TRANSLATION, EXPERIMENTATION AND THE SPRING OF THE AIR: RICHARD WALLER'S ESSAYES OF NATURAL...

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1/18

TRANSLATION, EXPERIMENTATION AND THE SPRING OF THE AIR: RICHARD WALLER'SESSAYES OF NATURAL EXPERIMENTS

Author(s): Luciano BoschieroSource: Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 64, No. 1 (20 March 2010), pp.67-83Published by: The Royal SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40647334.

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2/18

NOTES &

RECORDS

NotesRec_ soc.

(2010)

64,

67-83

Or

THE

ROYAL

doi:

10.

098/rsnr.2009.0026

SOCIETY

Published nline14 October

009

TRANSLATION,EXPERIMENTATIONAND THE SPRING OF THE AIR:

RICHARD WALLER'S

ESSAYES OF

NATURAL

XPERIMENTS

by

Luciano Boschiero*

CampionCollege,

8-14 Austin

Woodbury

lace,

Old

Toongabbie,

NSW

2146,

Australia

In

1668,

whenthe

Royal

Society

f London

received

copy

of the book of

experiments

compiled y

theTuscan

Accademiadel

Cimento,

t

was deemed

by

the

Society

o

contain

little hat

was new or

innovative,

nd was

seemingly

oon

forgotten.

et

15

years

ater,

Richard

Waller's

English

translationf this book

was licensed

and

publishedby

the

Society.

The

only

reasonoffered

y

historians or his

urnaroundn

the

English

ttitude

towards hebook has

been the social

and

political

ircumstances

acing

he

Society

n the

early

1680s.

However,

closer

ook at the

reception

f

thetranslation

nd the ntellectual

interests f some of

the

Society's

members t this

time,

especially

the

Society's

temporary

urator,

enis

Papin,

reveals hat he

Tuscans' work

was re-evaluated or

ts

significance

onatural

hilosophical

heories

eveloped

nthefield f

pneumatics.

Keywords:

Accademia

del

Cimento;

Essayes

of

Natural

Experiments;

Robert

Boyle;

Denis

Papin;

experiments;

neumatics

Introduction

In

March1668 the

RoyalSociety

f London

eceived

copy

of

Saggi

di naturali

sperienze

(Florence, 667),thebook ofexperimentsublished ytheAccademiadel Cimento nder

the

patronage

f Prince

Leopoldo

de' Medici. An

official

ecord of the

Cimento'

experiments

ad

been much

nticipated y

some

members f the

Society.1

et

they

did

not

scrutinizehe

text

horoughly

ntil

1683,

when

RichardWaller

FRS made an

English

translation,

ublished

y

the

Royal Society:Essayes of

Natural

Experiments

ade in the

Acadmie del

Cimento,

Under

the

Protection

f

the

Most

Serene Prince

Leopold

of

Tuscany

London,

1684).

There re some

well-documented

easons

why

the

Society

did not

take an

immediate

interestn

the

Saggi

in

1668. The book was not sold

or

widely

distributedn

London,

nd

few of the

Society's

Fellows could read

Italian,

further

imiting

he book's

potential

audience.2

However,

he main reason for

the book's

poor reception

n

London was its

apparentedundancyrom hepoint f view of theSociety.Therewas a long delay nthe

*l.boschiero

campion.edu.au

67 This

ournal

s

2009 The

Royal Society

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/18

68

L. Boschiero

Saggi9

arrival

n

England,resulting

rom he time taken

by

the Cimento'

secretary,

Lorenzo

Magalotti,

o

complete

he text.

By

the time he

Society

eceived ts

copy,

most

of

the

xperiments

escribedn its

pages

had

already

een

performed

n

England.

Consequently,

he

Society ranted

hebook ittle ttention.t was handed o

Christopher

Merret nd WilliamBalle to

'peruse

he

book,

and

to

give

the

society

n account f the

contents f

it,

and

the manner

f

treating

he several

ubjects

n it.'3 At some

point

hat

duty

was

seemingly

ransferredo

Walter

Pope

and Robert

Hooke,

who

reported

hat

'many ubjects

nd

experiments

reated f in it had also been considered nd tried

n

England,

nd even

improved

eyond

the contents f that book.'4

Henry Oldenburg,

presumably

n thebasis of

this

eport,

lso wrote

o

Boyle

that

heres

nothing

ew n t.'5

The failure

f

the

aggi

to

excite eaders

n

England

s well known. ut this

eception

n

1668 raises

question

hat as

rarely

een asked:

why

was

the

Saggi

then

ranslated

nto

English

5

years

ater?

y

1683-84

the

Cimento

o

longer

xisted,

nd relations etween

Tuscan and Englishnaturalphilosopherswere limited.What, then,had changed n

that

period

to shift he

English

attitude owards he Tuscan book of

experiments?

Perhaps surprisingly,

here has

been

only

one

attempt

o answer these

questions.

W. E. K. Middleton evealsthaton the basis of a conversationbout

this

topic

with

Stillman

rake,

he came to the

following

onclusion:

I

thinkheres

a

simple

nd

yet dequate

eason or he

ppearance

f theWaller

translationn

1684.

While t was of no use to the

professionals,

here

as enormous

interestn thenewnatural

hilosophy

mong

ducated

aymen,

nd

nowhere

ore o

than

n

England.

his

popular'

udience

asmore

reedy

han

ritical,

nd

heerfully

purchased

uch rivia s the ranslated

eports

f

thefantastic

cademy rganized

n

Paris yThophrasteenaudot.he nterestftheRoyal ocietynthe ranslationan

be

referredo the

Society's rgent

eed

to

keep

ts namebefore he

public

n

the

seventeenth

entury,specially

fter he

long

interruption

f the

Philosophical

Transactionshat ollowedhe eath f

Henry ldenburg.6

In the

early

1680s,

he

Royal Society's

future as uncertain:

t was

struggling

inancially,

losing

members,

nd

failing

to

gain

the interest nd

approval

of the Crown. After

Oldenburg's

death

in

1677,

and

consequently

he

suspension

of

publication

of

Philosophical

Transactions,

he

Society

also

lost

its

greatest

ink to its

foreign

correspondents

nd the broader

ublic.7

During

this

period

the

Society's

Council

took

othermeasures o maintaints

public

profile,ncluding

he

translation

nd

publication

f

foreignooks, mong hem heSaggi*

In

addition,

n her

analysis

of relations etween talian and British cientists

n the

seventeenth

entury,

arie

Boas

Hall

argues

hat he

decision

o translatehe

Saggi

might

have been made as a

sign

of

'respect

or talian

achievement',

s Italian and

English

natural

hilosophers

n

the 1680s

attempted

o

establish ordialand

mutually

eneficial

relations.9

The

political,

ocial

and

financial

ircumstancesn the

1680s

would herefore

eemingly

explain

why

he

ociety

would eek

to

revive

nd

translate

he

aggi.

The

Society's

ellows

were

ttempting

o revive heir ortunes

n

England

nd

maintain

elations ith heirtalian

counterparts.

owever,

his

argument,lthough lausible,

ontains ome

shortcomings.

First,Middleton does not mentionwhat specificsections,themes or experiments

contained

n

the

Saggi

could have

nterested

otential

eaders

n

the

early

1680s.

Second,

publication

f

Philosophical

Transactions

was revived

several

monthsbeforeWaller



4/18

Translation,

xperimentation

nd the

pring f

the ir 69

published

is translation. as it then

ecessary

o release n

allegedly

rivial nd redundant

book

of Italian

xperiments

f the

Society

was

already e-engaging

ith wide audience

through

orereliable nd consistent eans?

Finally,

here s no evidence o

suggest

hat

the translation as delivered

r even advertised o Italian natural

hilosophers,asting

some doubt n Hall's

suggestion.

