes away; a what the patient was wearing as well as to future that might throw up a new device mark lenses before mounting into a frame. that changes their collection in an extra- A good source, pointed out by Marc-Andr~ ordinary way, or that gives a new insight. Perret of Antiquit~s Scienhfiques in Geneva, As Editor, L have a similar feeling with the is Thilo yon Hau~vitz's Opthalmoh~fisch- arrival of each new postbag - there might opti~he Untersuchungsgerate, vol. 85 in the he just that jewel that makes editing this series Bticherei des Auy,enarztes (see p. 80 for journal so worthwhile. a version made by C. Willers of Jena in This issue is rich in its diversity, thanks to 1927). Similar information was supplied by the efforts of the contributors. The main Peter Abrahams, whose electronic address event is the publication of the 8'h Annual is [email protected] and websi- invitation lecture, which was given by Dr te:http://www.europa.com / ~tel~ope/bi- A.D. Baynes-Cope (Fig. l). In a previous notele.htm. According to Jeff E. Ardourel existence when L was a student in archae- M.D. of Lakewo(~, Colorado in the USA, ological con~rvation at the Institute of the instrument was devL~,d by Troppmann Archaeology in London, L was taught about in 19L2, and was first manufactured by both the intricacies of globe and paper restora- the Zeiss and Bush Companies in about tion by Dr Baynes-Cope, which made me 1915. The example pictured as the 'Mystery decide that my indelicate hands were better Object' is from 1932 and identical to that suited to metal conservation, which L did Fig.1 Dr Baynes-Cope during his lecture at illustrated in the Histo~ of Optical Instru- for a number of years! There is no the room the Linnean Socie~ of London. ments for the Examination of the E.W by Thilo yon Haugwitz M.D., translated into EngLish to list the other contributions in this issue, in 1986 (so now you have the English but they are as erudite as they are vaned. Anderson, J. Bennett, M. Brunold, K. translation as well!). Robert de Pecker's ~)me ob~rvant readers will notice that Citroen, J. Deiman, O. Gingerich, P Halle- reply and illustration has been reproduced there is no 'Market PLace' in this Lssue. Any beek, W. Morzer Bruyns, A. Turner and G. in this issue. member that has something useful to Turner can now be purchased from the contribute on this topic is encouraged to Mu~um Boerhaave (fax: + 31 71 5120M4) CanceLLation of the Germany 2001 Visit get in touch with the Editor. Incidentally, for Dfl 75 (or euro 30,-); Paolo Brenni's David Bryden's di~overy of the Cromer catalogue of the remarkable collection of The Committee wishes to apologize to instrument maker Solomon Gills is an electrical instruments of the old lstituto members that due to unfl~reseen circum- obiect lesson to us all! Tecnico Toscano in Florence can he obtained stances the annual wsit has had to be through him or by writing direct to the Alas, space permits only one I~k Review cancelled. in this is issue, but there are others waiting Fondazione scienza e tecnica, Via Giusti 27, in the wing. Members attention should be 50100 Firenze (Italy). Lt is one of those Resignation of S. Ackermann drawn in particular to the fi~llowing works: strange Italian situations when no price for the slim and nicely illustrated volume by the catalogue has yet been set (if it ever will Silvio De Renzi, Instruments in Print: B~ks be) and it is being given away to really It is with regret that the Committee from the Whipph" Collecthm, obtainable fi~)m interested scholars. John R Millbum's Adams announces the resignation i~ Silke Ack- the Whipple Museum m Cambridge; the of Fh'et Street, Instrument Maker to Kin¢ ermann as the SocieO,"s Meetings .~reta~' proceedings of the Mensing symposium, Ga~r~e Ill (review in No. 65, pp. 33-34) has and also acknowledges her contnbuhons in Scienh~ic Instruments: Ora,cjnals and Imita- been selling very, well but copies are still this capacity. The Editor, on behalf of the tams: The Mensm~ Comlection, edited by available from the Society. A review should Committee, wishes her all the best for the Peter de Clercq, with contributions from R also appear .~on on Gerard Turner's latest future. Cover Sto W The Tomb of Robert Smith at Waltham Abbey Mike Cowham constructed of black and white marble and Dunng a recent visit to Waltham Abbey in to a .service in March 1697. alabaster. L will list the mstrumen~ and Essex L came acnr~ a rather unusual tomb other items m order, working clockwl~ decorated with carvings of some interesting What impresses me in particular about his from the lower left-hand comer early instrument. tomb is the ma.~>n's attention to detail. The instruments that he has carved look almost The tomb is k~cated in the north aisle of the good enough to u~, and quite ck~,e to life The first dem LFig. I) is a soundm~ h.ad. Feeling underneath, it has the usual recess abbey, close to the altar rail.It is the tomb of size. Ri~:~/rt Smith, born in 1637, and formerly for holding the tallow that was u,,~s:lto plck up traces of material from the .sea fllxw. captain of a merchant ship. He retired to The photographs show the mnportant front Above this is a backstaff complete with its Lwe near to the church and died on his way panel of the tomb (Cover), which is Bulletin of the Scientific[nstnMnent Society No. 68 (2(X)1) two vanes. ]'his is entwined with a pistol and a cutlass. On the top row is a wooden ,,~turnal, unfortunately with its arm now broken Behind this is a pair of dmuters, _,~me tuper and a qudl pen. To the right ~Cover) a crou,n compa~ is in front of a ~twakmg trumpet - an early form of rnega- ph~nm. At the right edge (Fig. 2) is a fine cross sta~with three tran.~)ms, it is laid over a cannon, with its cleanm¢ swab and a su~)rd. Beneath this are a sand flass and a marlin spike. In the centre of the panel ts the sading ship, the "lndustria', endeavourmg to avoid the treacherous mcK~ nearby. The tomb is tl~ught to be the work of the famous wood carver, Gnnhng Gibbons (1648-1721). Although he did not normally carve m stone, it is probable that he was mvoh'ed m ~structmg the ma.~n~. Waltham Abbey is a beautiful Norman building, and well worth the short diver- sion from the M25 motorway which runs ckr,e by. Author's address: PO. Box 970. Haslingfield Cambridge, CB3 7FL [email protected] Fig.l The instruments on the h~ side. Fig.2 The instruments on the right side. Some English Military Instrument Makers of the Late 17 m Century John R. Millburn All of the instrument makers who received Mary, and William ill, seems to have been orders for drawing, gunne~, and surveying the relatively unknown Joseph Hone. m~truments from the Board of Ordnance in Copies of at lea~ 15 bills submitted by the eighteenth century were men well him between 1685 and 1702 are entered in known also for their "pr(~lucts in other the Bill Books, and his name occurs in other tields: John Rowlev for the astronomical records such as the 'Entry Book of Bills", xnstruments m the "Orrerv Collection, Wil- which he personally signed in full, 'Joseph ham Deane for his mechanical universal Hone', on seven occasions.