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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Paper, 'A letter from the Revd [Reverend] Father Felix Bernard's to the Royal Society, consider'd' by [William Jones]

Reference number: CLP/3ii/9

Date: 1713

Description

Jones discusses Felix Bernard's invention of a machine consisting of two springs with intermediate wheels which produce perpetual motion, one spring constantly winding the other. Jones had not seen a model of the machine and so debates whether or not the motion of the machine could really be perpetual. He also discusses Bernard's claim that a friend of his had found the quadrature of the circle, which Jones believes to be unlikely.

Subject: Engineering / Mathematics

Read to the Royal Society on 7 May 1713

Reference number
CLP/3ii/9
Earliest possible date
1713
Physical description
Ink on paper
Page extent
3 pages
Format
Manuscript

Creator name

William Jones

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Citation

William Jones, Paper, 'A letter from the Revd [Reverend] Father Felix Bernard's to the Royal Society, consider'd' by [William Jones], 1713, CLP/3ii/9, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/clp_3ii_9/paper-a-letter-from-the-revd-reverend-father-felix-bernards-to-the-royal-society-considerd-by-william-jones, accessed on 21 January 2025

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https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/clp_3ii_9/paper-a-letter-from-the-revd-reverend-father-felix-bernards-to-the-royal-society-considerd-by-william-jones

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  • Classified Papers

    Dates: 1592-1741

    The 'Classified Papers' of the Royal Society are papers from British and international natural philosophers and scholars categorised according to subject areas.

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