Background
Bedini, Silvio A. was born on January 17, 1917 in Ridgefield, Connecticut, United States. Son of Vincent and Cesira (Stefanelli) Bedini.
(This text traces the process of change in the making of s...)
This text traces the process of change in the making of scientific instruments in the 17th century, which was prompted, through the invention of the telescope, by a transfer of skills from brass to glass. It draws upon unpublished archives.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0860784428/?tag=2022091-20
(This second volume by Silvio Bedini pursues themes set ou...)
This second volume by Silvio Bedini pursues themes set out in his previous collection; the main focus is, again, on Italy, but the scope is broadened to include other parts of Europe. Three elements combined in the evolution and production of scientific instruments: purpose or function, the patron, and the artisans. The first studies here look at the patrons of science, the collections they established and their evolution into museums, and then at some of the artisans who made fine instruments. The second section deals with techniques and instruments. With the adoption of mathematical techniques for measurement - of time, in navigation and surveying and weighing - came the development of tools which grew in precision to the degree that they became part of science. From the toys and curiosities of princes and wealthy prelates, instruments became more functional in response to the new requirements resulting from each new discovery.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0860787818/?tag=2022091-20
(The availability of a standard prime meridian for the det...)
The availability of a standard prime meridian for the determination of longitude preoccupied colonial Americans of science from the early settlements to the establishment of the first national observatory two centuries later. It also concerned the founders of the national capital late in the 18th century. The first designation for an American prime meridian was established in 1791 on the site of the proposed capitol building. It was next determined in 1804 for President Jefferson by the surveyor Isaac Briggs, assisted by Nicholas King, marked by a monument that became known as the Jefferson Stone. The later inadvertent destruction of the Jefferson Stone had serious consequences. Consequently, its loss became a significant factor in the late 19th century during the famous litigation between the United States vs. Martin F. Morris, et al, poupularly known as the Potomac Flats case. The accounts of the frenzied efforts to relocate the precise site of the Jefferson Stone and to install another marker in its position made of it what the press called a "monument of errors".
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0966512014/?tag=2022091-20
(Softcover booklet of 84 pages, Transactions of the Americ...)
Softcover booklet of 84 pages, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society (Philadelphia) Vol. 74 (1), 1984. The life and times of Anthony Lamb, one of the first makers of scientific instruments in America, in New York from 1730s to the 1780s.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0871697416/?tag=2022091-20
(Orginally published by Scribner in 1972 to wide praise an...)
Orginally published by Scribner in 1972 to wide praise and critical acclaim, Silvio Bedini's work remains the definitive biography of Benjamin Banneker, the self-educated mathematician and astronomer who became America's first black scientist. Born a free man in Maryland in 1731, he had little formal education but developed a remarkable aptitude for mathematics. He assisted in surveying the area that was to become the District of Columbia, but his real achievement came with the creation of almanacs. Through much of the 1790s, his work influenced daily life in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. In 1791 he took up his pen and wrote to Thomas Jefferson, arguing that the treatment of blacks in the young United States was unwarranted and unfair. In his own time, antislavery activists hailed his accomplishments, and today his life is honored as a model of achievement. But as is the case with many famous lives, myth and legend have begun to cloud history. In recent years, Banneker has been memorialized for things he did not do, such as designing the city of Washington.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0938420593/?tag=2022091-20
(The story of the pursuit of the desk on which Jefferson w...)
The story of the pursuit of the desk on which Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, and the resolution of the problem of duplicate desks - which one in the Smithsonian was the real one? -- With photos, drawings, document illustrations -- Contents: The Events of '76 - Drafts of the Declaration - Gift to a Grandson-in-law - A Relic Comes of Age - Donation to the Nation - The Case of the Duplicate Desks - Congressional Investigation - The Relic Examined - A Later Vintage -- Appendixes; Description of the Jefferson Desk - Department of the Treasury Reproductions of the Jefferson Desk - Later Reproductions of the Jefferson Desk.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0874742412/?tag=2022091-20
(Originally a weapon for offense used primarily by cavalry...)
Originally a weapon for offense used primarily by cavalry for many centuries, the mace came to be universally regarded as a symbol of authority. This device symbolized the power assigned to the lictors under Roman rule to punish by flogging with the rods or beheading with the axe. The mace was introduced into the British Isles by Roman lictors attending magistrates holding office in the provinces of the Roman republic.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0871698749/?tag=2022091-20
(A systematic study of the scientific instruments used in ...)
A systematic study of the scientific instruments used in the United States during its colonial beginnings. Development of the sciences in the American Colonies was critically dependent upon the available tools-scientific instruments- and the people who made and used them. These tools may be separated into two groups. The first consists of philosophical instruments and teaching apparatus used for educational purposes and experimentation. The second group includes the so called ''mathematical instruments" of practical use, which were employed by mathematical practitioners and laymen alike for the mensural and nautical needs of the Colonies. This book is about the second but lesser known group. Bedini has divided the major portion of the book into three parts- The Mathematical Practitioners, Instruments of Metal, and Instruments of Wood. Among the practitioners you find the Rittenhouse brothers, Ellicott, Biddle, Bailey, and Banneker. The book contains a substantial section on wooden instruments and describes sixteen makers. The appendix material is an invaluable source for those who have an interest in instrument collection and study. Among the appendices is a list of surviving wooden compasses, and both an alphabetical and geographical list of instrument makers. This is the second printing of the book. The first printing, limited to only a few thousand copies, was sold out soon after its publication by the Smithsonian Institution in 1964. With the dramatically increased interest in scientific instruments, this new printing, with some revisions and updating, is most welcome.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0910845301/?tag=2022091-20
(Inventor, botanist, geographer, archaeologist, architect,...)
