overall; main apparatus: 13 1/2 in x 26 3/4 in x 5 in; 34.29 cm x 67.945 cm x 12.7 cm
overall; screw in piece: 1 in x 5 in x 9 5/8 in; 2.54 cm x 12.7 cm x 24.4475 cm
Object Name:
Fresnel apparatus
Place made:
France: Île-de-France, Paris
Date made:
ca 1850
Description:
Augustin Fresnel (1788-1827) was a French physicist who, in 1821, announced that compressed glass causes double refraction of light passing through it, thus behaving in this regard as unstressed piece of Iceland spar. This device demonstrates that phenomenon. The “J. Duboscq-Soleil / rue de l’Odeon 21 / à Paris” inscription is that of Jules Duboscq, an instrument maker who apprenticed with J. B. F. Soleil, and used the “Duboscq-Soleil” signature in the early 1850s.
Ref: J. Duboscq, <i>Catalogue Systématique des Appareils D'Optique</i> (Paris, 1870), p. 23.
Maison Jules Duboscq, <i>Historique & Catalogue de tous les Instruments d’Optique Supérieure Appliqués aux Sciences et à l’Industrie</i> (Paris, 1885), p. 73.
