Oxford Science Archive Collection (page 15)

Rene Descartes diagram of the human brain and eye, 1692. From Opera Philosophica by Rene Descartes. (Frankfurt-am-Main, 1692). Originally published in his Tractatus de homine. (Paris, 1664)

Rene Descartes illustration of the co-ordination of the senses, 1692. A visual stimulus travelling from the eye to the pineal gland, H, stops attention being given to an olfactory stimulus

Rene Descartes idea of vision, showing the function of the eye, optic nerve and brain, 1692. From Opera Philosophica by Rene Descartes. (Frankfurt-am-Main, 1692)

Claude Chappe demonstrating his optical telegraph (semaphore) system in 1793 (c1870). Chappes (1763-1805) system was in use in France and French colonies until about 1850

Descartes representation of the antagonistic eye muscles, 1692. When E is relaxed A is innervated. Rene Decartes (1596-1650)

Advertisement for Genasprin, a proprietary brand of the drug Aspirin. 1919. The active ingredient of aspirin, acetylsalicylic acid, a derivative of salicylic acid

Darwinian Ancestor, 1887. Artist: George du Maurier
Darwinian Ancestor, 1887. Charles Darwin (1809-1882) said to the Scottish geologist Charles Lyell (1797-1875) Our ancestor was an animal which breathed water, had a swim-bladder

George du Maurier cartoon from Punch illustrating Darwinism, 1887. Artist: George du Maurier
Development of Species Under Civilisation, 1887. The old evolutionary argument of Nature or Nurture: it would be a brave person who came to a conclusion on this evidence. Cartoon from Punch

The Survival of the Fittest; application of Darwinism in the 21st century, 1880. Artist: George du Maurier
The Survival of the Fittest ; application of Darwinism in the 21st century, 1880. The term Survival of the fittest was first used by Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) in 1851

Jemmy Button, the Fuegian adopted by Fitzroys expedition, in 1834 (1839). During 1833 when Jemmy was living with the expedition, he was dressed in European clothes and his hair was cut short

Jemmy Button, the Fuegian adopted by the Fitzroy expedition, as he appeared in 1833 (1839). In 1834, after his return to his tribe, all trace of European influence disappeared

A Patagonian, c1831 (1839). From Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majestys Ships Adventure and Beagle Vol.I, by William Parker King (London, 1839)

Patagonians at Gregory Bay, 1831 (1839). From Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majestys Ships Adventure and Beagle Vol II, by Robert Fitzroy. (London, 1839)

The Printers Workshop, 1568. Artist: Jost Amman
The Printers Workshop, 1568. In the background compositors are sitting at the type cases setting up the text. In the foreground a printed sheet is being picked up to be placed on the pile

Fuegians at Woollya, with the Fitzroy expeditions camp in the background, 1831 (1839). From Robert Fitzroys Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majestys Ships Adventure and Beagle, Vol. II

Charles Darwin (1809-1882), English naturalist, in his greenhouse
Charles Darwin, English naturalist, c1875, (1887). Darwin (1809-1882) at work in his greenhouse at Down House, his home near Beckenham, Kent

Charles Darwin, English naturalist, 1883. Darwin (1809-1882) put forward the modern theory of evolution and proposed the principle of evolution by natural selection. From The Century Magazine

Down House, near Beckenham, Kent, from the garden, 1883. The home of Charles Darwin (1809-1882), the English naturalist who put forward the modern theory of evolution

Charles Darwin, English naturalist, 1881. Artist: Edward Linley Sambourne
Charles Darwin, English naturalist, 1881. As well as his better known work on evolution by natural selection, Darwins (1809-1882) studies covered other subjects

Wedgewood plaque of Joseph Priestley (1733-1804). English Presbyterian minister and chemist

Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), English Presbyterian minister and chemist, 1801
Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) English Presbyterian minister and chemist. From a print published in 1801. Eagle represents the USA as Priestley had emigrated there by this time

Reverse of commemorative medal for Joseph Priestley, English chemist, 1803
Reverse of commemorative medal for Joseph Priestley, English Presbyterian minister and chemist, 1803. Showing his pneumatic trough for collecting gases, and other equipment

Obverse of commemorative medal for Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), 1803. English Presbyterian minister and chemist

Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac making a balloon ascent from Paris, 14 September 1804 (1910). On this flight, French chemist and physicist Gay-Lussac (1778-1850)

Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French chemist, physicist and balloonist, c1824. Gay-Lussac (1778-1850) investigated the behaviour of gases and developed techniques of chemical analysis

Jean Baptiste Biot and Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French scientists, 1804 (1870). Biot (1774-1864) and Gay-Lussac (1778-1850)

Humphry Davy, British chemist and inventor, late 19th century. Obverse of the Royal Society Davy medal, nstituted in 1877 and awarded annually for an outstanding recent discovery in chemistry

Giant burning glass of the Academie des Sciences, Paris, 18th century, (1874). Artist: Amedee Guillemin
Giant burning glass of the Academie des Sciences, Paris, 18th century, (1874). Constructed under the direction of Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) and others, it was used for chemical experiments

Humphry Davy, English chemist, 1860. Davy (1778-1829) discovered the anaesthetic effects of laughing gas (nitrous oxide). In 1801 he was appointed lecturer at the Royal Institution

Humphry Davy, English chemist, 1821. Davy (1778-1829) discovered the anaesthetic effects of laughing gas (nitrous oxide). In 1801 he was appointed lecturer at the Royal Institution

Humphry Davy, English chemist in 1803, (c1870). At this time Davy (1778-1829) was lecturer at the Royal Institution, London

Humphry Davy (1778-1829) English chemist, c1880. Artist: Edwin Hodder
Humphry Davy (1778-1829) English chemist, c1880. Artists impression of Davy testing his miners safety lamp. From Heroes of Britain, Edwin Hodder, London c1880

John Dalton, English chemist, c1860. Dalton (1766-1844) was born near Cockermouth, Cumbria. In 1794 he described colour blindness (Daltonism) from which both he and his brother suffered

Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor, 1924. Edison (1847-1931) was a prolific inventor who registered over 1000 patents, many of which were related to the development of electricity

Thomas Edison, American inventor, in his laboratory, Menlo Park, New Jersey, USA, 1870s (1920s)
Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor, in his laboratory at Menlo Park, New Jersey, USA, working on the perfection of the incandescent light bulb, 1870s (1920s)

Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor, c1906
Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor, listening to a recording on an electric model of his phonograph powered by a wet battery, c1906

Leclanche wet cell, an early storage battery, 1896. Invented by the French engineer Georges Leclanche (1839-1882), this was an early form of the zinc carbon (dry cell) battery

Leclanche wet cell, an early storage battery, 1887. Invented by the French engineer Georges Leclanche (1839-1882), this was an early form of the zinc carbon (dry cell) battery

Joseph Priestley, English chemist and Presbyterian minister, 1791. Artist: William Bromley
Joseph Priestley, English Chemist and Presbyterian minister, 1791. Priestley (1733-1804) was a pioneer in the study of gases and is recognised as one of the discoverers of oxygen

Voltaic battery (pile), 1887. A battery of the type invented by Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745-1827). It consists of a disc of zinc, a disc of copper, a disc of cloth moistened with acid

Preparing and setting a Dynamite charge, Paris, 1890. From La Science Illustree

Cartridge from Nobel Explosives Company Limited, Ardeer, Ayrshire, 1884. Cartridge packed with Dynamite made at the factory. From The Illustrated London News, 16 April 1884

Workers at Nobel Explosives Company Limited, Ardeer, Ayrshire, 1884. Top: Mixing house, with women rubbing Dynamite. Bottom: Woman filling cartridges with Dynamite using a filling machine

Thomas Young (1773-1829), physicist and Egyptologist, 19th century
Thomas Young (1773-1829), English physicist and Egyptologist. Discovered the undulatory (wave) theory of light. Managed to decipher the Rosetta Stone

Charles Darwin, English naturalist, 1875. Artist: Edward Linley Sambourne
Charles Darwin, English naturalist, 1875. Darwin (1809-1882) was employed as naturalist on HMS Beagle from 1831-1836. He first made his name as a geologist

Humphry Davy, British chemist and inventor, 1802. Artist: James Gillray
Humphry Davy, British chemist and inventor, 1802. Davy (1778-1829) discovered the anaesthetic effects of laughing gas (nitrous oxide)

John Dalton, English chemist, 1881. Dalton (1766-1844) was born near Cockermouth, Cumbria. In 1794 he described colour blindness (Daltonism) from which both he and his brother suffered

Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor, c1879. Edison (1847-1931) was a prolific inventor who registered over 1000 patents, many of which were related to the development of electricity

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