Descartes and the Hyperbolic Quest: Lens Making Machines and Their Significance in the Seventeenth Century Transactions, American Philosophical Societ

by D. Graham Burnett

In 1629, the natural philosopher Ren Descartes enticed a young artisan to undertake a secretive project, one that promised to revolutionize early modern astronomy. Descartes believed he had conceived a new kind of telescope lens, shaped by the light of reason itself, & surpassing anything ever to come from the hands of the glass-working craftsmen of the era. These novel lenses would never be touched by human hands -- they would be cut by an elaborate...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0871699532
• ISBN13: 9780871699534
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: American Philosophical Society Press
• Length: 152 Pages