In

addition,

ot ll natural

hilosophical

exts ere

opular

ellers

n

he

nglish

market

n

he

1670s nd 1680s.Books with laborate

iagrams,

uch s Waller's

ssayes,

were

xpensive

o

print.10

urthermore,

espite

henarrativef

experiments

n

the

aggi,

ts

multiple

ables nd

calculations

egarding

he

properties

f air

place

it

firmly

n

the field of

'physico-

mathematics',

he

xpression

sed

by

seventeenth-century

atural

hilosophers

o refer o the

application

f the 'mixed-mathematical'

ciences,

uch

as

hydrostatics

nd

geometrical

astronomy,

owards

aining

n

understanding

f the tructurend

properties

f

nature,

s well

as

the causes of naturalmotion.11

ccording

o Adrian

Johns,

uch mathematicalreatises

were difficulto sell and were oftenpublished nly through re-existingontractual

agreements

etween he

RoyalSociety

nd ts official

rinters

nd booksellers.12o

it

s not

likely

hatWaller's ranslationould have had a wide

appeal,

nd

there s

no evidence o

suggest

hat he

RoyalSociety hought

t would.The

Society

id often

ry

o reach broad

audience n

England

nd

overseas,

ut

attempted

o do so

through

orks hatwere both

profitable

o

printers

nd

expected

o

acquire

he nterests

f

educated

entlemen.

uchworks

included

ournals, ncyclopaedias, aps

and

pamphlets,

ather han

ong

and little-known

mathematicalndnatural

hilosophical

orks uch s the

Essayes.13

We thereforeeed to ook

beyond

he

ocial,

political

nd financialircumstancesf the

Royal Society

n the

arly

1680s to

supplement

iddleton's

rgument

nd

provide

more

convincingndcomprehensivessessment fwhy heSociety ought opublishWaller's

translation. ore

precisely,

ask whether herewere

any

ntellectualnterestsehind he

publication

f the

Essayes.

Do the Fellows' natural

hilosophical

oncerns etween 668

and 1683 reveal

nything

bouttheir nterests

n

the Cimento' work?

Additionally,

oes

the

reception

f the translation

n

England

n

1684

hint

at the

topics

thatthe

Royal

Society

found elevant o its own ntellectual

ursuits?

intend o show that ome of the

Society's

Fellows,

especially

Robert

Boyle

(1627-91)

and his

assistant

nd curator f

the

Royal

Society,

Denis

Papin

(1647-1712),

were

seeking

n

the

Saggfs

pages

some

support

ortheir

mechanistic

atural

hilosophical

ssertionsn the fieldof

pneumatics.

This was also a

topic

of

concern orRobertHooke

(1635-1703),

Richard

Waller'sfriend

and collaborator. mechanical

atural

hilosophy equired

hat he universe

perate

ike

a machinewithmechanical

parts

and movements. uch a universewould consistof

quantifiable

ffects f

corpuscles,

ature's mallest

particles,moving hrough pace.14

Pneumatics,

s a mixedmathematical

iscipline

oncernedwith hemechanical ffects f

air and

gases,

was an ideal area

in

which

mechanists

n

the seventeenth

entury

ould

hypothesize

bout hemathematicalnd mechanical

escriptions

f naturalmotion.

This

was also

an

area

n

which heCimento

pecialized.

Most of the

aggi's

pages

were

dedicated o the academicians'

experiments

ith the Torricellian arometer.n these

experiments,

he Tuscan academicians elied

heavily

n

mechanistic

nd

corpuscularian

principles

n which

air,

consisting

f

particles

n

motion,

ossessed weight

nd exerted

pressure

n all matter

esting

n the

Earth's surface. his led the Cimento o test the

visible nd measurableffectsf air.15

These

experiments

ppealed

to

Hooke,

Boyle

and

Papin

in

the

early

1680s as

they

attempted

o detect and measurethe

properties

f air.

Papin instigated

most of

this



5/18

70

L. Boschiero

researchn

support

f

Boyle's

earlier

work

n

pneumatics

nd

n relation o the

work f his

other

mentor,

hristiaan

uygens

1629-95).

So

ratherhan t

being

trivial

uriosity

or

popular udience,

he

Saggi

was reconsidered

y

some Fellows

in

1684

for ts natural

philosophical

alue,

specially

or

nvestigations

nto he

properties

fair. For this

eason,

to understandhe status

f

pneumatic

xperiments

n this

period

nd therelevance

f the

Cimento'

workto this

discipline,

shall

begin by

considering

ome of the details

of

Huygens'

,

Boyle's

and

Papin's

work n

pneumatics

n

the 1660s

and

especially

he

early

1670s.16

ubsequently,

look at Hooke's role

and interests

n

pneumatics

xperiments

t

the

beginning

f the 1680s

will add to the

social and intellectual

ontext

of the

translation.

ll this will

help explain

the relevance

of,

and

the motivation

or,

the

publication

f the

Essayes.

It will also

provide

he context

or the book's

reception,

particularly

he

scrutiny

t was

given

by Papin,

who reviewed

hebook for

he

Society.

n

other

words,

we shall

see that fter everal

years

f work

n the

properties

f

air,

and

in

the ight fdevelopmentsithinheSociety n theearly1680s,Papinandhiscolleagues

valued

the

Italian

experiments

ighly

or their

natural

hilosophical

ignificance.

his

describes hereason or

he ranslation

nd ts

reception.

Denis

Papin

and the properties f

air,

1660-82

During trip

o

England

n

1661,

Christiaan

uygens

bserved

demonstration

f Robert

Boyle's

and Robert Hooke's

air-pump.

Huygens

then

replicated

nd

modified

his

instrument

n Holland

n

1662,

and then

gain

for the

Montmor

cademy

n Paris

in

1663, and finallyfor the Acadmie Royale in 1668.17Among the many English

experiments

hat

Huygensrepeated

was

the observation

f the barometer

nside the

receiver

f

the

air-pump.

his was

an

experiment

escribed

by Boyle

in his New

Experiments

hysico-Mechanical,

ouching

he

Spring

f

the

Air

London,

1660).

In

this

experiment,

he

iquid

n

thebarometer

aintained

ts

height

ntil

ir was extracted

rom

the

receiver,

t which

ime he

iquid

descended.

he

curiosity

f such

an observation

as

based on the

hypothesis

hat ir atoms

possess

weight

nd thus exert

pressure

n the

atoms and

objects

below them.

This means that

he

barometer,

hen

placed

inside a

sealed

container,

heoretically

o

longer

has

the

full

weight

of the

atmospheric

ir

pressing pon

t.

Nevertheless,

oyle

showed hat

when he barometer

as

placed

nside

the

ir-pump

efore

heextractionf

air,

he

mercury

nside he

barometeremained

t

ts

usualheight. oyleargued hat hiswas due totheelastic ualities f air. n otherwords,

even when heair

n thereceivers cut

offfrom

he

weight

f the

atmospheric

ir

above

it,

ts

elasticity

ontinues

o exert

ressure

n the

mercury

sed

for he barometer.

nly

when

ir,

with ts

elasticity

nd

weight,

s

evacuated

rom

he receiver

oes the

iquid

n

thebarometerescend.

Huygens

ad

a different

pproach,

hichhe had

developed

incehis first

eplication

f

the

air-pump

n

1662,

in which he

liquid

in the barometer

maintained

ts

height

ven

after

ir was extracted

rom he

air-pump's

eceiver.

Huygens rgued

that

when the

receiver s

vacated,

a substance

more subtle han

ir' somehow

nfiltrates

he

apparent

empty pace

and exerts

pressure

n

the

liquid

used

for the barometer.18

ccording

o

Huygens,his ubstance ossessing reaterlasticityhan ommon ircouldbe detected

only

when

using iquid

thathad

previously

een

leftfor n

extended

eriod

n the air-

pump

and was thus

purged

f air bubbles.

