Petrus Musschenbroek - Elementa Physicae - 1745
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Holds a master’s degree in bibliography, with seven years of experience specialising in incunabula and Arabic manuscripts.
Estimate € 350 - € 450
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Description from the seller
Elements of Physics Written for Academic Use
600; 24 fold-out plates
Book in very good condition, parchment cover with a few stains and signs of age; interior pages still fresh, with a few stains but no foxing or wormholes.
The edition is listed by the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense and the Museo Galileo. The designation “first Venetian edition” refers to the first printing in Venice.
This is a course in what was then called natural philosophy, based on observation and experiments.
* Mechanics: levers, wheels, gears, screws, and other devices.
* Properties of bodies and fluids: instruments, scales, and experimental apparatus.
* Meteorology: a plate showing the shapes of snow and ice crystals.
* Physical geography: a map of the world indicating the winds.
The fold-out plates served an educational purpose: they allowed students to follow the explanations and understand the instruments used in demonstrations.
The book’s historical importance lies in the spread of an approach to teaching physics based on experience, close to the tradition of Newton and ’s Gravesande. Musschenbroek prioritized the collection of experimental facts and also devoted particular attention to heat, meteorology, and electricity.
Pieter van Musschenbroek was born in Leiden on March 14, 1692, and died on September 19, 1761. He came from a family of scientific instrument makers. He earned a degree in medicine in 1715 and later taught in Duisburg, Utrecht, and Leiden. His textbooks enjoyed international circulation.
His name is chiefly associated with the Leyden jar, one of the first electrical capacitors: a device capable of storing charge and releasing it in a discharge. Musschenbroek’s experiments were reported in 1746, following Ewald Georg von Kleist’s independent experiments in 1745. This 1745 volume therefore predates the famous announcement of the discovery and should not be presented as the treatise that announced it.
This listing contains photos processed with AI
for illustrative purposes. In any case, the book itself has not been retouched.
Elements of Physics Written for Academic Use
600; 24 fold-out plates
Book in very good condition, parchment cover with a few stains and signs of age; interior pages still fresh, with a few stains but no foxing or wormholes.
The edition is listed by the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense and the Museo Galileo. The designation “first Venetian edition” refers to the first printing in Venice.
This is a course in what was then called natural philosophy, based on observation and experiments.
* Mechanics: levers, wheels, gears, screws, and other devices.
* Properties of bodies and fluids: instruments, scales, and experimental apparatus.
* Meteorology: a plate showing the shapes of snow and ice crystals.
* Physical geography: a map of the world indicating the winds.
The fold-out plates served an educational purpose: they allowed students to follow the explanations and understand the instruments used in demonstrations.
The book’s historical importance lies in the spread of an approach to teaching physics based on experience, close to the tradition of Newton and ’s Gravesande. Musschenbroek prioritized the collection of experimental facts and also devoted particular attention to heat, meteorology, and electricity.
Pieter van Musschenbroek was born in Leiden on March 14, 1692, and died on September 19, 1761. He came from a family of scientific instrument makers. He earned a degree in medicine in 1715 and later taught in Duisburg, Utrecht, and Leiden. His textbooks enjoyed international circulation.
His name is chiefly associated with the Leyden jar, one of the first electrical capacitors: a device capable of storing charge and releasing it in a discharge. Musschenbroek’s experiments were reported in 1746, following Ewald Georg von Kleist’s independent experiments in 1745. This 1745 volume therefore predates the famous announcement of the discovery and should not be presented as the treatise that announced it.
This listing contains photos processed with AI
for illustrative purposes. In any case, the book itself has not been retouched.
Details
Number of books
1
Subject
Mathematics, Physics, Science
Book title
Elementa Physicae
Author/ Illustrator
Petrus Musschenbroek
Condition
Good
Publication year oldest item
1745
Height
19 cm
Edition
Other edition
Width
14 cm
Language
Latin
Original language
Yes
Publisher
Johannem Baptistam Recurti
Binding/ Material
Vellum
Number of pages
600
