The New Era 



►TpHE BEGINNING OF THE 19th ccntury saw increased trading and 

 -^ shipping resulting from the economic development of the new 

 republic, and the westward surge brought increased preoccupation 

 with the settlement of communities and the development of land 

 areas. As a consequence, the demand for instruments lilcewise 

 increased. 



Whereas during the 18th century and until some time after the 

 end of the Revolutionary War probably not more than a dozen 

 instrument makers and dealers are known to have emigrated from 

 England or elsewhere to make their homes and careers in the 

 American Colonies, the beginning of the 19th century saw sub- 

 stantial numbers of English and French instrument makers and 

 dealers immigrate to the United States, to establish shops in the 

 major centers of trade. 



And whereas the names of scarcely a hundred mathematical- 

 instrument makers who worked in the American Colonies during 

 the 18th century are known today, the names of hundreds of 

 similar 19th-century craftsmen and dealers are to be found. 



As Derek Price ^''^ has so cogently stated: "For scientific instru- 

 ment makers, one need only examine the nineteenth century city 

 directories of Boston, Philadelphia and New York to find hundreds 

 of names of craftsmen and firms. It is, to be sure, an antiquarian 

 research, for one does not expect to find great discoveries coming 

 from these people. But just as in Europe, it is a populous trade, 

 influential in the growth of science and highly effective in spreading 

 and intensifying the itch for ingenious instruments and devices. 

 It is by these men that the basic skills of the Industrial Revolution 

 were populated. . . ." By such means did American science and 

 technology come of age. 



Price, op. cit. (footnote 1), p. 64. 



130 