With such a

claim,

Huygens

ttempted

o



6/18

Translation,

xperimentation

nd the

pring

f

the ir 1

1

prove

he

superiority

f his

air-pump

ver

Boyle's,

buthe did not

deny

Boyle's

theory

f

the

elasticity

f air.

Instead,

Huygens imply

laimed

thatthe

Boylean

notionof the

spring

f air could not

explain everything

hatoccurredwhen one

places

a barometer

inside the

air-pump

eceiver. n other

words,

Huygens argued

that the

elasticity

f

common ir was not s

important

r

potent

s the

pressure

f subtlematter'.19

This

debate ubsided

uring

hemiddle f the

decade,

butwas revivedwith

Huygens'

demonstrationf

the

air-pump

o the Acadmie

Royale

n

1668,

the same

year

n

which

Boyle

completed

ontinuation

f

New

Experiments

London,1669),

his first

equel

to his

1660 book on the

spring

f air. n

1670,

Boyle

also

published

wo

papers

on

pneumatics

experiments

n

Philosophical

Transactions?0

which was followed

by Huygens' only

published escription

f his

air-pump

xperiments,

ncluding

is

theory

f subtle

matter',

in

theJournal es

Savans.21

Huygens'

workwas

subsequently

ranslatednto

English

n

Philosophical

Transactions,22

liciting

riticism rom ome Fellows.

Boyle's supporters

criticizedHuygens' abilities as an instrument aker. n an article n Philosophical

Transactions,

ohnWallis

commented

hat he

Englishmen

ould not

replicate uygens'

experimental

esults,

reating

onsiderable oubt about the

efficacy

f

Huygens'

air-

pump.

Furthermore,

allis

argued,Huygens'

account

f the

effect f subtlematter' nd

its

supposed

ntrancento he

receiver eemed nconsistentnd

mplausible.23

We

mustbe

clear, therefore,

hat

these

experiments

ere intended o

engage

in a

mechanical nd

corpuscularian

iew

of

the

properties

nd

effects f air.24 imilarnatural

philosophical rinciples

were used

by

the

Cimento' academicians o

explain

their

observations ith he

Torricellian ube between1657 and 1662.

First,

he academicians

tested hebarometernside

sealed

vase,

protecting

hebarometerrom he

weight

f the

external ir.The height f themercuryemained hesame, eading heacademicians o

discuss he

elasticity

nd

compressibility

f air.25

econd,

they laced

a barometernside

the

pparent

acuum f

another arometer.his

experiment

as first

erformed

n France

by

Roberval nd was

believed o

confirm

herole

of

the

weight

f air n themovementf

the

iquid

nside hetube.26

Within his

intellectual

ontext,

n

1673 Denis

Papin acquired

job

as

Huygens's

assistant.27nder

Huygens's upervision,apin published

book,

Nouvelles

xpriences

du Vuide

(Paris, 1674),

based on the

experiments

e had heard about

during

his

apprenticeship.

his

included

Huygens's design

of the

air-pump

s well as

many

of

his

experiments

ith

he nstrumenthat e had

performed

ince

1668,

ncludingesting

he

reaction f animals and

plants

nside the

pump

and

observing

he barometer

n

the

apparently

acuous eceiver.ndeed, section f

Papin'

book

closely

ollows lecture hat

Huygens

elivered o theAcadmie

Royale

n

1668.28 ismissive

f

the debates

n

which

Huygens

had been

involved,

apin preferred

nstead o

improve

he

instrument

nd to

narratebservationsfnatural

henomenaccurring

nside he arefied

pace

of

the

ir-pump.

Also

n

1674,

Boyle,

unaware f

Papin'

book,

published

collection f short

apers

hat

included orks

bout he hidden

ualities

fthe

ir',

Mr

Hobbes' Problematae Vcuo' and

'New

Experiments

bout hePreservationf Bodies n

Vacuo

Boyliano'.29

hese

tracts,

ith

the

xception

f

the ast

paper,

eature

ery

ew

referenceso

experiments

ith he

ir-pump

butwerenevertheless

oncerned ith he

orpuscularuality

nd

springyness'

f

air.30

Huygens

eceived

oyle's

collection f

papers

n June

675,31

nd n the

following

onth

Papintravelledo Englandwithhis ownair-pumpo engagedirectly ithBoyle.32 apin

carried ith im letter f

ntroductionrom

uygens

o

Oldenburg,

n which

Huygens

oted

Papin'

book and his wish to

see what s

being

done n

your ountry,

venwith

he

plan

of



7/18

72 L. Boschiero

establishing

imselfhere

f

hecanfind he

pportunity.'uygens

lso

appealed

o

Oldenburg

o

ease

Papin's ntry

nto he

nglish

cientific

ommunity

ndto ntroduceim o

Boyle:

beg

youkindly

o

grant

im

your

avournd

protection,

nd

hat

yyour

means

e

may

e known

y

your

llustrious

riends,

bove ll

by

Mr.

Boyle

nd

LordBrouncker.'33

Oldenburg

ound ome

temporarymployment

or

apin

s a

tutor,

nd

n

themeantime

theFrenchman

iaised

with

Boyle.

However,

uring apin's

first ewmonths

n

England

e

spent

much fhis time

mproving

is

English

atherhan

ngaging

n

experiments

r

natural

philosophical

iscussion.

ndeed,

s is revealed

n his

correspondence

o

Huygens, apin's

thoughts

t this

arly

tage

of his career

n

England

were o find is feet.34 his was also

during particularly

ifficult

inancial

eriod

n the

Society's history, estricting

he

frequency

nd

activities

f its

meetings.35

his lack of

activity

t Gresham

ollege,

from

which

Boyle

kept

his distance

uring

his

period,might

ave

also

impacted

n

Papin's

early pportunity

o interest

oyle

n

pneumaticxperiments.36

Nevertheless,ythe utumn f1675,when apinwas well andtrulyettlednto nglish

life,

e

began

o use his

previous

orkwith he

ir-pump

o

gain

Boyle's

attention.n

fact,

t

the nd of

1675 and

beginning

f

1676,

Papin

nd

Huygens ublished

series f

papers

n

Philosophical

ransactions?1 hese

papers

narrate ome of the

experiments

ontainedn

Papin's

Expriences

nd were aimed at

engaging

irectly

withthe

Royal

Society,

nd

especiallyBoyle,

on

pneumatics.

ndeed,

n

February

676,

as the last of these

papers

went

to

print, ldenburg

ead

an accountof

Huygens'

and

Papin's experiments

o a

meeting

of the

Royal Society,

where some of

the

experiments

ere

replicated.38

Additionally, apin

and

Huygens

tated heir ntention n one

occasion,

to

'compare

Mr.

Boy

es New

Experiments

bout the Preservation

f Bodies in Vacuo

Boyliano.'39

At another oint, n relation o their xperimentsn animals nside thevacuum, hey

invited eaders o:

'Compare

Numb.62 and 63

of these

Tracts,

where

manyExperiments

of

this

kind,

made

by

Mr.

