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History of Science

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Detail of a printed book shows a colored illustrated dragons on a circular diagram with text in Latin.

Astronomicum cæsareum

Peter Apian
1540
Detail of an engraved map shows the direction of flow of the "Golfe de Floride." Other text in French labels nearby landmarks such as "Isles de Bahama.'

The Gulf Stream flowing northwards…

Benjamin Franklin
1778
Detail of a printed book shows text in French that indicate foods such as "Pain Frais" and "Biscuit" with corresponding amounts in ounces.

Composition de la ration des gens de mer

French Admiralty
1785
Detail of a pink, orange, and blue colored, engraved map shows islands of Philippines such as "Masbate" and "Ticao." Other details include a line partially labelled "de la Nao para la Nueva Espanna."

Carte Hydrographique & Chorographique des Isles Philippines…

Pedro Murillo Velarde
1760
Detail of manuscript diary shows childlike drawings of a house, a person, and a ship.

Diary of Captain Samuel Tillinghast

Samuel Tillinghast
1761-1766
Detail of a printed book shows a decorative head piece on the title page written in Spanish.

Historia natural, civil y geográfica de las naciones situadaes en las riveras del Rio Orinoco

Joseph Gumilla
1791
Detail of a printed book shows a full-page colored illustration of a plant with insects on it. On the opposite page, text in Latin is visible.

Dissertatio de generatione et metamorphosibus insectorum Surinamensium

Maria Sibylla Merian
1719
Printed text shows a large, coiled snake with some Latin text visible.

Historia naturæ

Joannes Eusebius Nieremberg
1635

Related

agave or maguey

Atlantic Materia Medica

Winter - Spring 2007
men work inside a mine

Subterranean Worlds: Under the Earth in the Early Americas

Spring - Summer 2015
a Mohawk man teaches children in a schoolhouse

Controlling Colonial Impressions

May-October 2019
map showing water, volcanoes, the sun, mountaintops, waterways and towns

Bodies of Water/Bodies at Work

Summer - Fall 2018
printed title page of a religious text in Algonquian and English
Collections Up Close

A healthy conversion: John Eliot, Robert Boyle, and the Algonquians

January 1, 2019
16th century charts documenting the calculations of solar and lunar calculations
In House

Eclipses in Print

October 24, 2018
Our Fellows

Fresh Ink: A Not-So-New World by Chris Parsons

September 11, 2018
19th century illustration of chichona bark, quina, cascarilla, Jesuit's Bark plant
In House

Exploring Quina in the JCB Collections

April 12, 2018

See Also

Black History

17th Century