Air-pumps, electric machines, colliding ivory balls, colored sparks, mechanical planetariums, magic mirrors, hot-air balloons - those are only a pattern of the units displayed in public demonstrations of technological know-how within the eighteenth century. private and non-private demonstrations of usual philosophy in Europe then differed greatly from modern-day unadorned and nameless laboratory experiments. technology used to be cultivated for a number of reasons in lots of diverse locations; clinical tools have been outfitted and used for investigative and didactic experiments in addition to for leisure and well known indicates. among the tradition of curiosities which characterised the 17th century and the excellence among educational and renowned technology that delicately emerged within the 19th, the eighteenth century used to be a interval while medical actions came about in a number of websites, starting from academies, and discovered societies to salons and well known festivals, outlets and streets. This selection of case reports describing public demonstrations in Britain, Germany, Italy and France exemplifies the big variety of settings for medical actions within the eu Enlightenment. jam-packed with sparks and scents, the essays increase broader matters in regards to the ways that glossy technological know-how proven its legitimacy and social acceptability. They aspect to 2 significant good points of the cultures of technology within the eighteenth-century: leisure and application. Experimental demonstrations have been attended by means of apothecaries and craftsmen for vocational reasons. whilst, that they had to slot in with the flavor of either well mannered society and industry tradition. Public demonstrations have been a favorite leisure for girls and gents and a ecocnomic task for software makers and booksellers.