Boyle,

re recorded.'40

These statementsefer o

Boyle's publications

bout

he

properties

nd movementf

air,

including

New

Experiments hysico-Mechanical

n

1660,

A

Continuation

f

New

Experiments

n

1669,

two

papers

on

respiration

n

Philosophical

Transactions

n

1670,

and the 1674 collection f short

apers.

f

the ntention

as to draw

Boyle's

attentiono

the

subject

of

pneumatics

nce

again,

then

Papin

and

Huygens

ucceeded:

Boyle

soon

offered

apin position

s his assistant.41

ater,

Boyle

wouldrecall

meeting apin

seven

or

eightyears'

after he 1669

publication

f

Continuation

f

New

Experiments,

ust

as he

was

performing

nce

again

some

experiments

ith he

ir-pump:

Atwhichimet

happened

ery pportunely,

hat certainract ritten

n

French,

mall

in

bulk,

ut

eryngenious,ontaining

undryxperiments

oncerning

he reservation

of

Fruits,

nd some

other

racts

f a different

ature,

as

brought

ntome

by

Monsieur

apin,

who had

oined

his Pains with he eminent onsieur hristian

Hugenius,

n

making

he aid

Experiments.42

Together, apin

nd

Boyle

conducted

urther

xperiments

ith he

ir-pump

etween 675

and 1680 and

published

Experimentorum

ovorum

hysico-mechanicorum

ontinuatio

secunda

London,1680),

a second

equel

to

Boyle's original

reatise n

the

spring

f the

air. This

was translated

nto

English

wo

years

ater.

n the

preface

o thisbook

Boyle

tellshisreaders bouthisacquaintanceship ithPapin, ited bove, nd theFrenchman's

invaluable

ssistance

o his work.

ndeed,

while

Boyle

was for a time forced

o rest

because

of

illness,

apin

was entrusted

y

Boyle

to

perform

nd

write boutmost f the



8/18

Translation,

xperimentation

nd

the

pring f

the ir 73

>^'::: ^ '^' X

Figure

.

'

represents

certain

uantity

f ir. F'

represents

he

ompressing

orce.fthe orce s doubled o G

+

F',

the olume f ir s halved o ' . Ifthe orce s increased urther

o *F

+

G

+

H',

the

uantity

f ir s reduced o

a

quarter

f *A'

Thus,

the

remaining

pace

willbe in the ame

proportion

o the otal

pace,

s thefirst

ressure

s

to the

otal

ressure'

FromRobert

oyle,

A

Continuation

f

New

Experimentshysico-Mechanicalouching

he

Spring f

the

Weight f

theAir and their

ffects.

he Second Part

(London, 1682).

(Reproduced

ourtesy

f

the

University

f

Sydney ibrary.)

experiments

escribed

n

the

book,

as

if

they

ad beenmade ndobserved

y

his own

Skill;

andmoreover,heCalculation f theDegreesof the Rarefactionnd Condensationf the

Air,

ncluded n

our

Mercurial

Gage,

was intrustedo his Care.'43For this

reason,

ome

of

the

book

was 'first et

down,

for

haste,

by

Monsieur

apin

n his own native

Tongue,

the

French,

nd afterwardsurnedntoLatine.'44

Boyle

confessed

n

the

preface

hat

lthough

he

book takes

heform

f a

diary

with

ery

barenarrationsf

experiments,

is nterests

ere n

testing

he ffects f

compressed

ir.He

was also

guided yPapin'

own nsistence

n

performingxperiments

n

the

preservation

f

bodies n the arefied

pace

ofthe

ir-pump.45

o thebook

contains,

nce

again,

bservations

of various

oods,

lants

nd

animals

n the

pparent

acuum. n

particular,apin

used his

own double-barrelled

ir-pump,

escribed n the

opening

pages

of the

book,

to observe

how bread and fruits ould be preservedor ongerperiodswhen air has been extracted

from hem.46

owever,

he central eature

f

Papin'

and

Boyle's

work

presented

n this

text s their

ttempts

o measure

he

compression

f air. n

describing

he

gauge

used for

this

purpose, eaturing

n

many

f the

experiments

arratedn the

book,

Papin

referredo

one

diagram

hat

best illustrates is and

Boyle's

intention o

provide

mathematical

demonstrationf the air's

elasticity

figure

1):

'the

space

possessed by

the

Air,

is

diminished

n

the ame

proportion,

s the

ompressing

orce s

increased,

nd vice versa.'47

This

argument

f

proportionality

as thebasis also for

Edm

Marriotte's ork n the

same

topic published

n 1678 and

1679.48

t would seem

that

Boyle

and

Papin

were

measuring

he

reciprocal elationship

etween

he

volume nd

pressure

f air at the same

time s Marriotte

n

the Acadmie

Royale

n Paris.49 he

argument

s thusknown s the

Boyle-Marriotteaw,and it adds furtherelevance opneumaticsxperimentsn the ate

1670s and

early

1680s,

ust

before he

publication

f Waller's

Essayes.

So

Boyle

and

Papin' publication,articularly

ts

English

ranslation

n

1682,

printed

n

the ame

year

s

the

releaseof

the

third dition

f

Boyle's

classic first ook

of

pneumatic

experiments,rings

us

closer

to

Waller's

translation

f the

Saggi.

During

the

period

between 668 and

1683

in which

Huygens,

oyle,

Papin

and

othersworked n the air-

pump

experiments

nd the

properties

f

air,

the Cimento' book of

experiments

at

untouchedn the

Royal

Society's ibrary.

et

its

contents,

lthough uickly

dismissed

n

1668

by

its

English

eviewers,

ererelevant o the

subsequent

evelopments

n the field

of

pneumatics.

s has been

mentioned,

he Cimento' interests

n

the atomistic nd

mechanical ropertiesnd effects f air,particularlyheelasticityndcompressibilityf

air,

resonatedwith

Boyle's

work on

the

same

topic.

This

provides

some essential

intellectual ontext

o

the

revivalof the

Saggi

in

England

n

the

early

1680s,

and

an



9/18

74

L

Boschiero

understanding

f the

reasons

ehind he ranslation

nd

ts

reception.

s we shallnow

see,

also

providing

rucial

background

o

this

ase were he continuednterests

n

pneumatics

pursued y

Robert

Hooke,

who

extended is influence ver

Papin

and

Richard

Waller,thus

acilitating

he

publication

f the

book.

The context of

Waller's translation

In

the ate

1670sRobert

ooke,

whohad workedwith

oyle

on the onstructionf thefirst

air-pump

n

England,

lso renewed is

nterests

n

pneumaticsy

replicating

omeof

Boyle's

air-pumpxperiments.

nterestingly,

n

1679 Hookeworked

losely

with

apin

n this

opic.

In

May

that

year

Hooke

gained permission

or

Papin,

not

yet

a

Fellow,

to

perform

n

experiment

t a

meeting

f the

Society,

withhis

newly

nvented ood

digester. uring

he

followingmonths,Papin and Hooke spent a greatdeal of time together esting

the

Boyle

Marriotte

aw.50

A

relationship

herefore

merged

etween

apin

and Hooke

on thebasis of

their hared nterestsn

pneumatics.

Papin'

work

with

oyle

and Hooke earned imhis

Fellowship

fthe

RoyalSociety,

nd

in 1681

he

departed

rom

ngland

o assist n

the formationf a scientific

cademy

n

Venice.51n

the

meantime,

ossibly nspired y

theLatin nd

English

ditions f

Boyle's

and

Papin' recently

ublished

work,

n

February

683

Hooke

performed

ore

barometric

experiments

or

the

Society,

whichhe was then

sked to

put

in

writing.52

n

May

the

following ear

he read a

paper

o the

Society

n

whichhe discussed he

vacuo

Boyliano'

and,

n

reference

o

Huygens's

work,

he

ikely

xistence f a 'subtlefluid'

penetrating

the ir-pump'seceiver.53

Meanwhile,

t the end of

1683 Robert lot took over from

Hooke as

secretary

o the

Society

and demonstratedn

interest

n

barometric

xperiments.

e and

MartinLister

conducted

everalobservations f the

barometer

n

1683 and 1684 in

diverseweather

conditions. heir

ntention,

s

Plot

admitted,

as to use the

barometer

o

accumulate

meteorological

nformationhat could

contribute o an

understanding

f weather

patterns.54

ohn ocke had been

conducting

imilar

bservationsetween

666

and

1683,

sometimesn

consultation ith

Boyle.

