Florilegius

Engraving by de Buigne after Protain, showing interior views, elevations and plans of the baths. From ?Description de l'Egypte, ou Recueil des observa...

Engravings by Bosq and Mme de St Morien after Cecile, from ?Description de l'Egypte, ou Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont ete faites...

Engravings by Louvet and de St Morien after Cecile, showing a man feeding sugar cane into a press powered by a blindfolded ox, with plans and elevatio...

Engravings by de St Morien after Cecile, Fevre and Jollois showing a flour mill (8-10); threshing machine (2, 3); rice whitening machine (4-7); and a...

Radiolarians, after Ernst Haeckel, "Art Forms in Nature" (1904). Computer enhanced.

Radiolarians, after Ernst Haeckel, "Art Forms in Nature" (1904). Computer enhanced.

Radiolarians, after Ernst Haeckel, "Art Forms in Nature" (1904). Computer enhanced.

Radiolarians, after Ernst Haeckel, "Art Forms in Nature" (1904). Computer enhanced.

Radiolarians, after Ernst Haeckel, "Art Forms in Nature" (1904). Computer enhanced.

Horoscope chart of Louis XIV cast by his astrologer, J.B. Morin of Villefranche, from Astrologia Gallica (the Hague 1661). Early horoscope diagrams we...

The great equatorial telescope of the Paris observatory. 1883.

New and gigantic telescope, designed by Daniel C. Chapman 1874.

Illustration of sky design.

Horoscope chart of Louis XIV cast by his astrologer, J.B. Morin of Villefranche, from Astrologia Gallica (the Hague 1661). Early horoscope diagrams we...

William Herschel discovered Uranus in 1781 with this telescope.

Six Mechanical Arts: Textile, Work, Smithing, Navigation, Agriculture, Hunting and Medicine. c.1475 from Rodericus Zamorensis, Speculum Vitae Humanae.

17th century illustration of agriculture.

Title page from "The Epitome of the whole art of husbandry" by Joseph Blagrave, 1675.

"The figure of a fearful comet", from Dr. Ambroise Pare's 'Surgery', gives a subjective impression of the comet of 1664-5. Swords, daggers, coffins, a...

Cast for Albrecht von Wallenstein when he was 25 by the astronomer Johannes Kepler, accurately foretold a life of ambition and violence. The center sq...

Cast for Albrecht von Wallenstein when he was 25 by the astronomer Johannes Kepler, accurately foretold a life of ambition and violence. The center sq...

A comet over an administrative building of the monastery of Einsiedeln in Zurich on the night before the 10th March, 1742.

A comet over an administrative building of the monastery of Einsiedeln in Zurich on the night before the 10th March, 1742.

Fludd's book on metaphysics. Title page of the 1617 work Utriusque Cosmi, Maioris scilicet et Minoris, metaphysica, physica, atque technica Historia (...

The hierarchy of the universe, by Robert Fludd, 1617. The soul descends from perfect unity in the heavens to multiplicity on earth, but seeks to re-as...

The hierarchy of the universe, by Robert Fludd, 1617. The soul descends from perfect unity in the heavens to multiplicity on earth, but seeks to re-as...

Hevelius's book on comets. Title page of Cometographia (1668), by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius. The artwork shows three astronomers represe...

Demonstration at Cologne Cathedral of the Earth's rotation.

Hevelius's book on comets. Title page of Cometographia (1668), by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius. The artwork shows three astronomers represe...

Constellation of Leo.

Demonstration at Cologne Cathedral of the Earth's rotation.

Demonstration at Cologne Cathedral of the Earth's rotation.

Apparatus of Johannes Hevelius (about 1640), used for studying the sun. Hevelius, a German astronomer, was also noted for his map of the moon and his...

Anonymous watercolor depicting the comet of 1680 over the Low Countries.

Herschel's galactic model, 1784. This is one of several visualizations drawn by the British astronomer William Herschel (1738-1822). Working with his...

A rendering of the reflecting telescope used by William Herschel, the discoverer of the planet Uranus. Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

Anonymous watercolor depicting the comet of 1680 over the Low Countries.

Anonymous watercolor depicting the comet of 1680 over the Low Countries.

Herschel's galactic model, 1784. This is one of several visualizations drawn by the British astronomer William Herschel (1738-1822). Working with his...

Herschel's galactic model, 1784. This is one of several visualizations drawn by the British astronomer William Herschel (1738-1822). Working with his...

Herschel's galactic model, 1784. This is one of several visualizations drawn by the British astronomer William Herschel (1738-1822). Working with his...

A rendering of the reflecting telescope used by William Herschel, the discoverer of the planet Uranus. Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

A rendering of the reflecting telescope used by William Herschel, the discoverer of the planet Uranus. Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

A rendering of the reflecting telescope used by William Herschel, the discoverer of the planet Uranus. Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

An illustration ridiculing the practice of astrology.

An illustration ridiculing the practice of astrology.

As astronomers began to explore the physical nature of comets, they found that meteors came from dust left by comets. Major meteor showers such as the...

As astronomers began to explore the physical nature of comets, they found that meteors came from dust left by comets. Major meteor showers such as the...

As astronomers began to explore the physical nature of comets, they found that meteors came from dust left by comets. Major meteor showers such as the...

Comets universally foretold disasters and misfortune until the start of the scientific revolution. For example, public fears linked the Great Comet of...