DSB, XII, 477 ; DiLaura, no. 486 ; see Becker Collection, 216 (for the first edition 1738) ; Wolf, History of Science, II, p. 171.<\/i><\/p>\n
First edition of Nicolas-Claude Duval le Roy’s translation, published the same year as the one by P\u00e9z\u00e9nas, and better, according to Qu\u00e9rard “\u00e0 cause des augmentations consid\u00e9rables que Duval a faites au trait\u00e9”.<\/p>\n
It is supplemented by Remarques nouvelles sur les lunettes achromatiques<\/i> and a description of the Heliostat. The text is divided into three parts entitled Exposition simple & facile de l’optique<\/i> ; L’Optique trait\u00e9e… \u00e0 l’aide de la g\u00e9om\u00e9trie & du calcul<\/i> ; De la mani\u00e8re de tailler les verres & les miroirs des t\u00e9lescopes<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The work, based essentially on Newton’s theories, is richly illustrated with 67 fold-out engraved plates showing calculations and instruments. Smith’s optics course, based on Newton’s optics, was “probably the most influencial optical text book of the eighteenth century… In turn, its popularity helped to establish the eighteenth-century conviction that light is particulate” (DSB).<\/p>\n
“Of the four books [pour l’\u00e9dition originale] the first deals in a non-technical manner with the fundamental experiments in optics, while the second provides a more formal treatment of the geometrical theory of the subject. Smith studied the problem of spherical aberrations in greater generality than his predecessors, Barrow and Huygens. The third book describes apparatus fro grinding and polishing lenses and specula, and it gives a complete account of the construction, adjustment, and use of the principal optical instruments, while the fourth book gives a history of telescopic discoveries in the heavens\u201d (Wolf).<\/p>\n
“Two French translations of Smith’s work appeared in 1767 : Esprit P\u00e9zenas’ being more concerned with the theoretical aspects while Duval-le-Roy’s has a heavy emphasis on the practical, lens, and instrument aspects” (DiLaura).<\/p>\n
A good copy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Large 4to (250 x 195 mm) XIII pp., 1 nn.l., 739 pp., 1 unn.l., 67 engraved folding plates. Contemporary marbled calf, spine gilt with raised bands, red edges (minor wear to foot of spine).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":72903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[550],"product_tag":[1339,610,1335],"class_list":{"0":"post-72910","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-science","7":"product_tag-general-physics","8":"product_tag-optical","9":"product_tag-physics","10":"pa_auteur-smith-robert-2","11":"pa_type-de-livre-printed-book","13":"first","14":"instock","15":"shipping-taxable","16":"purchasable","17":"product-type-simple"},"acf":{"artist":"Robert SMITH","chapeau":"","adresse_bibliographique":"Brest & Paris, Romain Malassis & chez Durand, 1767","book_type":"Printed book","provenance":"","afficher_prix":""},"yoast_head":"\n