Barometricnd

air-pumpxperiments

ere herefore

significant

art

f

the

Society's

activities

t

the

beginning

f the

1680s,

occupying

hetime f some of the

Society's

most

prominent

nd active

members,

dding

furtherelevance o the barometricbservations

contained n the Saggi. Indeed, in November1683, in the midst of this activity

concerning

neumatics,

he

Society's president,

ir

John

Hoskyns,

ecommendedhe

publication

f

RichardWaller's ranslationf the

Tuscanbook of

experiments.55

here s

no known

ecord f Waller's

discussing

he

Saggi

or

engaging

n

its translationefore

this

date.56

Nevertheless,

iven

the

prevalence

of

pneumatic

xperiments

nd their

philosophical ignificance,

we

must

assume that the relevance of

the Cimento'

experiments

as not ost on some of the Fellows who

had been involved

n

such work

and

who were

cquainted

withWaller.

RichardWallerwas

a well-educatedlassicistwho

during

he

1670s

gained

reputation

as a translator

f classical and

foreign

works.He

eased himself nto the

Royal Society

throughhecompany f someprominentellows. n particular, aller nd Hooke seem

to have

become

acquainted

n

1678,

not

ong

before

Papin

and

Hooke collaborated n

their

ir-pump

xperiments

or the

Society.

This

acquaintanceship

esulted

n

Papin'



10/18

Translation,

xperimentation

nd the

pring f

the ir

75

election s a Fellow n

1681,

at about he ame time s

Papin.57

herewas thus network

centred n Hooke

n

the

arly

680s,

onsisting

fWaller

the

aggfs

translator)

nd

Papin,

the

expert

n

pneumatics

nd future

eviewer

f

the translatedext.

Apart

from

Hooke'

assessment

f

the

Saggi

forthe

Society

n

1668,

neither f these

figures eemingly

eft

any

record f

having

iscussed heCimento' book before 683.

However,

he

connection

between

hem,

s well as Hooke'

previous xperience

ith he

Saggi,

and the

prevalence

of

pneumatics

n

the

Society's

activities,

hich matched he

published

nterests f the

Cimento,

eveal

probable

motivationehind he

translationf

the

book.

In

fact,

n

May

1684,

when

apin

returnedo London o take

up

the

position, emporarily,

of curator f

experiments

or

he

RoyalSociety,

e

immediately

eturnedo his

pneumatics

experiments.

e

performed

everal

xperiments

n thereactions f

various

nimals,

ruits

and

liquids

in

the

vacuum,

reminiscent

f his

earlier

xperiments

ith

Huygens

and

Boyle.58

On 5 November1684

Papin

also

repeatedHuygens's

trial of the barometer

inside heair-pump'seceiver,sing iquid supposedly urged fair.Papin nformedhe

Society

hathe had

performed

his

xperiment

n Venice with

varying

esults,

the cause

of

which',

he

admitted,

is not

yet

known

enough.'59

This is

revealing

of

Papin'

continuednterestn

the ffects

fthe

pring

f common ir' and

Huygens's

subtlematter'.

Additionally,

n

January

683,

Philosophical

Transactions

was resumedunder the

editorship

f Plot. The

preface

o

the new editionof the

ournal explains

he editor's

desire to

publish

a

great variety

f

useful matter'.60 lot

would have

clearly

been

thinking

f his own

meteorological

nterests

nd

experiments

ith he

barometer,

nd we

may

assume thathis

thoughts

ould

not have been far from he

innovative

ir-pump

experiments

ndertaken

y

Hooke,

Boyle

and

Papin.

We cannot

knowwhetherhis

might

have had a bearing n the decision oon afterwardso translate heSaggi,but we may

speculate

hat the

Cimento'

book,

with ts

large

number f

barometric

xperiments,

might

ave

been seen to

provide ossible

material or

publication

n

the revived

ournal,

alongside

he

Society's

recentwork n

pneumatics.

One

year

fter

oskyns

ecommended

ending

he

translationo

print,

n

5 November

1684,

the

same

day

on which

Papin repeated

ome

air-pump xperiments,

he

book

was

formally resented

o the

Society.61

etails of this

published

ranslation int at the

Society's perceived

mportance

f the

experimentalhilosophy eportedly

ollowed

by

the Cimento.For

example,

he

frontispieceepictsallegories

of the

Cimento nd

the

Royal

Society

n the

company

f

MotherNature

who,

uncovered,

ignals

her

approval

f

the Cimento's ook to

Aristotle

figure

).62

Waller's

dedication o

Hoskyns

lso alludes

to the

way

in which the

Essayes

contributeso the

Society's

aim 'of

promoting

eal

Knowledge',referring

o

experimentallyroducedknowledge,

ather han

speculative

metaphysics.63

ore

importantly

or

our

attempt

o find he reason

for this

translation,

Waller

mentionedhe

experiments

arrated

n

thetext hat ad

already

een

performed

n

England.

hese

experiments

hould,

Waller

uggested,

tillbe of nteresto

the

Society:

Many

ndeed f these

xperiments

avebeen

made,

nd shewn n

several

Meetings

fthe

Royal ociety

before,

nd ince

hePublicationfthis n the

talian,

n

theYear

1667)

by

the

Honourable obert

oyle,Esq;

and

other

worthy

embers

hereof;

utfor ll

this,

hope

t

may

not

prove

nacceptable

o find he

ngenious

n

other arts fthe

World,

ave

not

thought

heir

ime

misspent

n

these

Endeavours,

hat

ontrary

entimentsoever

somemayhave; nor will the agreement etween he success of Experiments ade

there,

nd what has been

attempted

ere

often

with a

differing pparatus)

e less

pleasing.64



11/18

76

L. Boschiero

Figure

2. The

frontispiece

o

Essayes of

Natural

Experiments

London, 1684).

(Reproduced ourtesy

f the

University

f

Sydney ibrary.)



12/18

Translation,

xperimentation

nd the

pring f

the ir

77

Waller

was

clearly

lluding

o

the elevance fthe

xperiments

ound n the ookto the

work

of severalFellows

of

the

Royal

Society

n

the

early

1680s. Given

the

importance

f

experiments

n air

pressure

o thework

f both

rganizations,

nd thedominance f such

experiments

n

the

pages

of

the

Saggi,

Waller would have had

in

mind the interests

in

pneumatics

emonstrated

y

Hooke,

Boyle

and

Papin.

Indeed,

his reference o

'a

differingpparatus'

ould

only

have been aimed t theuse of

the

ir-pump

n

England

that

ad been unavailable o theTuscans.

Another

nterestingassage

from he dedication ints t whatWallerdescribes s

'no

smallMotive o this

Undertaking':

o facilitatehe

availability

f theCimento' work

for

English

eaders

at a

cheaper

ate'than heCimento'

original ublication.65

e

may

ake

this to

mean that there was some level of demand for the Cimento'

published

experiments.

ather han hatdemand's

being

based

on a

popular ppetite

or scientific

trivia,

s Middleton

suggests,

we

may

now

argue

that

any

interest

n the book's

translation usthave been based on theSociety'spneumatics xperiments.s we shall

now

see,

this s furthereflectedn the

reception

f thetranslation.

