Accession No
2676
Brief Description
portable direct-vision spectroscope, by John Browning, English, 1900 (c)
Origin
England; London; 146 Strand
Maker
Browning, John
Class
optical
Earliest Date
1900
Latest Date
1900
Inscription Date
Material
metal (brass); glass
Dimensions
minimum length 92mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Inscription
JOHN BROWNING
146 STRAND
LONDON
Description Notes
Portable direct-vision spectroscope, by John Browning, English, c. 1900.
Brass direct vision spectroscope. Slit with steel jaws, width adjustable by milled ring. Brass cover. Slit assembly screws into brass outer tube containing single retractable draw tube housing optics - screw-in objective lens, prisms, screw-in eye end but no eyepiece, 2 lines scratched on draw tube, one marked: ‘WITH GLASSES’.
Black leather box with brass hinges and hook fastener; lined.
Condition good.
References
Events
Description
Spectroscope
In 1814 Joseph von Fraunhofer noticed that the sun’s spectrum, when dispersed by a glass prism, is crossed by hundreds of fine dark lines. These lines could be used to determine the chemical composition of the sun, stars and many other substances by spectral analysis. The first photograph of the spectrum of a star (Vega) was made by Henry Draper using a spectroscope in 1872.
There are various different forms of spectroscope, but all use a slit and collimator to make a parallel beam of light, a prism for dispersing different wavelengths and a telescope to observe the dispersed spectrum.
18/10/2002
Created by: Saffron Clackson on 18/10/2002
FM:40381
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