18th century

Exhibit items from the 18th century.

Exhibit Items

	A Geographical Map of the Terraqueous Globe Scherer, Heinrich (1700) These are gores for a small geographical "pocket" globe.
	A Description of the Plan of Peking, the Capital of China Gaubil, Antoine (1748) The Forbidden City was home to the Chinese Emperor and the political center of Chinese government for hundreds of years. Despite occasional tensions, Jesuits from Schall in the 17th century to Gaubil in the 18th century were granted admission as advisors.
	Celestial Atlas, 1729 Flamsteed, John (1729) A globe maker for the French royal family, J. Fortin, prepared this edition of Flamsteed’s celestial atlas in a much reduced format. Flamsteed was the first Astronomer Royal, who oversaw the building of the Greenwich Observatory. Newton relied upon Flamsteed’s star positions in his Principia.
	Map of the Heavens Bode, Johann (1801) This beautiful atlas fused artistic beauty and scientific precision.
0	A Synopsis of Cometary Astronomy, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Halley, Edmond (1705)
0	A Planisphere containing the Celestial Constellations Lacaille, Nicolas (1756)
0	Natural History of Insects Swammerdam, Jan (1758)
0	Shorter Works on Animal and Plant Physics Spallanzani, Lazzaro (1776)
0	Memoirs toward a Description of a type of Freshwater Polyp Trembley, Abraham (1744)
0	Illustrated Microscopy, 1746 Adams, George (1746)
0	Illustrated Microscopy, 1747 Adams, George (1747)
0	Essays on the Microscope Adams, George (1787) Adams’ work remained in publication for decades helping generations of microscopists and hobbyists explore the unseen world.
3	An Original Theory or New Hypothesis of the Universe Wright, Thomas (1750) Wright proposed a model of the Milky Way as a flat wheel, and envisioned the nebulae as distant worlds upon worlds, far removed from the Milky Way itself.“That this in all Probability may be the real Case, is in some Degree made evident by the many cloudy Spots, just perceivable by us, as far...
4	General History of China, vol. 2 du Halde, J.B. (1741) The secret of silk farming spread from China to Korea and India about the beginning of the Common Era. Its international trade led to the establishment of the Silk Road, which extended over 4,000 miles and connected the major ancient and medieval civilizations from China to Asia Minor.
4	A Treatise on Muscular Action Pugh, John (1794) This book demonstrated the advantage of exercise training and physical therapy in promoting health. Pugh invented exercise apparatus to strengthen the muscles.
4	Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters Messier, Charles (1774) This is the first edition of Messier's catalog of cloudy spots or "nebulae," numbered from M1 to M45. In 1781, Messier published a final catalog of 103 nebulae, which are now called "Messier objects." The Great Orion Nebula is M42.
5	Celestial Atlas,1776 Flamsteed, John (1776) A globe maker for the French royal family, J. Fortin, prepared this edition of Flamsteed’s celestial atlas in a much reduced format. Flamsteed was the first Astronomer Royal, who oversaw the building of the Greenwich Observatory. Newton relied upon Flamsteed’s star positions in his Principia.
6	Atlas of the Stars Bode, Johann (1782) Bode created a new constellation, Herschels Teleskop, near Auriga, to honor William Herschel’s discovery of Uranus in 1781. This Bode-Fortin-Flamsteed atlas is a 1782 German edition of Fortin’s 1776 reprinting of Flamsteed’s 1729 atlas.
7	Wonder Chambers of Nature Vincent, Levinus (1706-1715) Levinus Vincent, a wealthy Dutch merchant with ties to the East Indies, created a spectacular natural history museum in Haarlem. Visiting dignitaries admired his museum, including Peter the Great and King Charles III of Spain.
8	The Botanic Garden Darwin, Erasmus (1790) Erasmus Darwin, the grandfather of Charles Darwin, propounded an evolutionary theory in this widely popular didactic poem on plants. In Part 2, “Loves of the Plants,” he inserted a footnote about manzanilla (also known as chamomile).
8	The Caterpillar Garden Merian, Maria Sybilla (1717) Merian, an artist and naturalist, studied the relationships between flowers and insects; she also bred her own insects for this purpose. She was particularly interested in metamorphosis.
9	Introduction to Astronomy, 1706 Baba, Nobutake (1706) This work, written by a Kyoto physician, represents Asian astronomy in the generation following Adam Schall. Baba countered superstitious interpretations of solar eclipses, and used magnetic theory rather than yin and yang to explain the tides. Baba adopted the Tychonic model of cosmology.
