Francis Watkins and the Dollond telescope patent controversy
Working from original documents consulted for the first time, Brian Gee has uncovered the life and times of an eighteenth-century mathematical and optical instrument maker, Francis Watkins, who played an important role in one of the most significant legal cases to touch this profession, the patenting of the achromatic lens in telescopes. The book explains Watkins' origins and his partnership with the Dollond firm, who are shown to have been hard-headed and ruthless, before accounting for Watkins' successors and their ultimate decline
History
1 online resource
9781409466444, 9781306907859, 9781409466451, 9781317133308, 1409466442, 1306907853, 1409466450, 1317133307
879074366
On becoming an optical instrument maker
The optical community in 18th-century London
At the sign of Sir Isaac Newton's Head
The chromatic problem: from Newton's error to Hall's solution
The rise of John Dollond and his patent
Peter Dollond and his conflict with Watkins & Smith
Peter Dollond and his further disputes with opticians
New conflicts with the Spectaclemakers' Company
The unexpected longevity of Chester Moor Hall
One hundred years at Charing Cross
After Watkins & Hill