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A Short Bright Flash: Augustin Fresnel and the Birth of the Modern Lighthouse
Theresa Levitt
€ 27.99
€ 24.57
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Description for A Short Bright Flash: Augustin Fresnel and the Birth of the Modern Lighthouse
Hardcover. How a scientific outsider came up with a revolutionary theory of light and saved untold numbers of lives. Num Pages: 288 pages, 60 illustrations, 6 maps. BIC Classification: 1DDF; 3JH; HBJD; HBLL; TRLN; TTB. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 215 x 147 x 22. Weight in Grams: 638.
Augustin Fresnel (1788–1827) shocked the scientific elite with his unique understanding of the physics of light. The lens he invented was a brilliant feat of engineering that made lighthouses blaze many times brighter, farther, and more efficiently. Battling the establishment, his own poor health, and the limited technology of the time, Fresnel was able to achieve his goal of illuminating the entire French coast. At first, the British sought to outdo the new Fresnel-equipped lighthouses as a matter of national pride. Americans, too, resisted abandoning their primitive lamps, but the superiority of the Fresnel lens could not be denied for long. ... Read more
Augustin Fresnel (1788–1827) shocked the scientific elite with his unique understanding of the physics of light. The lens he invented was a brilliant feat of engineering that made lighthouses blaze many times brighter, farther, and more efficiently. Battling the establishment, his own poor health, and the limited technology of the time, Fresnel was able to achieve his goal of illuminating the entire French coast. At first, the British sought to outdo the new Fresnel-equipped lighthouses as a matter of national pride. Americans, too, resisted abandoning their primitive lamps, but the superiority of the Fresnel lens could not be denied for long. ... Read more
Product Details
Format
Hardback
Publication date
2013
Publisher
W. W. Norton & Company United States
Number of pages
288
Condition
New
Number of Pages
288
Place of Publication
New York, United States
ISBN
9780393068795
SKU
V9780393068795
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 7 to 11 working days
Ref
99-1
About Theresa Levitt
Theresa Levitt held the McDonnell-Barksdale Chair of History of Science at the University of Mississippi and is associate professor of history there. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she has a master’s degree in history from Iowa State University and a PhD from Harvard University. She was the recipient of a National Science Foundation grant and a Fulbright ... Read more
Reviews for A Short Bright Flash: Augustin Fresnel and the Birth of the Modern Lighthouse
"Theresa Levitt interweaves the personal triumph of the French physicist Augustin Fresnel with his pathbreaking work on the nature of light in her fascinating recounting of how the coasts of the world were made safe for the world’s seafaring vessels through a mix of genius, ingenuity, and perseverance. The story has a fascinating American coda."
Joyce Appleby, professor of ... Read more
Joyce Appleby, professor of ... Read more