細節
POLENI, GIOVANNI. Miscellanea. Hoc est I. Dissertatio de Barometris, & Thermometris. II. Machinae Aritmeticae, ejusque usus Descriptio, III. De Sectionibus Conicis Parallelorum in Horologiis Solaribus Tractatus. Venice: Aloysius Pavinus 1709. 4to, 224 x 157 mm. (8 13/16 x 6 3/16 in.), contemporary sheep-backed marbled paper-covered boards, slightly rubbed, foot of spine and corners chipped, small stain to half-title, plates 1-3 with short tears along platemarks, plate 4 slightly spotted, some minor offsetting. FIRST EDITION. Collation: 4 A-G4. [8], 56 pp. Half-title, engraved allegorical title vignette of reason taming the savage beast, 9 folding engraved plates of machines and geometrical diagrams by Joseph Marcati. Riccardi I(2):290. Traces of inkstamp on title.
Poleni's first work, including dissertations on barometers, thermometers, and the construction of a sun-dial. The second part, a description of an "arithmetical machine," or primitive calculator, is one of the earliest essays on the subject. Poleni based his design on reports that he had received of the calculators of Leibniz and Pascal, and proceeded to actually build his own machine (as illustrated in the two plates), "which was reportedly very simple and easy to operate; but when he heard of another machine presented to the emperor by the Viennese mechanician Brauer, he destroyed his own and never rebuilt it" (DSB).
Poleni's first work, including dissertations on barometers, thermometers, and the construction of a sun-dial. The second part, a description of an "arithmetical machine," or primitive calculator, is one of the earliest essays on the subject. Poleni based his design on reports that he had received of the calculators of Leibniz and Pascal, and proceeded to actually build his own machine (as illustrated in the two plates), "which was reportedly very simple and easy to operate; but when he heard of another machine presented to the emperor by the Viennese mechanician Brauer, he destroyed his own and never rebuilt it" (DSB).