Papin' assessment of

the

Cimento' experiments

As the

Society's

urator f

experiments,

apin

was handed hebook

and asked o assess ts

contents.66

n

12 November e delivered is first

eport

o the

Society, evealing

is central

interestn thetext:

[I]n

bedienceo he rderf he

ociety,

shall

nly

bserveome

articulars,

hat

might

becarriedarther,yhelp fbetternstruments,hich ouldnot egotby he earned

membersf that

cademy.

he

first

f these

articularsegins age

22,

where s

described

very

good

and

ingenious

ay

to

discover,

ow far

the

air

may

be

expanded,

efore

t will

ease

to make sensibleffect

y

ts

elasticity:

nd

by

three

several

rials

hey

ind,

hatwhen heair s

expanded

o a

space

about

00

times

greater

han

ts

rdinary

ilation,

twillno more e

sensibly

lastic.67

Papin

herewas

discussing

he

xperiment

escribed

n Waller's

ranslation

s

revealing,

irst,

'iftheAirnear he

uperficies

fthe

Earth,

s

pressed

y

the

weight

fthe

Air bove.'68 his

aim echoed

Boyle's hypothesisegarding

he

weight

f

the whole of

the

atmospheric

ir

pressing

n the air

particles

eartheEarth's urface.

econd,

he academicians

wished o

find

if

it be

put

n

a void

space

at its

Liberty;

whethert will

expand

tself o a

greater

space.'69

Once

again

thisfollowed

oyle's thoughts

n the

compression

nd

elasticity

f

the air and was also relevant o

Boyle's

and

Papin' attempts

etween 675 and 1680

to

measure he air's

'springyness'ccording

o a law of

proportion

etween he volume

nd

pressure

f air.

After

dentifying

he

philosophical

relevance of the

text,

Papin

mentioned

he

shortcomings

n the

Cimento'

work.

He

argued

that the Cimento'

barometric

experiments,lthough

onstructed

ccording

o sound

philosophical rinciples,

id

not

yield

accurate esults ecause of the nadvertentntrusionf air

in

the

apparentlympty

space

of the Torricelliantube

Papin

described this as 'a defect of

ordinary

baroscopes'.70

o

resolve he

ssue,

Papin suggested reating

barometer

n which he

top

ofthetubecan be evacuated f airby using heair-pumpfigure ). According oPapin,

with his

procedure

he academicianswould have found hat he

elasticity

f air was far

greater

han

hey

ad

supposed.



13/18

78

L. Boschiero

Figure

.

Papin's

uggestedxperiment

ntendso

mprove

n thebarometric

xperiments

ftheAccademia.

' is

connected o an

air-pump,llowing

he

xperimenter

o evacuate he

op

of theTorricellian

ube n the eft ide of

the

diagram.

romThomas

Birch,

The

history

f

the

Royal Society f

London

,

vol.

4,

p.

331.

(Reproduced

courtesy

f the

University

f

Sydney

ibrary.)

This reveals he

weight

hat

apin,

s curatorf

experiments

t the

RoyalSociety, laced

on thephilosophical resuppositionsmbeddedn the Cimento' barometricxperiments.

In other

words,

Papin

recognized

hat

he

experimentserformed

n

the

Tuscan Court

were

flawed,

et

he

was

prepared

o look

beyond

hat

o

identify

heir

efining

eature:he

Cimento'

mechanistic atural

hilosophical

ims and interests ehind he

experimental

process.

On

17

November

apin gain

mentionedo the

ociety

is method f

filling

barometer

so as to be sure here illbe

no

air

eft n the

op

of

t',71

ndicating

is continuednterest

n

the Cimento'

pneumatic

xperiments

nd their alue for

measuring

he

elasticity

f air.

Finally,

n 26

November,

apin gave

a

broader eviewof the text

by

listing

what he

believedto

be

its

highlights.

part

from

mentioning

wo observations

f the effects f

heat and

cold,

he once

again

focused n the Cimento'

barometric

xperiments.

e then

concluded,This is all I have been able to observe, hatmight e carried arther. nd

I

am

ready

o set

upon

any

of these

particulars,

hat he

Royal Society

will command

me.'72

Despite

his evident

nthusiasm,

e was not sked

o

pursue ny

of

the

opics

aised.

A

review fthe

ranslation,

robably

ritten

yPapin

ndconsistent ith

is

report

o the

Society,

was

later

published

n

Philosophical

Transactions. nce

again,

the Cimento'

academicianswere

praised

or heir

ntentiono advance real

knowledge'.

Moreover,

he

review

lso

highlights

hebook's

experiments

n air

pressure,

hile

mentioning

hatmost

such

experiments

ere

already

known.73

learly,

then,

the

driving

orce behind

the

reception

of the

Essayes

was its

contentof natural

philosophy.

This

interest

n

the

Cimento'

pneumatic xperiments

as consistent ith

he abundance f barometric

and air-pump xperimentsursuedduring he 1670s and early1680s in relation o a

mechanisticnd

corpuscularian

orldview.

The

Saggi

was translated ith hese

ssues

in

mind.



14/18

Translation,

xperimentation

nd the

pring f

the ir 79

Conclusion

Only

4

years

ftert was first

ublished

nd ess than 0

years

fterWaller's

ranslation,

he

Saggi'

relevance

egan

to be re-evaluated.t was

published gain

in Italian n 1691,

followed

y

six new editions

n

the 1700s.

t

was

also translatedntoLatin

nd twice nto

French

uring

he

eighteenthentury.

n thenineteenthnd twentiethenturies

t received

similar

ttention,

nd historians

oday

continue

o demonstrateheir nterest

n the text.

This

persistent

nterestn the

Saggi

is due to

the

widely

held

perception

hat

t

represents

the

mergence

f

experimentalhilosophy

nd thefirstcientificnstitutions

n

Europe.74

Nevertheless,

hefirstranslation

f thebook was notundertaken

s a commemorationf

theCimento'

experimentalism

r

to

appreciate

heCimento'

reputed lace

n

history

s the

firstcientificnstitution.

nstead,

he

English

natural

hilosophers

nterested

n

pneumatics

in the

early

1680s were

seeking

confirmation

f their mechanistic oncerns

n the

experimentseportedn theSaggi. Barometricxperimentserformedy Huygens nd

Marriotten Paris

during

he

1670s,

combined

with

Boy

ean work on

pneumatics

n

England

since the

1660s,

yielded

some contention

egarding

he elastic

measurable

properties

f

air,

discussed

by

the academicians

n the

Saggi.

The book

was found o

have ittle nformation

hat ould be considered ew

to the ikes of

Papin

and

Boyle,

but

it is

important

hatwe understandhe natural

hilosophical

nterestsf some

Fellows of

the

Royal Society

n

acquiring

translationf thisbook.

Indeed,

Papin'

scrutiny

f the

barometric

xperiments

n the

book,

concerned

with the air's

compressibility

nd

elasticity,

onfirmhe nteresthat

e

and

his

English

olleagues

held

n the

philosophical

content

f the

Cimento'

published

work.

So the

proximity

f the Cimento'

workto thatof

Hooke's, Boyle's

and

Papin'

in

England

n the ate 1670s and

early

1680s reflects

he ntellectual elevance f

the

Saggi

and

provides

s with clear reasonfor hebook's

translationn 1683-84.

This

goes

well

beyond

he broad social circumstances

n whichMiddleton

peculates,

nd informs s

about the ntellectual

bjectives

f the

Society's

Fellows when

translating

oreign

exts.

Indeed,

Boyle

and

Papin

were nterested

n themechanical nd

corpuscular roperties

nd

effects f air and thereforeould

easily dentify

he

compatibility

f the Cimento'

work

with heir wn. ts

appeal

was

thereforeot s a

popular

work,

s Middleton

uggests,

ut

as a

physico-mathematical

nd mechanical

xpression

f the

properties

f air.

Acknowledgements

I thank eter

Anstey

or

his

comments

n a draft f this

aper,

nd the

nonymous

eferees

for heir

uggestions.

