Instrument Maker on the Run: A Case of Technology Transfer

摘要

This paper will deal with a number of design principles and an instrument maker. The most important parts are played by a circle, the number 96 and the craftsman Johan AM (1729-1795), who made the instruments that were used by the Norwegian surveyor and mathematician Caspar Wessel. Whether Ahl is to be regarded as a deserter or not depends on the view one takes of the relationship between the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters in the 1760's. The question of technology transfer can also be seen from two points of view. From a Swedish point of view it was highly undesirable; from a Danish point of view it was most welcome and wanted.