Editing Scientific Revolution (section)

==Mechanical devices==
As an aid to scientific investigation, various tools, measuring aids and calculating devices were developed in this period.

===Calculating devices===
[[File:Napier's Bones.JPG|thumb|upright|right|An ivory set of [[Napier's Bones]], an early calculating device invented by [[John Napier]]]]

[[John Napier]] introduced [[logarithm]]s as a powerful mathematical tool. With the help of [[Henry Briggs (mathematician)|Henry Briggs]] their logarithmic tables embodied a computational advance that made calculations by hand much quicker.<ref name = DNB>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Napier, John}}</ref> His [[Napier's bones]] used a set of numbered rods as a multiplication tool using the system of [[lattice multiplication]]. The way was opened to later scientific advances, particularly in astronomy and [[dynamics (mechanics)|dynamics]].

At [[Oxford University]], [[Edmund Gunter]] built the first [[analog device]] to aid computation. The 'Gunter's scale' was a large plane scale, engraved with various scales, or lines. Natural lines, such as the line of chords, the line of [[Trigonometric functions|sines and tangents]] are placed on one side of the scale and the corresponding artificial or logarithmic ones were on the other side. This calculating aid was a predecessor of the [[Slide rule#History|slide rule]]. It was [[William Oughtred]] who first used two such scales sliding by one another to perform direct multiplication and division and thus is credited as the inventor of the slide rule in 1622.

[[Blaise Pascal]] invented the [[Mechanical calculator#The 17th century|mechanical calculator]] in 1642.<ref>{{cite book|title=Histoire des instruments et machines à calculer, trois siècles de mécanique pensante 1642–1942 |first=Jean|last=Marguin|year=1994|publisher=Hermann|isbn=978-2-7056-6166-3|page=48}} citing {{cite book|ref=Taton|title=Le calcul mécanique|first=René|last=Taton|year=1963|publisher=Presses universitaires de France|location=Paris}}</ref> The introduction of his [[Pascal's calculator|Pascaline]] in 1645 launched the development of mechanical calculators first in Europe and then all over the world.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Schum, David A.|journal=Michigan Law Review|volume=77|issue=3|year=1979|title=A Review of a Case against Blaise Pascal and His Heirs|pages=446–83|jstor=1288133|doi=10.2307/1288133|url=https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3673&context=mlr|access-date=3 December 2019|archive-date=5 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305124054/https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3673&context=mlr|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Pascal.html Pascal biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219055935/http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Pascal.html |date=19 December 2008 }}. Groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk. Retrieved on 26 September 2011.</ref> [[Gottfried Leibniz]], building on Pascal's work, became one of the most prolific inventors in the field of mechanical calculators; he was the first to describe a [[pinwheel calculator]] in 1685,<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=David Eugene |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rOQHAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA173 |title=A Source Book in Mathematics |publisher=McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. |year=1929 |location=New York and London |pages=173–181 |url-access=registration}}</ref> and he invented the [[Leibniz wheel]], used in the [[arithmometer]], the first mass-produced mechanical calculator. He also refined the [[binary number]] system, the foundation of virtually all modern computer architectures.<ref>
{{cite journal|author=McEvoy, John G. |title=A "Revolutionary" Philosophy of Science: Feyerabend and the Degeneration of Critical Rationalism into Sceptical Fallibilism |journal=Philosophy of Science|volume= 42|issue= 1 |pages=49–66 |date=March 1975|jstor=187297 |doi=10.1086/288620|s2cid=143046530 }}</ref>

[[John Hadley]] was the inventor of the [[octant (instrument)|octant]], the precursor to the [[sextant]] (invented by [[John Bird (astronomer)|John Bird]]), which greatly improved the science of [[navigation]].

===Industrial machines===
[[File:Savery-engine.jpg|upright|thumb|The 1698 ''[[Thomas Savery|Savery Engine]]'' was the first successful [[steam engine]].]]