Notes

1

W. E. K.

Middleton,

he

experimenters: study f

theAccademiadel

Cimento

The

Johns

Hopkins

ress,Baltimore, D,

1971),

pp.

282-296.

2 Teresa

Poggi

Salani, 'Introduzione',

n

Saggi

di

naturali

sperienze

y

Lorenzo

Magalotti

(Longanesi,

Milan,

1976),

p.

24.

3 Thomas Birch,The History f the Royal Society of Londonfor Improving f Natural

Knowledge

.as a

supplement

o the

Philosophical

Transactions

London:

A.

Millar,

1756-57),

ol.

2,

p.

256.



15/18

80 L Boschiero

4

Ibid.,

p.

257.

5 The

correspondencef

Robert

oyle

ed.

Michael

Hunter,

ntonio

lencuzio

and Lawrence

M.

Principe)

Pickering

Chatto, ondon,

001),

vol.

4,

p.

46.

6 Middleton,p. cit. note 1),p. 337.

7

Henry

yons,

The

RoyalSociety

660-1940: a

history

f

the

dministrationnder tscharters

(Cambridge niversity

ress,

1944),

pp.

78-97.

8 Marie Boas

Hall,

Promoting xperimentalearning: experiment

nd the

Royal

Society,

1660-1727

(Cambridge niversity

ress,

1991), pp.

98-115.

9

Marie Boas

Hall,

'The

Royal

Society

nd

Italy,

1667-1795',

Notes

Rec. R.

Soc.

37,

63-81

(1982),

at

p.

64.

10 The

Society

wouldhave been

wary

f

the

expense

f

richly

llustrated

orks

fter

ublishing

Francis

Willughby's

Historia Piscium

in

1678,

which

nearly

drove the

Society

into

bankruptcy.

drian

Johns,

The nature

of

the book:

print

and

knowledge

n the

making

(University

f

Chicago

Press,

1998),

pp.

447-449

and

489-490.

11 PeterDear, Disciplineand experience: hemathematical ay in the scientificevolution

(University

f

Chicago

Press,

1995).

12

Johns,

p.

cit.

(note

10),

p.

449;

Charles

Rivington,Early

printers

o the

Royal Society

1663-1708',

NotesRec. R. Soc.

39,

1-27

(1984).

13

Johns,

p.

cit.

note10),

pp.

451-454.

It s

revealing

hat ne ofthe

nly oints

f nterest

n

the

Saggi

n

England

n

1668,

was

the

Cimento'

small

oray

nto

artography

nd

the

uggestion

f,

as

Oldenburg

ut

t,

a

way

of

making

Mapp

of a

Contry y

Sounds'.

However, his,

s

Oldenburg

lso

reveals,

had

already

been considered

by Boyle. Oldenburg

o

Boyle,

17

March

1668,

The

correspondencef

Robert

oyle,

p.

cit.

note5),

vol.

4,

p.

46.

14

John

chuster,

L'Aristotelismo

le

sue

alternative',

n

La

rivoluzione

cientifica

ed.

Daniel

Garber),

p.

337-357

(Istituto

elia

Enciclopdia

taliana,

Rome,

2002).

15 LucianoBoschiero,Natural hilosophizingnside he ateseventeenth-centuryuscancourt',

Br.

J. Hist.

Sei.

35,

383-410

(2002).

16

Many

of the details

overed

here

regarding

he

pneumatic

ebates

f the

early

1670s

follow

the seminalwork

on

this

topic by

Steven

Shapin

and Simon

Schaffer,

eviathan

nd the

air-pump:

Hobbes,

Boyle,

and

the

Experimental

ife

(Princeton

niversity

ress,

1985),

pp.

265-276.

17

Ibid.,

pp.

235-256 and 265-276. See also Alice

Stroup,

Christiaan

Huygens

and the

development

f the air

pump',

Janus

68,

129-158

(1981);

W. E. K.

Middleton,

he

history

of

thebarometer

The

Johns

opkins

ress,Baltimore, D,

1964),

pp.

33-54.

18

Huygens'

Cartesian

heory

f 'subtle matter'

qualled

a

denial of the

vacuity

of

the

air-pump.

his was

not,however,

he

point

of these

experiments.

ather han

ngage

n

a

controversial ebate about the

possibility

f

creating

vacuum,

Huygens,

ike

Boyle,

preferredo concentrate n describinghe mechanicalpropertiesf air. Stroup, p. cit.

(note 17),

p.

137.

19

Ibid.,

pp.

136-137.

In 1663

Boyle

and Hooke

attempted

o

replicate uygens's

esults

with

mercury

arometer.

uygens oined

the

English

natural

hilosophers

n London for these

experiments,

t the end of which

Boyle

conceded that

Huygens's

subtle matter' ould

supplement

he

pring

f the ir.

Shapin

nd

Schaffer,

p.

cit.

note 16),

pp.

243-256.

20 'New Pneumatical

Experiments

bout

Respiration.

hese

Experiments,

Made

by

that

Indefatigable

enefactouro

Philosophy,

he

HonourableRobert

Boyle

in Orderto

Bring

Some

More

Light

to

the Doctrine

f

Respiration...',

Phil. Trans.R.

Soc.

5,

2011-2031

(1670);

'[New

Pneumatical

xperiments

bout

Respiration.

ontinued]',

hil.

Trans.R.

Soc.

5,

2035-2056

(1670).

21 'Lettre touchantes phnomnese l'eau purge 'air',J.Savans3, 60-66 (1672).

22

'An Extract

f

a Letter

f

M.

Hugens

o theAuthor f theJournal es Scavansof

July

5. 1672.

Attempting

o Render he Cause of That Odd Phaenomenon f the

Quicksilvers

emaining



16/18

Translation,

xperimentation

nd the

pring f

the ir 81

Suspended

ar above

theUsual

Height

n

theTorricellian

xperiments',

hil. Trans.

R.

Soc.

7,

5027-5030 672V

23

Ibid.,pp. 269-273; Middleton, p.

cit.

note 17), pp.

78-79.

24 Althoughhevarying iews abouttheair-pump's fficacy rovided ome ammunitionor

scholastic riticsof the

instrumentnd other

plenists,Huygens

and

Boyle managed

to

separate

he

question

f

the receiver's

acuity

rom

he debate

regarding

subtlematter' nd

the

pring

f

the ir.

Stroup,

p.

cit.

note 17),

p.

137.

25

Boschiero,

p.

cit.

note

15),

pp.

399-401.

26 Luciano

Boschiero,

xperiment

nd natural

hilosophy

n

seventeenth-centuryuscany:

he

history f

the

Accademiadel

Cimento

Springer,

ordrecht,

007),

p.

127.

Interestingly,

he

Cimento

eported

hese

xperiments

n the

Saggi

after

hey

eceived

copy

of

Boyle's

New

Experiments

n

1661.

27

Relatively

ittle

s known boutDenis

Papin

n

comparison

ith he

more llustriousellowsof

the

RoyalSociety,

nd

yet

his contribution

o the

Society

nd

seventeenth-centuryhought

as

significant.or brief iographiesfPapin, ee H. W. Robinson,Denis Papin 1647-1712)',

Notes Rec.

R. Soc.

5,

47-50

(1947);

Patricia .

MacLachlan,

Papin,

Denis',

in

Dictionary

of scientific

biography

(ed.

Charles Coulston

Gillispie),

vol.

10,

pp.

292-293

(Charles

cribner's

ons,

New

York,

1970-90).

28

Stroup, p.

cit.

note 17),

p.

135.

29

The

works

f

Robert

oyle

ed.

Michael Hunter nd EdwardB.

Davis)

(Pickering

Chatto,

London,

000),

vol.

8,

pp.

117-232.

30

Ibid.,

p.

129.

