Scientific and Mathematical Instruments in the Early Modern Period

Anybody who has been following this series will be aware that in England in the Early Modern Period, mathematical and scientific instruments played a central role in the world of practical mathematics. As we have seen from small beginnings in the middle of the sixteenth century the business of instrument making expanded to become a significant factor in the mathematical community by the middle of the seventeenth century. Of course, scientific and mathematical instruments had been in existence since antiquity but in the Early Modern Period the number of different types of instruments and the number of each type of instrument produced expanded immensely. One could argue that the production and use of such instruments was one of the defining aspects of the scientific and mathematical culture of the period. However, instruments didn’t just define the period they also could be said to have defined the roles of the mathematical practitioners. Mathematical practitioner if not the name or…