Francis Watkins and the Dollond Telescope Patent Controversy

Portada
Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 28 de juny 2014 - 430 pàgines

Francis Watkins was an eminent figure in his field of mathematical and optical instrument making in mid-eighteenth century London. Working from original documents, Brian Gee has uncovered the life and times of an optical instrument maker, who - at first glance - was not among the most prominent in his field. In fact, because Francis Watkins came from a landed background, the diversification of his assets enabled him to weather particular business storms - discussed in this book - where colleagues without such an economic cushion, were pushed into bankruptcy or forced to emigrate. He played an important role in one of the most significant legal cases to touch this profession, namely the patenting of the achromatic lens in telescopes.

The book explains Watkins's origins, and how and why he was drawn into partnership with the famous Dollond firm, who at that point were Huguenot incomers. The patent for the achromatic telescope has never been satisfactorily explained in the literature, and the author has gone back to the original legal documents, never before consulted. He teases out the problems, lays out the evidence, and comes to some interesting new conclusions, showing the Dollonds as hard-headed and ruthless businessmen, ultimately extremely successful. The latter part of the book accounts for the successors of Francis Watkins, and their decline after over a century of successful business in central London.

Des de l'interior del llibre

Continguts

on Becoming an optical instrument Maker
1
John Dollonds Refrangibility Experiments 17571758 2 Fees Charged at Chancery in ProcuringLetters Patent 315 323
3
The optical community in eighteenthcentury london
25
at the sign of sir isaac newtons head
35
From newtons error to halls solution
73
The rise ofJohn dollond and his patent
101
peter dollond and his conflict with Watkins smith
145
peter dollond and his Further disputes with opticians
175
new conflicts within the spectaclemakers company
205
The Unexpected longevity of chester Moor hall
231
one hundred years at charing cross
253
after Watkins hill
293
Articles of Copartnership between Mr Francis Watkins
331
Index
375
Copyright

Altres edicions - Mostra-ho tot

Frases i termes més freqüents

Sobre l'autor (2014)

Brian Gee was a member of the Scientific Instrument Society from its foundation in 1983. He published numerous key works on scientific instruments and had almost completed this monograph on the Dollond patent controversy before he died in 2009.

Anita McConnell is an independent historian of science, living near Cambridge.

A.D. Morrison-Low won the 2008 Paul Bunge Prize for her bookMaking Scientific Instruments in the Industrial Revolution (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007). She is Principal Curator, Science, at National Museums Scotland.

The completion of the book was made possible by the generous funding of the Scientific Instrument Society.

Informació bibliogràfica