Historical Scientific Illustrations

Engravings of historical scientific instruments and experiments, showcasing inventions like the Time Ball and early electrical devices.

The Time Ball, Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Fig. 1, 1844. 'The hour of one o'clock is announced by the descent of a large black ball, from the summit of a pole, which surmounts the northwestern turret of the Observatory; a position singularly favourable for its exhibition to mariners on their progress down the adjacent river Thames. The apparatus...may be said to consist of a hoist for raising the ball, a trigger and discharging gear for its liberation, and a clock, regulated by observation, for giving the required moment of time...Fig. 1, exhibits an upright plan of the first, second, a

The Time Ball, Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Fig. 1, 1844. 'The hour of one o'clock is announced by the descent of a large black ball, from the summit of a pole, which surmounts the northwestern turret of the Observatory; a position singularly favourable for its exhibition to mariners on their progress down the adjacent river Thames. The apparatus...may be said to consist of a hoist for raising the ball, a trigger and discharging gear for its liberation, and a clock, regulated by observation, for giving the required moment of time...Fig. 1, exhibits an upright plan of the first, second, a

Engraving depicting Pavel Yablochkov's candle arc lamp (1876). The globe is cut away to show the two parallel carbon rods. Pavel Yablochkov (1847-1894) a Russian electrical engineer, businessman and inventor of the Yablochkov candle and the transformer. Dated 19th century

Receiver of Bell's photo phone: vibrations of the diaphragm of the transmitter caused light pulses to fall on a light sensitive selenium cell. Dated 1891

Illustration showing Bow drill for producing fire; Sioux; Native American 1896

Lord Rosse's great 72-inch (1.828m) diameter reflecting telescope of 1845, called the Leviathan of Parsonstown. Mounted between two brick walls, it could move only in a north-south direction. The instrument viewed from the south, showing the position of the when a man entered the tube to fix the small speculum and to remove the cover of the large one for the night's work. The Earth's rotation provided movement in an east-west direction. From his paper 'On the Construction of Specula of Six-feet Aperture' in 'Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society' (London, 1849). William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse (1800-1867).

Illustration depicting a hot-air balloon which has been fitted with a parachute. Dated 19th Century

Idea for a flying boat by Francesco Lana de Terzi (1631-1687) an Italian Jesuit priest, mathematician, naturalist, and aeronautics pioneer. Dated 17th Century

An engraving depicting English grafting, a method commonly used in viticulture. Stalk of rootstock onto which material is to be grafted being held in a clamp to ensure a clean cut. Dated 20th century

Mechanics of the Ice Skate, Industrial America - Invention

Illustration of an 19th Century mechanical pulley

Potash decomposition by an electric current, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1867.

$Engraving depicting a folding refracting stereoscope with picture rest. Dated 19th Century$

A cartoon depicting a man sheltering himself from the downpour of cockroaches and black beetles. The comic is commenting on Victorian kitchens which were heavily infested with cockroaches and black beetles. Dated 19th century

Sharing a river in successive stages, vintage engraving. Sharing a river in successive stages, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1844. Copyright: xZoonar.com/PatrickxGuenettex 10660476

An engraving depicting an English rotating furnace for the manufacture of sodium carbonate by the Leblanc process, named after its inventor, Nicolas Leblanc. Nicolas Leblanc (1742-1806) a French chemist and surgeon. Dated 19th century

Engraving depicting a Wheatstone stereoscope. Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875) an English scientist and inventor of the Victorian Era. Dated 19th Century

Engraving depicting the reflection of a candle flame in a plane mirror, showing that the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection. Dated 19th Century

Carpentry workshop, Roman paintings discoveries in Herculaneum, Carpentry workshop, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1845. Copyright: xZoonar.com/PatrickxGuenettex 10673136

$Newton's experiment shows how beam of white light is refracted by prism & broken into colours of spectrum (right). Dotted line shows beam of light entering through window and path it would take if not refracted. Woodcut from Voltaire 'Melanges de Philosophie: Elemens due Philosophie de Newton, etc.' Paris 1757.$

An engraving depicting a metal tyre bending machine designed by W. Affleck of the Prospect Works, Swindon. Dated 19th century

When you drink tea, you bring a thief into the body, vintage engraved illustration.

