Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus (1651-1708) was a Saxon mathematician, scientist and inventor during the early modern era. He considered himself primarily a mathematician, though his main effort, the derivation of a universal solution for polynomial equations of any order was doomed to fail. Tschirnhaus’ most memorable contribution was the building of large and powerful, yet relatively light and inexpensive mirrors and double-lens systems. These so-called burning mirrors and lenses generated hitherto unattainable temperatures and represented vast improvements over previous such devices. The higher temperatures led to insights into thermal transformations at high temperatures, and paved the way for new materials. Tschirnhaus published five papers on burning mirrors and lenses. The papers are written in Latin and appeared in Acta Eruditorum between 1687-1697. We have completed the first English translation of all five papers. Outside our work, there is only one German translation of the fifth paper in Tschirnhaus’ own hand, partially transcribed by Curt Reinhardt in 1912. The primary objective of our study was to present an unfiltered account of the construction of these devices and the novel observations they enabled. To better place his work in the cultural context of his time, we have also examined two other primary sources on Tschirnhaus, his extensive correspondence with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and the list of books in his library compiled at the time of his death, books that presumably shaped his thinking. Seventeenth century economic thought was dominated by mercantilism, a national economic policy aimed at maximizing the use of domestic resources. The potential contributions of Chymistry to a mercantilist economy had already been discussed in the writings of J. J. Becher and R. Glauber. We will argue that Tschirnhaus’ development of burning mirrors and lenses was an attempt at producing marketable inventions in the spirit of mercantilism.

Concentration of power: Alchemy, mercantilism and the <i>Vitrum Causticum</i> of Ehrenfried Walter von Tschirnhaus

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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Concentration of power: Alchemy, mercantilism and the Vitrum Causticum of Ehrenfried Walter von Tschirnhaus