Martin Benjamin - A New and Compendious System of Optics - 1740-1740

A New and Compendious System of Optics.
By Benjamin Martin
Published by James Hodges, London, 1740
Used Hardcover.
BENJAMIN MARTIN (1704/ 5-1782) was an ‘Optician, of Fleet Street’, in the last of the many stages in his career. Before opening his Fleet Street shop in 1756 he had been an itinerant lecturer on natural philosophy for fifteen years, based initially at Chichester, where he lived from c. 1730. In the mid-1730s he was calling himself a ‘teacher of the mathematics’ and running a boarding school at Chichester. Information on his earlier life is scanty, but he is thought to have been born on a farm at Worplesden, Surrey, in February 1704 (O.S.) and to have acquired his knowledge of mathematics and natural philosophy largely by self-education, aided perhaps by a timely legacy of a few hundred pounds which enabled him to buy books and apparatus.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.
This book explores the intriguing principles of light and vision in the field of optics, a branch of physics that has profoundly shaped human understanding of the world.
Exploring the ideas of visionaries like Sir Isaac Newton and Christiaan Huygens, the book delves into topics such as reflection, refraction, and the nature of colour.
This book not only offers a comprehensive examination of optics but also sheds light on the broader history of scientific discovery and the ever-evolving relationship between science and technology.
Condition: Generally good with some age-hues. Slight mended tear on Plate 16. Otherwise in reasonably good condition. 31 Plates altogether.
296pages. 20x13x5cm.