Engraving depicting a Kodak Box Camera which used Eastman negative film roll. George Eastman (1854-1932) an American entrepreneur who founded Eastman Kodak Company. Dated 19th Century

Medieval whaling legends Date: 10th century

Three measuring instruments, Bernard Picart (workshop of), 1731 print Amsterdam paper etching / engraving measuring-instruments

An engraving of Brewing: cooling the wort after boiling and before Fermentation. 1866

Engraving depicting an adaptation of Newcomen's atmospheric steam engine. The boiler lies outside the picture to the left, but the open cylinder F) is clearly shown, as is the receiver E) which prevents cold water for condensing steam from entering the boiler. Dated 19th century

An engraving depicting the arc welding using an apparatus invented by Nicolas de Bernardo and Stanislaw Olszewski of St Petersburg. The equipment was DC and was powered by a battery or dynamo. The operator is holding the carbon in one hand and coloured glass to protect his eyes in the other. Dated 19th century

A woodcut engraving depicting an Archimedean Screw for raising water. Dated 18th century

A woodcut engraving depicting oak apples and gall wasp responsible for them. These galls had various uses, including the dye for wool and ink (Aleppo galls), a dye for silk (light galls from France), and as an astringent in medicines. Dated 19th century

Engraving depicting an Aeolipile, a simple bladeless radial steam turbine which spins when the central water container is heated. Dated 19th century

World War II: Operation Barbarossa, German invasion of USSR, launched June 1941. Russian cartoon, c1942, showing that Soviet pincers could stop Hitlers own pincer movements planned to grasp Russian territory.

The Cannon St. Paul, National Museum of Florence, vintage engraving. The Cannon St. Paul, National Museum of Florence, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1876. Copyright: xZoonar.com/PatrickxGuenettex 10679879

1800s 19TH CENTURY PHOTOGRAPHER WITH ANTIQUE BELLOWS CAMERA HANGING FROM A HOT AIR BALLOON ATTEMPTING TO TAKE AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH - o3160 HAR001 HARS B&W SKILL OCCUPATION SKILLS ADVENTURE DISCOVERY EXCITEMENT LOW ANGLE INNOVATION AVIATION EMPLOYMENT OCCUPATIONS CONCEPTUAL ATTEMPTING EMPLOYEE MID-ADULT MID-ADULT MAN ALOFT BELLOWS BLACK AND WHITE CAUCASIAN ETHNICITY HAR001 OLD FASHIONED

Instruments of torture: The monster's head, woodcut from 1864

Gramme ring armature with coils penetrating the interior of the ring. The Gramme machine by Zénobe Théophile Gramme (1826-1901) Belgian electrical engineer. Direct current dynamo. Inventions of the nineteenth century. Old 19th century engraved illustration from El Mundo Ilustrado 1879

energy wind American wind wheel for powering an electric generator cross section wood engraving after: ""Scientific American"" late 19th century,

Engraving depicting the Minerva Balloon designed by Étienne-Gaspard Robert. Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763-1837) a Belgian physicist, stage magician and developer of phantasmagoria. Dated 19th Century

Engraving depicting a man fascinated by the properties of the pendulum. Dated 19th Century

Illustration showing the seed drill developed by Jethro Tull (agriculturist) (1674-1741),

Engraving depicting the production of sodium carbonate with the Leblanc process. A cross-section of an improved decomposing furnace. Salt and sulphuric acid would be brought together at B).

An Eskimo watching a seal hole. From a drawing in Parry's second voyage for a North-West passage, 1824.

The Hermetic Vessel, c1760. Hermetic vessel in the alchemical furnace. The serpent within the vase symbolises the earthy substances of which the Philosopher's Stone is made. From 'Fr Basilii Valentini Benedictiner Ordens Chymische Schriften'. (Leipzig, 1760). Basil Valentine (Basilius Valentinus) is a shadowy 15th century figure. He is supposed to have been a Benedictine monk, and is credited with a deep knowledge of alchemical mysteries. Whether the books attributed to him are his work, or that of a 16th century alchemists who used his name, is open to debate. His famous 'Twelve Keys' (being the twelve stages to the possession of the Philospher's Stone) was first published in 1599 and continued to appear in various languages until the end of the 18th century.

