Vintage Scientific Apparatus Designs

Engravings of antique scientific devices, showcasing early mechanical inventions for experimentation in physics and engineering.

Cross-section of Edison's lamp-black (carbon) button telephone transmitter (microphone). Wood engraving c1891.

Astronomical Sextant for Measuring Distances after copper engraving in book Tychonis Brahe Astronomiae Instauratae Mechanica of 1602. From Science and Literature in The Middle Ages by Paul Lacroix published London 1878

Giant crossbow, crossbow, sling machine after Leonardo da Vinci, Historical, digitally restored reproduction of a 19th century model, exact date unkno...

Blythe system-thermo-carbolisation, vintage engraved illustration.

A lecture at the Charterhouse, London on Stephen Gray's discoveries in electricity. In the early eighteenth century, Gray demonstrated that charges of electricity could be conducted by some materials for distances as great as 765 feet, while others did not conduct electricity at all. Eventually, he was able to send charges through 88 metres of wire suspended on silken threads to operate an electroscope - an instrument used to detect static electricity. By sending an electrical signal from one

Ionische Decke. Veröffentlichung der Meyers Enzyklopädie Ionic ceiling. Publication of the Meyers encyclopedia, Vol. 7, Leipzig, Germany, 1910. LicenseRF Copyright: xZoonar.com/SergeyxKohlx 23189402

Cyrus McCormick's reaping machine (America, 1831), the first mechanical reaper to be generally adopted. Engraving 1862

Type motor fins, vintage engraved illustration. Industrial encyclopedia E.-O. Lami - 1875.

Engraving depicting the Hero of Alexandria's design for a pneumatic organ. This was essentially a small hand-pumped organ played by keys. Hero of Alexandria (10-70) a Greek mathematician and engineer. Dated 19th Century

Kouznetzoff device, vintage engraved illustration. Industrial encyclopedia E.-O. Lami - 1875.

Engraving depicting Van Hecke's propeller to allow balloons to rise and descend at will. Dated 20th Century

Display of different connections A-T, Jan Luyken, 1691 print Print at the top right marked: p. 236. Amsterdam paper etching dressing, bandage

Universal camera obscura, illustration from L'Illustration, Journal Universel, No 1066, Volume XLI, August 1, 1863.

Engraving depicting a vertical section of Donkin's turbine. Dated 19th century

DRAWING OF ELECTRIC FURNACE IN FREUNDLICH'S EINSTEIN-TOWER OBSERVATORY.

Engraving depicting a CampbellStokes recorder, a kind of sunshine recorder, invented by John Francis Campbell and later modified by Sir George Gabriel Stokes. John Francis Campbell (1821-1885) a Scottish author and scholar. Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet (1819-1903) an Irish physicist and mathematician. Dated 19th century

An engraving depicting Yardley's extractor of gelatine for glue from bones: steam admitted under pressure from left, and the whole vessel slowly turned; the gelatine solution was drawn off at P when the vessel was brought to rest. Dated 19th century

An engraving depicting a sectional view of a burner invented by Ami Argand in 1789, which consisted of two metal cylinders, c, d. The gap between them was taken up by a cylindrical wick. Dated 19th century

Der Pilz-Rundschachtofen mit einem Vertikalschnitt zur Veranschaulichung seines inneren Mechanismus. Veröffentlichung des Meyers-Lexikons. Der Pilz-Rundschachtofen mit einem Vertikalschnitt zur Veranschaulichung seines inneren Mechanismus. Veröffentlichung des Meyers-Lexikons. LicenseRF Copyright: xZoonar.com/SergeyxKohlx 23160488

Marine barometer, p. 10. In: A treatise on the aneroid, a newly invented portable barometer .... by Edward J. Dent, 1790-1853. Published in 1849

Electromagneet ..

Sextant, Spiegelsextant, ein nautisches, optisches Messinstrument, England, im Jahre 1886, Historisch, digital restaurierte Reproduktion einer Origina...

Kicking-down' a well. The spring-pawl method of sinking a oil well, using a drilling bit suspended on a rope. Engraving from 'Les Merveilles de la Science' by Louis Figuier (Paris, c1870).