11	General History of China, vol. 1 du Halde, J.B. (1741) Du Halde lived in China for nearly 30 years. This work recounts the story of Candida Xu, who collaborated with the Jesuit astronomers as had her grandfather, Xu Guangki. For a foldout map of China, du Halde drew upon the Kangxi atlases of 1717 and 1721.
11	Critical Commentary on the Official Austrian Pharmacopoeia von Raszynya, Huszty (1785) Rebellion against the limitations of 18th century HMOs: The frontispiece to this work protests the limited medicines available from the official apothecary. The Pharmacopoeia Austriaco-provincialis (Vienna, 1774) mandated the medicines and remedies to be made available.
12	General History of China, vol. 3 du Halde, J.B. (1741) Du Halde lived in China for nearly 30 years. This work recounts the story of Candida Xu, who collaborated with the Jesuit astronomers as had her grandfather, Xu Guangki. For a foldout map of China, du Halde drew upon the Kangxi atlases of 1717 and 1721.
12	On the Tornado Boscovich, Ruder (1749) Boscovic, a Jesuit mathematical physicist from the region of modern-day Croatia, published this account of a tornado that passed through Rome in June of 1749. Benjamin Franklin’s reading of this book prompted his own tornado investigations, including storm chasing.
13	General History of China, vol. 4 du Halde, J.B. (1741) Du Halde lived in China for nearly 30 years. This work recounts the story of Candida Xu, who collaborated with the Jesuit astronomers as had her grandfather, Xu Guangki. For a foldout map of China, du Halde drew upon the Kangxi atlases of 1717 and 1721.
13	The Natural History of Human Teeth Hunter, John (1803) The foundational work for modern dentistry, including tooth transplants: Hunter established a new system of nomenclature for teeth and studied the development of teeth from birth.
14	The Cow Pox Jenner, Edward (1798) The quest to eliminate smallpox through vaccination: Jenner, a student of John Hunter, knowing that milkmaids who contracted cowpox became immune to smallpox, surmised that pus from cowpox blisters could be used to vaccinate anyone against smallpox.
14	Meteorological Essays Dalton, John (1793) Dalton defined the law of partial pressures in the course of his meteorological research. Three years later, his New System of Chemical Philosophy (Manchester, 1808) presented his atomic theory and provided a way to calculate the relative weights of elements and compounds.
14	Biblical Sciences Scheuchzer, Johann Jakob (1728) Biblical accounts of the creation week, deluge, and future conflagration provided early modern naturalists with an idiom for exploring changes in the Earth over time. Scheuchzer was a leading Swiss naturalist and an advocate for the organic origin of fossils.
15	Living Anatomy von Hellwig, Christoph (1720) Four leaves of colored, interactive anatomical flaps appear throughout this popular anatomical textbook, which recapitulates the combination of art, engineering and anatomy in Galileo’s world.
15	Astronomy Explained upon Sir Isaac Newton's Principles Ferguson, James (1809) Ferguson’s books, orreries, clocks and mechanical devices were studied with interest by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine and William Herschel, among others.
15	Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds Fontenelle, (1728) In this dramatic and entertaining dialogue, Fontenelle explained Cartesian philosophy and cosmology and argued for the existence of life on other worlds. He justified a popular writing style by encouraging women and men to engage in pleasant evening conversation together on scientific topics.
15	The Use of Celestial and Terrestrial Globes, and Spheres, according to the different Systems of the World Bion, Nicolas (1710) Even today, while we adopt the Copernican system, we still teach observational astronomy and navigation by the stars using the traditional geocentric instruments: nocturnal dials, celestial globes, and armillary spheres.
15	Illustrations of the Bible Hoet, Gerard (1728) Conventions of biblical illustration interacted with scientific investigation, each influencing and shaping the other. According to contemporary interpretations of the six days of creation, mountains formed on the 3rd day when the dry land was separated from the sea.
16	The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended Newton, Isaac (1728) Newton believed that Solomon’s Temple encoded his inverse square law for universal gravitation. To Newton, his grandest achievement was merely a rediscovery of the treasures of ancient wisdom.
17	Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel Newton, Isaac (1733) For Newton, science and the Bible were not opposed, provided that one understood each one correctly.
18	An Account of a New Discovered Motion of the Fix’d Stars Bradley, James (1729) Direct observational proof of the motion of the Earth remained difficult to find, even as late as the generation of Isaac Newton.