[[Denis Papin]] was best known for his pioneering invention of the [[steam digester]], the forerunner of the [[steam engine]].<ref>{{Cite ODNB|id=21249|title=Papin, Denis}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=DK|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4M01NTdvu3kC&q=%22Steam+digester%22+%22papin%22+%22steam+engine%22&pg=PA106|title=Engineers: From the Great Pyramids to the Pioneers of Space Travel|date=16 April 2012|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-1-4654-0682-8|pages=106|language=en|access-date=18 November 2020|archive-date=2 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102074010/https://books.google.com/books?id=4M01NTdvu3kC&q=%22Steam+digester%22+%22papin%22+%22steam+engine%22&pg=PA106#v=snippet&q=%22Steam%20digester%22%20%22papin%22%20%22steam%20engine%22&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> The first working steam engine was patented in 1698 by the English inventor [[Thomas Savery]], as a "...new invention for raising of water and occasioning motion to all sorts of mill work by the impellent force of fire, which will be of great use and advantage for drayning mines, serveing townes with water, and for the working of all sorts of mills where they have not the benefitt of water nor constant windes."<ref name=jenkins>{{cite book | last = Jenkins | first = Rhys | title = Links in the History of Engineering and Technology from Tudor Times | publisher = Ayer Publishing | year = 1936 | pages = 66 | isbn = 978-0-8369-2167-0}}</ref> The invention was demonstrated to the Royal Society on 14 June 1699, and the machine was described by Savery in his book ''The Miner's Friend; or, An Engine to Raise Water by Fire'' (1702),<ref>{{cite book | last = Savery | first = Thomas | author-link = Thomas Savery | title = The Miner's Friend: Or, an Engine to Raise Water by Fire | publisher = S. Crouch | year = 1827 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=v_-yJ5c5a98C | access-date = 7 November 2015 | archive-date = 2 January 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240102074106/https://books.google.com/books?id=v_-yJ5c5a98C | url-status = live }}</ref> in which he claimed that it could pump water out of mines. [[Thomas Newcomen]] perfected the practical steam engine for pumping water, the [[Newcomen atmospheric engine|Newcomen steam engine]]. Consequently, Newcomen can be regarded as a forefather of the Industrial Revolution.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/newcomen_thomas.shtml Thomas Newcomen (1663–1729)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224060234/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/newcomen_thomas.shtml |date=24 December 2019 }}, BBC – History</ref>

[[Abraham Darby I]] was the first, and most famous, of three generations of the Darby family who played an important role in the Industrial Revolution. He developed a method of producing high-grade iron in a [[blast furnace]] fueled by [[Coke (fuel)|coke]] rather than [[charcoal]]. This was a major step forward in the production of iron as a raw material for the Industrial Revolution.

===Telescopes===
[[Refracting telescope]]s first appeared in the Netherlands in 1608, apparently the product of spectacle makers experimenting with lenses. The inventor is unknown, but [[Hans Lipperhey]] applied for the first patent, followed by [[Jacob Metius]] of [[Alkmaar]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://galileo.rice.edu/sci/instruments/telescope.html |title=galileo.rice.edu ''The Galileo Project > Science > The Telescope'' by Al Van Helden "The Hague discussed the patent applications first of Hans Lipperhey of Middelburg, and then of Jacob Metius of Alkmaar... another citizen of Middelburg, Sacharias Janssen had a telescope at about the same time but was at the Frankfurt Fair where he tried to sell it" |access-date=20 July 2014 |archive-date=23 June 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040623033108/http://galileo.rice.edu/sci/instruments/telescope.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Galileo was one of the first scientists to use this tool for his astronomical observations in 1609.<ref>{{cite book|author=Loker, Aleck|title=Profiles in Colonial History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lq1rd1ecFCYC&pg=PA15|date=2008|publisher=Aleck Loker|isbn=978-1-928874-16-4|pages=15–|access-date=7 November 2015|archive-date=2 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102074055/https://books.google.com/books?id=Lq1rd1ecFCYC&pg=PA15#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[reflecting telescope]] was described by [[James Gregory (mathematician)|James Gregory]] in his book ''Optica Promota'' (1663). He argued that a mirror shaped like the part of a [[conic section]], would correct the [[spherical aberration]] that flawed the accuracy of refracting telescopes. His design, the "[[Gregorian telescope]]", however, remained un-built.

