Making Scientific Instruments in the Industrial Revolution

[Monte Davis]

Dave Monroe wrote:

> Morrison-Low, A.D.  Making Scientific Instruments in the Industrial 
> Revolution.
>   Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2007...

Looks interesting. I know a little bit about how some precision 
machining technologies made their way from instrument making to shop 
floors, and it's a fascinating subject. It won't surprise anyone who's 
read M&D tpo know how often clockmaking and optics led the way.

Of course, at the bleeding edge only Lord So-And-So could afford the 
highest flights of craft. From the Renaissance academies (Lincei in 
Rome, A. del Cimento in Florence) through early Royal Society days, 
there was always a tension between the ideal of scientific sharing and 
the reality of "no WAY I'm going to tell you the name of the terrific 
glassblower or lens-grinder or screw-cutter I use."