Part 1: Instrument-making industry in the 17th century; scientific instruments at the end of the 16th century; the inventions of the 17th century; the workshops of the 17th century. Part 2: contributory factors in the evolution of the instrument-making industry; economic and social factors; industrial and technical factors; major scientific problems; the collections of philosophical instruments. Part 3: the instrument-making industry in the 18th century; the evolution of optical instruments; surveying and astronomical instruments; the technique of graduating the arcs and rules of instruments; the evolution of physical instruments; the English workshops; the instrument industry of the Continent; the French workshops.