Wooden sextant on stand, used for measuring angular distances between stars. From Tycho Brahe 'Astronomiae instaurate mechanica', 1602.

Engraving depicting Charles Spalding's diving bell. Charles Spalding (1738-1783) a Scottish confectioner and amateur engineer who made improvements to the diving bell. Dated 19th century

Engraving depicting a diagram of the front of W. R. Pidgeon's static or 'influence' machine. In this machine there were three discs each

Onager, a type of catapult to project stones. Constructed by Newton under the direction of Lt. General Melville. Copperplate engraving by N.C. Goodnight from Francis Grose's Military Antiquities respecting a History of the English Army, Stockdale, London, 1812.

Engraving depicting a Mangonel catapult, used to hurl missiles at an enemy from Roman times until the days of efficient guns. Dated 19th century

Mr. Fizeau device, vintage engraving. Mr. Fizeau device, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1857. Copyright: xZoonar.com/PatrickxGuenettex 10673939

VOLTAIC PILE The first workable device for generating a consistent flow of electricity, invented in 1799 by Alessandro Volta.

Engraving depicting a pseudoscope, a binocular optical instrument that reverses depth perception. Dated 19th Century

Engraving depicting a birthing chair - women sat in such a stool during childbirth , and there is reference to such a device in the Old Testament. This particular design was recommended by Eucharius Rösslin (1470-1526) a German physician and author. Date 16th century

Caselli's pantelegraph, 1874 Artist: Unknown

Thermopile by Guelcher, electrical component that converts thermal energy into electrical energy, digitally restored reproduction of an original from the 19th century

Illustration depicting a steam turbine, a device that extracts thermal energy from pressurised steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Invented by Charles Algernon Parsons (1854-1931) an Anglo-Irish engineer and inventor of the compound steam turbine. Dated 19th century

Electric motor

An engraving depicting a sectional view of a Franklin stove, a metal-lined fireplace named after Benjamin Franklin, who invented it in 1741. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) an American polymath and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Dated 19th century

Old air pump of the Papin system, vintage engraved illustration. From the Universe and Humanity, 1910.

Drawer first position, vintage engraving. Drawer first position, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1861. Copyright: xZoonar.com/PatrickxGuenettex 10673980

mechanical bird or ornithopter, driven by twisted rubber bands, by Alphonse Pénaud (1850 1880), 19th-century French pioneer of aviation design and engineering. Pénaud is re-ported to hve begun vork on this model at the end of 1871

Heron's aeolipyle steam engine, 1st cent. AD, From Great Engineers.

Swedish/American inventor John Ericsson's machine, 1883, which used reflector with silvered glass plates to reflect Sun's heat to cylinder containing water so producing steam to drive a pump. Engraving, London, 1884.

Illustration depicting Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester's steam engine. Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester (1602-1667) an English nobleman involved in royalist politics and an inventor. Dated 17th Century

BALISTA. Location: BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL-COLECCION. MADRID. SPAIN.

Giovanni Caselli's pantelegraph for transmitting images, illustration from L'Illustration, Journal Universel, No 1148, Volume XLV, February 25, 1865.

Engraving depicting a galvanic battery: Z = zinc, C = copper.

Sectional view of Alleretti's ice safe. Dated 19th century

Voltaic pile, the first electrical battery that could continuously provide an electric current to a circuit. It was invented by Alessandro Volta, who published his experiments in 1799. Author: ALEJANDRO VOLTA (1745-1827).

Hollerith tabulator. Machine for punching information on cards. This Hollerith tabulator was first used in the US Census of 1890. From La Nature, Paris, 1894.

