摘要
众所周知,近代科学的产生和发展是与科学仪器紧密相关的。十七世纪时,欧洲发明和发展了一些重要的科学仪器,如望远镜、显微镜、温度计、气压计、摆钟等等,它们作为物理学的重要仪器在观察和测量一些物理现象并研究其精密规律的过程中发挥了重要作用。十七世纪六、七十年代,定量的温度计和湿度计的早期形式也在我国出现了。它们是由耶稣会传教士、比利时人南怀仁(Ferdinand Verbiest,1623-1688,1659年来华)
The Jesuit Ferdinand Verbiest is the first man who introduced the Europeanquantitive thermometer and hygrometer into China in his works 'Ling Tai Yi Qi Tu'(《灵台仪器图》) , 'Yah Qi Tu Suo' (《验气图说》) and 'Xin Zhi Ling Tai Yi XiangZhi'(《新制灵台仪象志》), which were published in 1664, 1671 and 1674 respectively. In this paper, the author analyses the thermometer and hygrometer described byFerdinand Verbiest, compares his description with the development and application ofthese two instruments in Europe around the same period. (1) F. Verbiest's thermometer was an air-thermometer with arbitrary degree scalebut no fixed points, The paper discusses the original resourses of its applications andusages, and concludes that the knowledge introduced by F. Verbiest was that about theair-thermometer in the early 17th century (2) F. Verbiest's hygrometer was extremely similar to that made by WilliamMolyneux. The paper expounds that, so far some famous historian of science in theWest, such as A. Wolf and W. E. Knowles Middleton, have considered in their authori-tative books that the hygrometer of this type began with W. Molyneux. But the authorpoints out that F. Verbiest's description was earlier than that made by W. Molyneux.
出处
《自然科学史研究》
1986年第1期76-83,共8页
Studies in The History of Natural Sciences
