First edition. "In this volume is presented the earliest concept of flight based on aerostatic principles. Lana calculated that if the air were exhausted from a large sphere of thin copper, its weight would be less than the surrounding maneuvered by sail. This fitted into the scientific thought of the period following the invention of the air-pump." --Dibner, Heralds of Science, 176. Plate two illustrates a ship held up by four large vacuous spheres of thin copper; this is one of the earliest depictions of an aerial ship.

This work also contains descriptions of hygrometers, microscopes, telescopes, hydraulics pumps, laws of optics, lens-making techniques, chemical experiments, clocks, etc. Pages 135-68 contain accounts of methods of making colors for artists....[ Read more ]

First edition. "In this volume is presented the earliest concept of flight based on aerostatic principles. Lana calculated that if the air were exhausted from a large sphere of thin copper, its weight would be less than the surrounding maneuvered by sail. This fitted into the scientific thought of the period following the invention of the air-pump." --Dibner, Heralds of Science, 176. Plate two illustrates a ship held up by four large vacuous spheres of thin copper; this is one of the earliest depictions of an aerial ship.

This work also contains descriptions of hygrometers, microscopes, telescopes, hydraulics pumps, laws of optics, lens-making techniques, chemical experiments, clocks, etc. Pages 135-68 contain accounts of methods of making colors for artists.