RECENT PORTUGUESE PUBLICATIONS
BULLETIN 51

April 2006 

 

PART X:

Science & History of Science,

Natural History, Medicine

 
See also items 55 & 100.

129. DALLA BELLA, João Antonio. Noticias historicas, e praticas acerca do modo de defender os edificios dos estragos dos raios . . . Lisbon: Arquimedes Livros, 2005. 8°, orig. prtd. wrps. (8 l.), 88 p., 1 l. illus. One of 150 copies. ISBN: 972-8917-02-3. $25.00

Facsimile edition of this work, first published Lisbon, 1773 and never previously reprinted, on the nature of lightning, and types of conductors, including objections to their use and advice for protecting oneself from being struck by lightning. Instructions for building and installing a lightning rod are given on pp. 41-46, and illustrated by the unsigned plate at the end. Benjamin Franklin's experiments are described on pp. 1-4, and he is frequently referred to later in the text. Dallabella was also familiar with the work of Romas, Nollet, Watson, and Kinnersley, and describes in detail the work of Richman and the experiment that killed him (pp. 25-30). Among the examples he cites of the effects of lightning are one in the New England town of Newbury (p. 47-49; there are towns of that name in Vermont and in New Hampshire) and one in Philadelphia (p. 51-52).

Dallabella, a native of Padua, was teaching experimental physics at the Collegio dos Nobres in Lisbon by 1766. In 1772 he was appointed professor of philosophy at Coimbra, a position he held for many years, finally retiring to Italy in 1823. Among his other published works is a treatise on the cultivation of olives, Memoria sobre a cultura das oliveiras em Portugal . . . (Lisbon, 1786).

 
130. Manual do fogueteiro, ou arte dos fogos de artifício. Lisbon: Arquimedes Livros, 2005. 8°, orig. prtd. wrps. 79 pp., (1 l.), illus. One of 80 copies. ISBN: 972-8917-06-6. $20.00

Facsimile of the Lisbon 1908 edition, said to be the first.

 
131. NUNES, Maria de Fátima, and Vera Guelha. Ideia científica de Europa: metrologia, memória e ciência em Evora. Casal de Cambra: Caleidoscópio, 2004. Colecção Estudos de História. Lge. 8°, orig. illus. wrps. 94 pp., illus. ISBN: 972-8801-43-3. $25.00