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Willem Jacob ‘s Gravesande

Willem ‘s Gravesande travelled to England from the Dutch Republic, met Newton, went to Desaguliers’, Hauksbee’s and Whiston’s demonstrations (see other labels), and became a member of the Royal Society. He later taught experimental physics at the University of Leiden and published richly illustrated and popular books.

Willem ‘s Gravesande travelled to England from the Dutch Republic, met Newton, went to Desaguliers’, Hauksbee’s and Whiston’s demonstrations (see other labels), and became a member of the Royal Society. He later taught experimental physics at the University of Leiden and published richly illustrated and popular books.

Willem Jacob ‘s Gravesande (1688-1742): Mathematical Elements of Natural Philosophy Confirm’d by Experiments, 1726

The plate here shows experiments on air.

Figure 1 represents a glass filled with air and immersed in water, illustrating the principle of a diving bell.

Figure 2 shows “Cartesian devils” made to travel up and down a cylinder by changing the pressure.

Figures 3 to 5 show experiments on animals in glass jars: the animals cannot live if the air is withdrawn with the air pump.

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Willem Jacob ‘s Gravesande: Mathematical Elements of Natural Philosophy Confirm’d by Experiments, 1731, vol. 2.

This illustration shows lenses and prisms used to demonstrate properties of optics.

Above is a magic lantern, used in a dark room to project on to a wall the magnified image of a satyr from a painting on a small piece of glass.

Below is the interior of the magic lantern: a wooden box containing a concave mirror, a lamp, and a round hole fitted with a convex lens.