Boyle

argued

hat he

pring

f the ir

described

n

these ractss

necessary

or he

preservation

f animal

ubstances' nd fruits.

31 Letter rom

Huygens

o

Oldenburg,

June

1675. Oeuvres

Compltes

e

Christiaan

uygens

(Martinus

ijhoff,

a

Haye,

1897),

vol.

7,

pp.

467-468.

32 For another nrelated ossiblemotivation orPapin' trip o England, ee JacquesPayen,

'Huygens

t

Papin.

Moteur

hermique

t Machine

Vapeur

u XVIIe

Sicle',

in

Huygens

t

la

France: table rondedu Centre

nationalde la recherch

cientifique,

aris,

27-29 mars

1979

(ed.

Ren

Taton),

p.

197-208

(J.

Vrin, aris,

1982),

p.

201.

33 The

correspondencef Henry

Oldenburg

ed.

A.

Rupert

all and Marie Boas

Hall) (Mansell,

London,

1977),

vol.

11,

pp.

378-380.

34

Ibid.,

pp.

437-439.

35 Michael

Hunter,

he

Royal

Society

nd its

Fellows 1660-1700: the

morphologyf

an

early

scientific

nstitution

British

ociety

for

the

History

f

Science,

Chalfont t

Giles,

1982),

pp.

36-39.

36

Papin

wrote

o

Huygens:

do not hink

hat he

Royal

Society

s

doing

much ndMr

Boyle

told

me that

t s a fullninemonths

incehe was

there,

ndwhen

arrived ere t was

already

ime or

vacation obegin nd t willnot nd for long ime'.TheCorrespondencefHenry ldenburg,

op.

cit.

note33),

vol.

11,

pp.

437-439.

37 Denis

Papin,

Some

Experiments

ade in

the

Air-Pump y

Monsieur

Papin,

Directed

by

Monsieur

Hugens

as

Appears

n

the Discourse

Printed t

Paris,

1674)',

Phil. Trans.

R.

Soc.

10,

443-447

(1675);

Denis

Papin,

Some

Experiments

ade in

the Air

Pump upon

Plants,

Together

ith

Way

of

Taking

xhausted eceivers

Away

from ff he

Said

Engin:

Tried

by

the

Same PersonsMention' in

Numb.

119.

viz.

Monsieur

Hugens

and M.

Papin',

Phil.

Trans.R.

Soc.

10,

477-481

(1675);

idem,

Continuationf the

Experiments

ade

by

Monsieur

Hugens,

and M.

Papin,

n the Air

Pump:

Which

are about the

Preservationf

Bodies',

Phil.

Trans. R.

Soc.

10,

492-495

(1675);

idem.,

Some

Experiments ouching

Animals,

Made in the

Air-Pump y

the Persons

ormerly

entioned,

iz. Monsieur

Hugens

andM. Papin',Phil Trans.R. Soc. 10,542-548 (1675).

38

Hall,

op.

cit.

note

8),

pp.

68-69.

39

Papin,

Continuation

..'op.

cit.

note37),

p.

492.



17/18

82

L. Boschiero

40

Papin,

Some

Experiments

ouching

Animals

,

op.

cit.

note37),

p.

542.

41

MarieBoas

Hall,

Henry ldenburg:haping

he

Royal ociety

Oxford

niversity

ress,

002),

pp.

293-294.

42 Robert oyle,A ContinuationfNewExperimentshysico-Mechanicalouchinghe pring f

the

Weightf

heAir nd their

ffects.

he

Second

Part

London, 682),

n

TheWorks

f

Robert

Boyle, p.

cit.

note29),

vol.

9,

p.

123.

43

Ibid.,

p.

124. The

relationship

etween

oyle

and

Papin

s discussed

riefly

n Steven

hapin,

'The house

of

experiment

n

seventeenth-centuryngland',

sis

79,

373-404

(1988),

at

pp.

394-395.

44

Boyle,op.

cit.

note

42),

pp.

125-126.

45

Ibid.,

pp.

124-125.

During

this

time,

Papin

also worked

on a food

digester,

sed

for

softening

nd

cooking

food with the force of steam.

This

work

resulted n a book

published

y

the

Royal

Society

n

1681:

A

New

Digester

or

Enginefor Softening

ones

(London, 681).

46 Papindescribed isair-pumpsfunctioningithgreaterase and lso withmore peed, han n

Pump

n

singleEngines'.Boyle,

op.

cit.

note42),

p.

136.

Boyle

was reluctanto use

it,

but

Papin'

variation o

the

air-pump

made

it easier to

replicate

nd

a

commercially

iable

instrument.

hapin

nd

Schaffer,

p.

cit.

note 16),

pp.

275-276.

47

Boyle,

op.

cit.

note

42),

p.

139.

48

Edm

Marriotte,

ssai de

logique

Paris,

1678);

idem,

ssays

de

physique

Paris,1679).

49 Peter

Anstey,

Le

resort e

l'air selon

Boyle

et

Mariotte',

n

La

philosophie

aturelle e Robert

Boyle

ed.

M.

Dennely

nd C.

Ramond),

p.

379-403

(Vrin,

aris,

009).

50 Some

of their

xperiments

ere

performed

efore

he

Society.

Hall,

op.

cit.

note

8),

p.

79.

51

MacLachlan,

p.

cit.

note27),

pp.

292-293.

52

Birch,

p.

cit.

note3),

vol.

4,

p.

180.

53

Middleton,p.

cit.

note 17),pp.

79-80.

54 See Martin

Lister,

Discourse

concerning

he

Rising

and

Falling

of

the

Quicksilver

n

the

Barometer;

nd What

May

be Gathered rom ts Great

Rise in

Frosty

Weather',

Phil. Trans.R.

Soc.

14,

790-794

(1684);

Robert

lot,

Observations f the

Wind,Weather,

and

Height

f the

Mercury

n the

Barometer,

hrough

ut the

year

1684',

Phil. Trans.R. Soc.

15,

930-943

(1685).

55

Birch,

p.

cit.

note3),

vol.

4,

p.

229.

56

Rupert

all's introductiono the

1964

reprint

f the ranslation

uggests

hat

Hoskyns

rdered

thetranslationn

1682.

However,

have

not found

ny

evidence

proving

hatWallerworked

on this

project

efore

November

683,

thedate also

provided

n thebook's

imprimatur

rom

Hoskyns.

Essayes of

Natural

Experiments

London,

1684;

reprinted y

Johnson

Reprint

Corporation,

ew

York,

1964).

57 Margaretzell, 'RichardWallerS.R.S.: In the Pursuit f Nature , NotesRec. R. Soc. 38,

215-233,

(1984),

at

p.

217.

58 These

experiments

ere ll

reported

o the

Royal Society

when t returned

rom he summer

recess.

Birch, p.

cit.

note3),

vol.

4, p.

319.

59

Birch,

p.

cit.

note

3),

vol.

4,

p.

326.

60

Robert

lot,

The

Preface',

hil. Trans.

R.

Soc.

13,

1

(1683).

61

Birch,

p.

cit.

note

3),

vol.

4,

p.

325.

62

According

o D. B.

Meli,

this

magery

was

designed

o

persuade

eaders

f the

Saggi

of the

academy's

dedication

o

the

reliable

acquisition

f natural

knowledge. Authorship

nd

teamwork round he

Cimento

Academy:

mathematics,

natomy, xperimentalhilosophy',

Early

Sei. Med.

6,

65-95

(2001),

at

p.

90.

63 'To SirJohn oskyns nightndBaronet,residentftheRoyal ociety',nEssayes fNatural

Experiments,p.

cit.

note56).

64 Ibid.

h

TRANSLATION, EXPERIMENTATION AND THE SPRING OF THE AIR: RICHARD WALLER'S ESSAYES OF NATURAL...

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