Written originally as a technical manual, this volume provides an historical account of the art and science of fireworks, with sections on materials, the manufacture of unit fireworks and display pieces, aquatic and…

In the center of a large room, a surgeon in a red cap and apron kneels to apply a leech to the foot of his bearded patient. Scenes of bloodletting and leechcraft are common in such images of doctors' surgeries. The…

This work by Antoine Laurent Lavoisier is widely considered the first of its kind in modern chemical literature. Select digitized content includes front cover, frontismatter, woodcut vignettes, as well as thirteen…

The full text above and below the image of this print reads, "The First Lecture in Experimental Philosophy. / Engraved for the Universal Magazine, for J. Hinton at the King's Arms in St. Paul's Church-Yard London.…

Engraved plate depicts the components of a pocket microscope with a mirror or speculum used to project light through the specimen. The parts and functionality are explained in detail in chapter IV, entitled "A new…

A bald alchemist stands at his furnace on the right, stirring the contents of his crucible while reading a small book. His young apprentice stands by, attentively looking to the alchemist for guidance. Books and other…

This scene depicts tools and materials used both in alchemy and in art—most notably the large écorché figure placed on the alchemist's table, which was used by artists and students of human anatomy. A human skull,…

The alchemist sits in a small side chamber, absorbed by his readings, as his family works to prepare a meal in the open kitchen. Household and alchemical materials merge: a distillation apparatus sits on the hearth at…

In this pioneering work on microscopy, engraved plates detail the physiology of natural history specimens. Known as the "Father of Microbiology," Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) is considered one of the first…

Robert Boyle in long curled wig, white neck cravat and sleeves, black coat; seated facing right with head turned three quarters left, looking out; turning page of book with left hand and gesturing toward book with…

Engraving of a flea from Schem. 34 of the first edition of Robert Hooke's seminal volume, Micrographia : or, Some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses. With observations and inquiries…

Forty-three experiments are detailed within this work, including the physical and chemical properties of air proving it has weight along with determining that a vacuum restricts the transmission of sound as well as the…

This 17th-century engraving is from Thomas Norton's The Ordinall of Alchimy and was made after a 15th-century illuminated manuscript (now preserved in the British Library). Norton, a practicing alchemist, depicts the…

First published in 1617, Michael Maier's alchemical emblem book contains a preface on ancient music and the Greek myth of Atalanta and Hippomenes and consists of 50 engraved emblems, each accompanied by a discourse and…

This depiction of 8th-century Arabic polymath Abu Mūsā Jābir ibn Hayyān, westernized by Europeans as "Geber," comes from chapter 33 of the publication Les vrais pourtraits et vies des hommes illustres grecz, latins et…

The instrument is here shown attached to its power supply on a laboratory bench. The people in this image are unidentified.

The first Beckman Instruments DU Spectrophotometer was developed in 1940, when the company was…