Diagram illustrating how the breaking point of a beam depends upon the material, thickness (A,B), and the leverage exerted by the weight E, at varying distances (in this case at D,C), along the beam. Dated 17th century

Engraving of a life saving apparatus designed by George William Manby (1765-1854) an English author and inventor. Dated 19th Century

Person-to-person blood transfusion, c1833. In Reads method depicted here, blood from the donor is passed through a pumped and forced into recipients arm via a canula. From The British Cyclopaedia of Arts and Sciences, Charles Partington, 1833. Woodcut. ,

THE BARKER " SAFETY SIGNAL.", 19th century engraving

An engraving depicting a perspectograph an instrument used as an aid to drawing in perspective by fixing in the picture the positions of some of the points or outlines of the objects to be represented. Dated 18th century

Belgium, Frédéric des Pays-Bas fléchissant sous le Poids de ses Lauriers, Prince Frederik with his stovepipes, 1830, verso - stamped, Cartoon on Prince Frederik who almost collapses under the burden of all the stovepipes he has to carry, 1830., print, engraving, cartoon, prints, engravings, Frederik Muller History plates, height 335 mm, width 224 mm, print maker, printmaker, 1830 - 1831, paper, papier, lithografie (technique)

French illustration depicting an early electric hotplate. 1906

Seaside visitors paying a visit to the camera obscura. The viewers sat in a darkened chamber: the scene around was collected by the mirror, (A) and passed it through a convex lens (B), and thrown onto a white table at (C). From J.H. Pepper 'The Boy's Playbook of Science', London, 1862.

An engraving depicting a hand loom weaver about to throw the shuttle. Fly shuttle invented by John May circa 1730. Dated 19th century Dated 18th century

Fossil tree trunk surrounds concentric ground undulations, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1844.

Hipparchos (c146-c127) Ancient Greek astronomer. Artist's reconstruction of Hipparchos at work. Wood engraving c1880.

Engraving of an anchor, a device used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent a craft from drifting away. Dated 19th Century

'Ralph 124C 41+' Hugo Gernsback Domed-disc spacecraft which anticipates to a remarkable degree the flying saucers of twenty years later Date: 1929

Cooke and Wheatstone's single needle telegraph showing; left ; the front elevation with the alphabet and right the rear elevation and the galvanometer (G) and the commutator. 1874.

Insects, Spanish fly (Lytta vesicatoria), synonym: Cantharis vesicatoria is a beetle of the oil beetle family, Historical, digitally restored reproduction from a 19th century original

Engraving showing an invention of 1874, the 'Flying Man's Parachute'. Date: 18 July 1874

The box, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1852.

An engraving depicting South Foreland Lighthouse An engraving depicting South Foreland Lighthouse lighting apparatus, a Victorian lighthouse on the South Foreland in St. Margaret's Bay, Dover, Kent, used to warn ships approaching the nearby Goodwin Sands. Dated 19th century

Engraving depicting Gassiot's star: two or more vacuum tubes were filled to a disc that revolved. Because the light is not a constant glow but a series of rapid discharges, and because the retina retains an image for a short while (persistence of vision), the light is seen as a wheel with spokes, and not as an all over luminous disc.

Transmitting table and keyboard of the Hughes printing telegraph.

Distillation of alcohol (aqua vitae). Distillation took place in an alembic set over a furnace. The distillate was discharged through spout into a 'work' in a bath of cold water and was collected in the vessel at the left. From 'De la pirotechnia' by Vannoccio Biringuccio (Venice, 1540).

Lana's Flying Machine Francesco Lana Terzi 1631 - 1687 Italian Jesuit and aeronautics pioneer From the book Wondeful Balloon Ascents or The Conquest of the Skies published c 1870

An engraving depicting the method of reefing the sail, which reduces the sail by taking in one or more reefs. Dated 19th Century

Section of a mine in the mid-nineteenth century, vintage engraved illustration. From the Universe and Humanity, 1910.

'Side view of diver in a diving suit by C.H. Klingert of Breslau, 1797. Domed cylinder of tinplate put over diver's head and suit of waterproof leather. Air supplied through tube from mother ship above. Engraving c1870.'

Reconstruction of Ancient Roman reaping cart, as described by Pliny. Aristotle believed that motion was a continuous pushing action, and that objects could only travel in a single direction at any one time, that is, in straight lines, not arcs. Engraving, 1890.