Engraving depicting a piston churn. Below are diagrams of a piston and barrel churns. Dated 18th Century

This illustration dates to the 1870s and shows a cup and cone.The most active ingredient in the reduction of the metal is the carbonic oxide gas produced in the furnace by the incomplete combustion of the carbon of the coal. If the gases are withdrawn from the furnace without checking the upward curent, the processes could not suffer in any way. One effective way doing this is shown here: a section through the upper part of the smelting furnce, with the "cup and cone" arrangement. The mouth of the furnace is covered by a shallow iron cone (a) open at the bottom, into which fits another cone (b), attached to a chain (c), sustained by an arm of the lever (d) which is firmly held in the required position by the chain (e) and is also provided with a counterpoise (f). In this position the muth of the furnace is closed and the gases find an exit by the opening (g), seen behind the cones, and leading into a passage through which the gases are conveyed to the place where they are required to b

A woodcut engraving depicting a selection of Surgeon's instruments including a spoon. Dated 16th century

Illustration depicting Mårten Triewald's diving bell. Mårten Triewald (1691-1747) a Swedish merchant, engineer and armature physicist. Dated 18th Century

This illustration dates to the 1870s and shows a steam generator - here an arrangement for quickly generationg and superheating steam, in connection with a high-pressure engine.

Illustration depicting a Pyrheliometer, an instrument for the measurement of direct beam solar irradiance. Sunlight enters the instrument through a window and is directed onto a thermopile which converts heat to an electrical signal that can be recorded. Dated 19th century

Engraving depicting Guilaume's navigable balloon. Dated 19th Century

Engraving depicting a small reflecting telescope mounted on a tripod. At the eyepiece end of the tube is the 'finder', a small telescope with a larger field of view than the main instrument used to guide it on to the object to be observed, and focusing screw. Dated 19th Century

'Specification Drawings for Hansom's Cab, 1834', 1834, (1904). Artists: Joseph Hansom, Unknown.

Thomas saint's sewing machine, patented 17th July 1790. This machine had a horizontal cloth plate, an overhanging arm, a vertically reciprocating straight needle and a thread spool. Dated 1880

Engraving depicting the revolving milk shelves for a butter dairy. Dated 19th Century

Frame type, horizontal motor mixed transmissions, vintage engraved illustration. Industrial encyclopedia E.-O. Lami - 1875.

Skiopticon image from the Department of Photography at the Royal Institute of Technology. Use by Professor Helmer Bäckström as teaching material. Bäckström was Sweden's first professor in photography at the Royal Institute of Technology 1948-1958. Heliar. For more info: see the photographic manual of Helmer Bäckström. Nature and Culture. Other revised edition 1958-59. Chapter 14's main types (pp 127 and following).

Thermopile, an electronic device that converts thermal energy into electrical energy / Thermosäule von Gülcher, elektrisches Bauelement, das thermische Energie in elektrische Energie wandelt, Historisch, historical, digital improved reproduction of an original from the 19th century / digitale Reproduktion einer Originalvorlage aus dem 19. Jahrhundert.

Old microscopes of the Germanic National Museum of Nuremberg, vintage engraved illustration. From the Universe and Humanity, 1910.

Leading carriages, showing the tube, piston, heater, closing wheels &c., 1845. Diagram showing an atmospheric railway, a system using air pressure for locomotion, invented by Clegg and Samuda. 'Explanation of parts of leading carriage. A: Main Pipe, or Tube; B: Longitudinal Valve (in cross section); C: Piston, fitted with two capped leathers; D: Valve in Piston, opened by Lever G, which, in case of accident, will allow the air to pass through the Piston; E E: Wheels. &c., for raising Longitudinal Valve B; F: Plate connecting Piston, &c., with Carriage; G G: Levers, &c., for ope

Book Illustration, L'art du menuisier, vol. 1; Plan et elevation dune chaire a precher immobile, plate 90

A woodcut engraving depicting a magnifying glass in a tube, simple microscope, and diminishing lens. Dated 17th century

Separation of Mercuric Oxide into Mercury and Oxygen by strong heating inside a test tube, vintage engraved illustration. Trousset encyclopedia (1886 - 1891).

Engraving depicting Alessandro Volta's gold leaf electroscope

Engraving depicting Boyden's outward flow turbine, based on the Fourneyron principle. Dated 19th century

Illustration depicting the head of a 'Catchpole', an instrument used to control prisoners when it was placed around their necks. Dated 17th Century

Method of measuring angles with a cross-staff. From Edmund Gunter 'The Description and Use of the Sector', London, 1636 (1st edition 1626). Engraving

Polish Timpani seventeenth century, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1869.

