Altered sensations : Rudolph Koenig's acoustical workshop in nineteenth-century Paris
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Bibliographic Information
Altered sensations : Rudolph Koenig's acoustical workshop in nineteenth-century Paris
(Archimedes : new studies in the history and philosophy of science and technology, v. 24)
Springer, c2009
- : cased
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Note
Bibliography: p. 343-363
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Rudolph Koenig was one of the more prolific and colourful instrument makers in the renowned nineteenth-century precision instrument trade of Paris. Beginning his career as a violin maker, in 1858 the young Prussian immigrant shifted his talents towards the growing field of acoustics. Altered Sensations is a portrait of his vibrant atelier, a place of construction, commerce and experiment. For over forty years it was also a popular meeting place for scientists, artisans, musicians and teachers. Using archival and collection research from across North American and Europe, David Pantalony has traced the material and social influences of this space on the development of modern acoustics. In particular, he has detailed the manner in which Koenig modified, extended, spread and challenged Hermann von Helmholtz's Sensations of Tone.
A large part of the research on Koenig comes from the actual products of his workshop which survive in museums and collections around the world. The second section of Altered Sensations provides a Catalogue Raisonne of Koenig's entire line of instruments, including their history, details from specific examples, locations, and references in the literature. This catalogue will serve as a practical guide for curators and researchers as well as a comprehensive overview of nineteenth-century acoustical practice.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Workshops in the history of science
Showroom: The business of instrument making
Laboratory: Instrument making and experimentation
Life as an instrument maker
Sound in history
Chapter 1 - Training
Journey to Paris
Vuillaume's violin workshop - 1851-1858
From violins to tuning forks
The scientific instrument trade in Paris
Chapter 2 - Hermann von Helmholtz and the Sensations of Tone
Hermann von Helmholtz
Physical acoustics - theory and instruments (tuning forks, tonometer, double siren)
Instruments as agents of change
Experimental results
Physiological acoustics - the piano as a model for the inner ear
Psychological acoustics - resonators as aids for hearing simple tones
The first sound synthesizer
A theory of harmony and music
Chapter 3 - Transformations in the workshop
Inside Parisian workshops
The phonautograph and the origins of graphical acoustics
Precision and graphical acoustics
The "Plaque tournante"at Rue Hautefeuille: Transforming Helmholtz's acoustics Demonstrating Helmholtz: Adam Politzer and Koenig at the Academie des Sciences Manometric flame capsule and optical acoustics
Chapter 4 - The market and its influences
The first year of business - from the workshop to the classroom
1862 London Exhibition
Selling Helmholtz's instruments
Function replaces beauty: 1867 Exposition in Paris.
Americans at the Fair. William B. Rogers, Alexander Graham Bell and MIT
The Parisian science monopoly and a Portuguese customer
Chapter 5 - Constructing a reputation, 1866-1879
Measuring the velocity of sound in the sewers of Paris
Creating vowel sounds out of wood, brass and steel
Seeing a voice: manometric vowel studies
Extending the tonometer one file mark at a time
Choosing the right steel
Bringing the workshop into combination-tone studies
Precision and livelihood under attack: the Koenig clock fork
Chapter 6 - Expanding the North American Market, 1871-1882.
Recovery from the turmoil of 1870-71
Third catalogue, 1873
Joseph Henry and the Smithsonian Institution
Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, 1876
James Loudon and the University of Toronto
"Cette ville de malheur"
Public lectures at Toronto
Chapter 7 - The Faraday of sound
Life at Quai d'Anjou: 1882-1901
The combination-tone controversy in England
Workshop as theatre
Heidelberg 1889: the German response
The dispute over timbre
Wave sirens
Back to vibrations
Ultrasonics and le domaine de la fantaisie
Conclusion - Beyond Sensations
Appendix 1. Key dates in Rudolph Koenig's life.
Catalogue Raisonne
I. The principal means for producing sound
II. Cause and nature of sound
III. Pitch of sounds
IV. Timbre of sound
V. Propagation of sound
VI. Simple vibrations of the different bodies
VII. Communications of vibrations - Vibrations of simple bodies - Compound vibrations in simple bodies
VIII. Phenomena due to the coexistance of two or more sounds in air
IX. Methods for studying sonorous vibrations without assistance of the ear
X. Apparatus for the mechanical representation of vibrations and wave movements
XI. Acoustic apparatus for practical use
Notes
References
by "Nielsen BookData"