Water clocks. Egyptian clock. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1884

He observes contractions in the legs of a recently killed frog which he interprets as evidence for ANIMAL ELECTRICITY Date: early 1780s

Engraving depicting the removal of hair from a goat's skin after it has been soaking in the lime pit for about 5 weeks. Dated 19th century

Cartoon on aviation and ballooning. Dated 20th Century

Apparatus for preserving meat, fish and game, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1855.

alchemy, destillation, water bath, ""Balneum Mariae"", woodcut, ""Destillierbuch"" by Walther Hermann Ryff, Frankfurt, 1545,

Line drawing depicting an organ with organists. Dated 12th Century

Insects, Rueber leaf wasp, Athalia spinarum and rose leaf wasp, Hylotoma rosae, Historical, digitally restored reproduction from a 19th century original

The sommelier in his function. Engraving after a woodcut in Sebastian Münster's "Cosmographia universalis", published in Basel in 1552. "Moeurs, usages et costumes au moyen-âge et à l'époque de la Renaissance", by Paul Lacroix. Paris, 1878.

An engraving depicting a human eye. Dated 19th century

Engraving depicting an engraver engraving a copperplate using a steel burin. Dated 19th century

A magnetized needle pushed through a ball of cork, floating submerged in a goblet of water, 1600. Artist: Unknown

Gunner with quadrant marked with shadow-scales and fitted with a plumb line, In the foreground is a mortar whose elevation he will calculate. From Gaultherus Rivius Architechtur Mathatischen, Nurnberg, 1547.

Engraving depicting an electrically powered submarine designed by D. L. Tuch of New York, shown being used to attach limpet mines to the hull of a ship. Dated 19th century

A woodcut engraving depicting the parabolic path of a projectile demonstrated with a tennis ball. Dated 17th century

WATERMAN'S pen factory, New York. Method of refilling 1903

Illustration from Theatrum Machinarum Novum 1661 by Georg Andreas Böckler; A human powered irrigation pump

De Re Metallica Plate 4: The Surveyor, Mining - De Re Metallic

Sponge fishing off the coast of Syria, Illustration, Classical Portfolio of Primitive Carriers, by Marshall M. Kirman, World Railway Publ. Co., Illustration, 1895

Engraving depicting Leonardo da Vinci's Archimedean screw helicopter. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) an Italian polymath, artist and inventor. Dated 15th Century

Young man employed in coal mining, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1843.

An engraving depicting an acetylene lamp. The Carbide lamp, or acetylene gas lamps, are simple lamps that produce and burn acetylene (C2H2) which is created by the reaction of calcium carbide (CaC2) with water. Dated 19th century

An engraving depicting a secondary battery. Two lead plates insulated by rubber were rolled up and secured with an ebonite cross, which was put in a glass containing diluted sulphuric acid. Dated 20th century

Woodcut showing a Lodestone on board, floating in a bowl of water. It was possible to demonstrate in this way the fact that however placed it would come to rest with a north/south orientation (star-shaped objects are pointers). From Athanasius Kircher Magnes sive de Arte Magnética, Cologne, 1643. A lodestone is a naturally magnetized piece of the mineral magnetite. They are naturally occurring magnets, which can attract iron. Pieces of lodestone, suspended so they could turn, were the first magnetic compasses

Illustration from Theatrum Machinarum Novum 1661 by Georg Andreas Böckler; A horse powered milling machine;

View a heater, vintage engraved illustration. Industrial encyclopedia E.-O. Lami - 1875.

Decors opera, The Chariot Phaeton, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1867.

Engraving depicting an experiment to prove the expansion of air by heat conducted by Philo of Byzantium. Philo of Byzantium (280 BC - 220 BC) a Greek engineer and writer on mechanics. Dated 17th Century

medicine narcosis anaesthetic machine by Robert Liston anonymous image from ""Illustrated London News"" 9.1.1847,

Anta da Vidigueira domen at Freixo, Portugal. Old illustration from La Nature 1887

Blowing cylinder or sheet glass, c1860. Artist: Unknown

Display chart, equipment of primitive peoples I, illustration, Meyers Konversations-Lexikon encyclopedia, 1897

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