Francis Watkins and the Dollond Telescope Patent ControversyRoutledge, 15 d’abr. 2016 - 424 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. |
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Resultats 1 - 5 de 36.
Pàgina vii
... Archives 'A copy of the oath incumbent upon all Freemen of the Spectaclemakers' Company decided on 28 June 1759'. Transcript courtesy of the City of London, London Metropolitan Archives 6 Edward Scarlett's trade card c.1738. © The ...
... Archives 'A copy of the oath incumbent upon all Freemen of the Spectaclemakers' Company decided on 28 June 1759'. Transcript courtesy of the City of London, London Metropolitan Archives 6 Edward Scarlett's trade card c.1738. © The ...
Pàgina x
... Archives 10.5 'Long Room, Gallery of Practical Science, Adelaide Street, Strand', drawn and etched by Thomas Kearnan, 1834–1840. © The Trustees of the British Museum, 1954, 1103.12 10.6 Subject divisions of scientific instruments in the ...
... Archives 10.5 'Long Room, Gallery of Practical Science, Adelaide Street, Strand', drawn and etched by Thomas Kearnan, 1834–1840. © The Trustees of the British Museum, 1954, 1103.12 10.6 Subject divisions of scientific instruments in the ...
Pàgina xvi
... archives in a disused airraid shelter in Lewisham, and persuaded the firm's successor, Elliott Brothers, to transfer them to its headquarters in Chatham for safer preservation.6 After taking early retirement from Marjon in 1993 (thanks ...
... archives in a disused airraid shelter in Lewisham, and persuaded the firm's successor, Elliott Brothers, to transfer them to its headquarters in Chatham for safer preservation.6 After taking early retirement from Marjon in 1993 (thanks ...
Pàgina xvii
... Archives at Kew (the then PRO). On this occasion he examined the court case records of Peter Dollond v Francis Watkins and the latter's petition to George III that forms the heart of the present posthumous monograph. 'I must say,' he ...
... Archives at Kew (the then PRO). On this occasion he examined the court case records of Peter Dollond v Francis Watkins and the latter's petition to George III that forms the heart of the present posthumous monograph. 'I must say,' he ...
Pàgina xxi
... archives managers, collections co-ordinators, local historians and museum curators who have patiently assisted me in seeking out material. Answers to my numerous questions were not always possible but each contribution made, however ...
... archives managers, collections co-ordinators, local historians and museum curators who have patiently assisted me in seeking out material. Answers to my numerous questions were not always possible but each contribution made, however ...
Continguts
1 | |
2 The Optical Community in Eighteenthcentury London | 25 |
3 At the Sign of Sir Isaac Newtons Head | 35 |
From Newtons Error to Halls Solution | 73 |
5 The Rise of John Dollond and his Patent | 101 |
6 Peter Dollond and his Conflict with Watkins Smith | 145 |
7 Peter Dollond and his Further Disputes with Opticians | 175 |
8 New Conflicts within the Spectaclemakers Company | 205 |
9 The Unexpected Longevity of Chester Moor Hall | 231 |
10 One Hundred Years at Charing Cross | 253 |
11 After Watkins Hill | 293 |
Appendices | 315 |
Bibliography | 343 |
Index | 375 |
Altres edicions - Mostra-ho tot
Francis Watkins and the Dollond Telescope Patent Controversy Mr Brian Gee Previsualització limitada - 2014 |
Francis Watkins and the Dollond Telescope Patent Controversy Brian Gee,edited by Anita McConnell Previsualització limitada - 2016 |
Francis Watkins and the Dollond Telescope Patent Controversy Mr Brian Gee Previsualització limitada - 2014 |
Frases i termes més freqüents
achromatic lens achromatic telescope Addison Smith apparatus appears apprentice apprenticeship Archives Astronomical Attorney Author’s italics Ayscough Bass became bill of complaint catalogues century Chancery Chapter Charing Cross Chester Moor Hall chromatic aberration City claim colours Company Company’s compound object glass concave correct crown glass Daily Advertiser Defendant different refrangibility dispersion Dollond his Executors Dollond patent Edward Scarlett electric machine Elliott Brothers engine Euler experimental experiments father flint glass Francis Watkins George Griffin Hall’s Henry Pyefinch History of Science improved Institution instrument trade invention inventor James Champneys Jesse Ramsden John Dollond King’s Bench Klingenstierna later lenses Letters Patent Martin Maskelyne master mathematical microscope Millburn Museum opticians Oxford paper partnership person Peter Dollond petition prism refracting telescope Rochon Royal Society Scarlett sold Spectaclemakers Spectacles spherical Spitalfields Street University Veritas Watkins & Hill Watkins and Smith Watkins’s Westminster William Eastland