Early Modern Mathematical Instruments

• Published in: The Best Writing on Mathematics 2013 Vol. 4; pp. 163 - 174
• Main Author: Bennett, Jim
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: United States Princeton University Press 19.01.2014
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Astronomical instrumentation; Astronomy; Celestial coordinate systems; Chronometers; Chronometry; Clocks; Communications; Communications media; Historical methodology; Historiography; History; History of science; Instrumentation; MATHEMATICS; Metaphilosophy; Metrology; Natural philosophy; Philosophy; Physical sciences; Popular science; Print media; Quadrants; Research methods; Social sciences; Spherical astronomy; Sundials; Survey design; Survey methods; Survey research; Technology; Treatises
• DOI: 10.1515/9781400847990-018
• ISBN: 9780691160412; 0691160414

For the purpose of reviewing the history of mathematical instruments and the place the subject might command in the history of science, if we take “early modern” to cover the period from the 16th to the 18th century, a first impression may well be one of a change from vigorous development in the 16th century to relatively mundane stability in the 18th. More careful scrutiny suggests that this perception is relative and depends more on our priorities as historians than on the interests of the instrument manufacturers or users. In fact, the role of mathematical instruments and the agenda of