Inventor, botanist, geographer, archaeologist, architect, tireless recorder of the natural world--Bedini gives us the Jefferson that not only forged the politics of America, but made scientific progress synonymous with the spirit of America. 24 photographs.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0028970411/?tag=2022091-20
(Though we most often think of Jefferson as president and ...)
Though we most often think of Jefferson as president and statesman, he is also recognized, in the words of the late Dumas Malone, "as an American pioneer in numerous branches of science, notably paleontology, ethnology, geography, and botany." In this fascinating book, Silvio Bedini, the acknowledged authority on Jefferson's "supreme delight" in the sciences, explores his wide-ranging mathematical and scientific pursuits. Taught surveying by his map-making father, Jefferson developed an interest in measurement and observation at an early age. He was captivated not only by the topography around him, but also by the stars and planets in the heavens above and by the minerals, fossils, artifacts, and plants in the soil below. Known internationally as a man of learning and as the long-serving president of the American Philosophical Society, Jefferson read widely, corresponded with other science enthusiasts worldwide, promoted scientific exploration--most notably, the Lewis and Clark expedition--and performed his own diverse experiments. Painting a broad picture of Jefferson as scientist, this book offers a captivating new look at one of America's great Renaissance men.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1882886194/?tag=2022091-20
(Orginally published by Scribner in 1972 to wide praise an...)
Orginally published by Scribner in 1972 to wide praise and critical acclaim, Silvio Bedini's work remains the definitive biography of Benjamin Banneker, the self-educated mathematician and astronomer who became America's first black scientist. Born a free man in Maryland in 1731, he had little formal education but developed a remarkable aptitude for mathematics. He assisted in surveying the area that was to become the District of Columbia, but his real achievement came with the creation of almanacs. Through much of the 1790s, his work influenced daily life in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. In 1791 he took up his pen and wrote to Thomas Jefferson, arguing that the treatment of blacks in the young United States was unwarranted and unfair. In his own time, antislavery activists hailed his accomplishments, and today his life is honored as a model of achievement. But as is the case with many famous lives, myth and legend have begun to cloud history. In recent years, Banneker has been memorialized for things he did not do, such as designing the city of Washington.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684134985/?tag=2022091-20
(This book is a scholarly study of a virtually unknown asp...)
This book is a scholarly study of a virtually unknown aspect of the history of horology (timekeeping), compiled from Chinese and Japanese historical and literary records, some of which are translated and published here for the first time. Incense timekeepers played an important role in early Chinese social and technological history, in addition to their use for time measurement. They were used in temples for religious rites, in agricultural regions for regulating water for irrigation, in palaces and government offices, and in the studies of scholars. A fascinating compendium of knowledge about a neglected aspect of Oriental culture, this book will appeal not only to historians of China and Japan, but to the growing number of collectors and museum curators who are interested in incense clocks. It is illustrated with black and white halftones of a large number of the clocks, which are renowned for their beauty of design and quality of workmanship. The book also includes a catalogue of incense clocks which have appeared in auction houses and museums.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521021634/?tag=2022091-20
Bedini, Silvio A. was born on January 17, 1917 in Ridgefield, Connecticut, United States. Son of Vincent and Cesira (Stefanelli) Bedini.
Student, Columbia University, 1935—1942. Doctor of Laws, University Bridgeport, 1970.
Curator division mechanic and сivil engineering, United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1961-1965; from assistant director to deputy director, Museum History and Technology, 1965-1978; keeper rare books, Museum History and Technology, 1978-1987; historian emeritus, Smithsonian Institute, since 1987.
(The story of the pursuit of the desk on which Jefferson w...)
(Excerpt from Early American Scientific Instruments and Th...)
(Orginally published by Scribner in 1972 to wide praise an...)
(Orginally published by Scribner in 1972 to wide praise an...)
(Orginally published by Scribner in 1972 to wide praise an...)
(Though we most often think of Jefferson as president and ...)
(Inventor, botanist, geographer, archaeologist, architect,...)
(This book is a scholarly study of a virtually unknown asp...)
(The availability of a standard prime meridian for the det...)
(This text traces the process of change in the making of s...)
(This second volume by Silvio Bedini pursues themes set ou...)
(Originally a weapon for offense used primarily by cavalry...)
(Two Italian monks who are imprisoned as spies while on a ...)
(A systematic study of the scientific instruments used in ...)
(Softcover booklet of 84 pages, Transactions of the Americ...)
(Early American Scientific Instruments and Their Makers:)
(Thinkers and Tinkers: Early American Men of Science. New ...)
(hardcover with dust jacket)
(BEDINI, S. A.: THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BANNEKER. THE DEFINIT...)
Fellow Washington Academy of Sciences. Member American Philosophical Society, American Antiquarian Society, Society of America Historians, History Science Society, Society for History Technology, Astrolabe Society.
Married Gerda Hintz, October 20, 1951. Children: Leandra, Peter.