Machine for air-ozonation, produced by Kolle & Held, illustration from L'Industria, Rivista tecnica ed economica illustrata, Milan, 1907.

American Raft Perry, plan, section and lateral projection, vintage engraving. American Raft Perry, plan, section and lateral projection, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1870. Copyright: xZoonar.com/PatrickxGuenettex 10678940

Polish Timpani seventeenth century, vintage engraving. Polish Timpani seventeenth century, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1869. Copyright: xZoonar.com/PatrickxGuenettex 10678588

Breech mechanism of the Remington rifle. Originally published in January 1880 in Scribners Monthly Magazine

Illustration showing Egyptian spindles of cane and wood, weighted with gypsum 1880

Ducasble bandage, vintage engraved illustration. Industrial encyclopedia E.-O. Lami - 1875.

Cross section in AB, Blueprint, vintage engraved illustration. Industrial encyclopedia E.-O. Lami - 1875.

Illustration depicting a Zenith telescope, a type of telescope designed to point straight up at or near the Zenith. Dated 19th Century

Solomon's Throne, engraving.

Loud telephone installed outdoor, illustration from L'Industria, Rivista tecnica ed economica illustrata, Milan, 1907.

Measuring instruments for management pressure.

#colourourcollections Ear dropper design, 1871 Catalogue reference BT 43/30 (256249) colorourcollections, colourourcollections

Pollen mass of Orchis mascula when first attached (A) and after depression (B). From Charles Darwin 'The Various Contrivances by which Orchids are Fertilized by Insects', London, 1899 (second edition)

Macindoe's Self Acting Mule, 1866. Artist: Unknown

Engraving depicting Maxim's incandescent electric light bulb and table fitment. Shown at the International Electric Exhibition at the Crystal Palace, London.

Ancient Age. Military marchinery. "Tellennon". This machine was used for raising and throwing men upon the towers and walls of besieges places. Engraving. Later colouration. Historia General de España by Father Mariana. Madrid, 1852.

The boiler (simplified analyzer boiler).

Shoulder, vintage engraved illustration. Industrial encyclopedia E.-O. Lami - 1875.

An engraving depicting the manufacturing of beaver hats: 'lowering a batch of beaver hats into the cauldron to be dyed. Dated 19th century

Transmission of the piano, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1844.

Illustration of a soldering tongs by R. Karges from Braunschweig, Germany, at the Berlin trade exhibition 1896 / Abbildung einer Lötzange von R. Karges aus Braunschweig, Deutschland, auf der Berliner Gewerbeausstellung 1896, historical, digital improved reproduction of an original from the 19th century / digitale Reproduktion einer Originalvorlage aus dem 19. Jahrhundert, Originaldatum nicht bekannt, Kolorierung, koloriert, handkoloriert, Hand-colouring, hand coloured, colored.

An engraving depicting the Impulsoria invented by Clementi Masserano. Dated 19th century

Sickla went. >>

Astronomical sextant for measuring distances used by Tycho Brahe (1546-1601).

The Victoria Tower - Elevation of the Hoisting-Scaffold, 1850. 'Progress of the New Houses of Parliament...In Fig. 2 we give an elevation of the scaffold ; N N being the walls of the tower, M M the guide-posts, and 1 1 one of the cross-trusses. B is the hoisting traveller, A being the wheel over which the chain (D) from the windlass (E) passes. The traveller has a collar which encircles a hollow shaft (F), up which the chain (D) passes, thence over C, and on to A. The other travellers have similar collars, but have no chains communicating with the windlass (E); they have windlasses running on

An engraving depicting Hiram Maxim's incandescent electric light bulb and table fitment. Shown at the International Electric Exhibition at the Crystal Palace. Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (1840-1916) an American-born British inventor. Dated 19th century

Imaginative realisation of Newton's 'Steam Engine', demonstrating his third law of motion. Dated 19th Century

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