In 1666, Newton argued that the faults of the refracting telescope were fundamental because the lens refracted light of different colors differently. He concluded that light could not be refracted through a lens without causing [[chromatic aberration]]s.<ref>Newton, Isaac. ''Optics'', bk. i. pt. ii. prop. 3</ref> From these experiments Newton concluded that no improvement could be made in the refracting telescope.<ref>''Treatise on Optics'', p. 112</ref> However, he was able to demonstrate that the angle of reflection remained the same for all colors, so he decided to build a [[Newton's reflector|reflecting telescope]].<ref>{{cite book|author=White, Michael |title=Isaac Newton: The Last Sorcerer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l2C3NV38tM0C&pg=PA170|year=1999|publisher=Perseus Books|isbn=978-0-7382-0143-6|page=170}}</ref> It was completed in 1668 and is the earliest known functional reflecting telescope.<ref name="mymathdone.com">Hall, Alfred Rupert. [http://www.mymathdone.com/isaac-newton-adventurer-in-thought/ ''Isaac Newton: adventurer in thought''] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20140618125253/http://www.mymathdone.com/isaac-newton-adventurer-in-thought/ |date=18 June 2014 }}. p. 67</ref> 50 years later, Hadley developed ways to make precision aspheric and [[Parabolic reflector|parabolic]] [[Objective (optics)|objective]] mirrors for reflecting telescopes, building the first parabolic Newtonian telescope and a Gregorian telescope with accurately shaped mirrors.<ref>{{cite book|author=King, Henry C.  |title=The History of the Telescope |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KAWwzHlDVksC&pg=PA77 |date= 2003 |publisher=Courier Dover Publications |isbn=978-0-486-43265-6 |pages=77–}}</ref><ref>[http://www.telescope-optics.net/two-mirror.htm telescopeѲptics.net – 8.2. Two-mirror telescopes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225070614/https://www.telescope-optics.net/two-mirror.htm |date=25 February 2021 }}. Telescope-optics.net. Retrieved on 26 September 2011.</ref> These were successfully demonstrated to the Royal Society.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations//groundup/lesson/scopes/hadley/index.php |title=Hadley's Reflector |publisher=amazing-space.stsci.edu |access-date=1 August 2013 |archive-date=26 May 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526002533/http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations//groundup/lesson/scopes/hadley/index.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Other devices===
[[File:Boyle air pump.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Air pump]] built by [[Robert Boyle]]. Many new instruments were devised in this period, which greatly aided in the expansion of scientific knowledge.]]

The invention of the [[vacuum pump]] paved the way for the experiments of [[Robert Boyle]] and Robert Hooke into the nature of [[vacuum]] and [[atmospheric pressure]]. The first such device was made by [[Otto von Guericke]] in 1654. It consisted of a piston and an [[Air gun#History|air gun cylinder]] with flaps that could suck the air from any vessel that it was connected to. In 1657, he pumped the air out of two conjoined hemispheres and demonstrated that a team of sixteen horses were incapable of pulling it apart.<ref>{{cite book | first=John | last=Lienhard | title=Rain Steam & Speed | chapter=Gases and Force | year=2005 | publisher=[[KUHF]] FM Radio | chapter-url=http://www.kuhf.org/cons/cdprojects/steam/track7.html | access-date=20 March 2015 | archive-date=20 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920010118/http://www.kuhf.org/cons/cdprojects/steam/track7.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> The air pump construction was greatly improved by Hooke in 1658.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh |title=On the Early History of the Air-pump in England |author=Wilson, George |date=15 January 1849 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QNosAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA207}}</ref>

[[Evangelista Torricelli]] invented the mercury [[barometer]] in 1643. The motivation for the invention was to improve on the suction pumps that were used to raise water out of the mines. Torricelli constructed a sealed tube filled with mercury, set vertically into a basin of the same substance. The column of mercury fell downwards, leaving a Torricellian vacuum above.<ref name="John Timbs">{{cite book|last1=Timbs|first1=John|title=Wonderful Inventions: From the Mariner's Compass to the Electric Telegraph Cable|date=1868|publisher=George Routledge and Sons|location=London|isbn=978-1-172-82780-0|page=41|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vGMJAAAAIAAJ|access-date=2 June 2014}}</ref>

=== Materials, construction, and aesthetics ===
Surviving instruments from this period<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://chsi.harvard.edu/|title=The Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments|website=chsi.harvard.edu|language=en|access-date=30 May 2017|archive-date=7 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607113032/https://chsi.harvard.edu/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://collections.peabody.yale.edu/search/|title=Search Home|website=collections.peabody.yale.edu|language=en|access-date=30 May 2017|archive-date=30 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170530182003/http://collections.peabody.yale.edu/search/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://utsic.escalator.utoronto.ca/home/|title=University of Toronto Scientific Instruments Collection|website=utsic.escalator.utoronto.ca|language=en-US|access-date=30 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170526141806/http://utsic.escalator.utoronto.ca/home/|archive-date=26 May 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/collections/|title=Adler Planetarium Collections Department|work=Adler Planetarium|access-date=30 May 2017|language=en-US|archive-date=10 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710100852/http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/collections/|url-status=live}}</ref> tend to be made of durable metals such as brass, gold, or steel, although examples such as telescopes<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dioptrice.com/|title=Dioptrice : pre-1775 refracting telescopes|website=www.dioptrice.com|language=en|access-date=30 May 2017|archive-date=17 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517235301/http://dioptrice.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> made of wood, pasteboard, or with leather components exist.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dioptrice.com/telescopes/466?search=wooden|title=Dioptrice : Accession #: M-428a|website=www.dioptrice.com|language=en|access-date=30 May 2017|archive-date=6 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806091743/http://www.dioptrice.com/telescopes/466?search=wooden|url-status=dead}}</ref> Those instruments that exist in collections today tend to be robust examples, made by skilled craftspeople for and at the expense of wealthy patrons.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Kemp|first=Martin|title=Interpretation and Cultural History |chapter='Intellectual Ornaments': Style, Function and society in Some Instruments of Art |year=1991|publisher=St. Martin's Press|pages=135–52|doi=10.1007/978-1-349-21272-9_6|isbn=978-1-349-21274-3}}</ref> These may have been commissioned as displays of wealth. In addition, the instruments preserved in collections may not have received heavy use in scientific work; instruments that had visibly received heavy use were typically destroyed, deemed unfit for display, or excluded from collections altogether.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Schaffer|first=Simon|title=Easily Cracked: Scientific Instruments in States of Disrepair|journal=Isis|volume=102|issue=4|pages=706–17|doi=10.1086/663608|pmid=22448545|bibcode=2011Isis..102..706S|year=2011|s2cid=24626572}}</ref> It is also postulated that the scientific instruments preserved in many collections were chosen because they were more appealing to collectors, by virtue of being more ornate, more portable, or made with higher-grade materials.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.refa.org.ar/contenido-autores-revista.php?idAutor=75.|title=REFA, Revista Electrónica de Fuentes y Archivos del Centro de Estudios Históricos Prof. Carlos S.A. Segreti, publicacion periodica digital.|last=Anderson|first=Katharine|website=www.refa.org.ar|language=es|access-date=30 May 2017|archive-date=6 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106173943/http://www.refa.org.ar/contenido-autores-revista.php?idAutor=75.|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Intact air pumps are particularly rare.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Bennett|first=Jim|date=1 December 2011|title=Early Modern Mathematical Instruments|journal=Isis|volume=102|issue=4|pages=697–705|doi=10.1086/663607|pmid=22448544|s2cid=22184409|issn=0021-1753}}</ref> The pump at right included a glass sphere to permit demonstrations inside the vacuum chamber, a common use. The base was wooden, and the cylindrical pump was brass.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kingscollections.org/exhibitions/specialcollections/to-scrutinize-nature/boyle-and-hooke/boyles-air-pump|title=King's Collections : Online Exhibitions : Boyle's air-pump|website=www.kingscollections.org|language=en|access-date=31 May 2017|archive-date=20 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170520111812/http://www.kingscollections.org/exhibitions/specialcollections/to-scrutinize-nature/boyle-and-hooke/boyles-air-pump|url-status=live}}</ref> Other vacuum chambers that survived were made of brass hemispheres.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://waywiser.rc.fas.harvard.edu/view/objects/asitem/search@/4/displayDate-asc?t:state:flow=efd7f60c-909c-47d9-8399-d61d27444422|title=Abbé Jean-Antoine Nollet Air Pump|website=waywiser.rc.fas.harvard.edu|access-date=31 May 2017}}{{dead link|date=August 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Instrument makers of the late 17th and early 18th centuries were commissioned by organizations seeking help with navigation, surveying, warfare, and astronomical observation.<ref name=":3" /> The increase in uses for such instruments, and their widespread use in global exploration and conflict, created a need for new methods of manufacture and repair, which would be met by the Industrial Revolution.<ref name=":2" />