Physico-Theology: or, A Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God, from His Works of Creation. Being the Substance of Sixteen Sermons Preached in St. Mary-le-Bow Church, London. at the Honourable Mr. Boyle's Lectures, in the Years 1711, and 1712. …

xv, [1], 444, [12] pp. Full sheep, five raised spine bands. A discussion of Christian theology focusing on proving the existence and nature of God. The author, William Derham, was Canon of Windsor, Rector of Upminster in Essex, and F.R.S.. He also had a deep interest in the natural sciences, and is best known for producing the earliest reasonably accurate measurement of the speed of sound (he used a large telescope and mathematical calculations to triangulate the sound produced by gunshots). Physico-Theology is a work on teleology, one of several by Derham, which were referenced by William Paley while formulating his famous watchmaker analogy. Derham's approach, though, is mainly scientific: he demonstrates the ways in which observable phenomena illustrate the presence of God. Among his observations recorded here are his recognition of natural variation within species and that he knew that Didelphis virginialis (the Virginia opossum) was the only marsupial in North America. It also includes one of the earliest theoretical descriptions of a marine chronometer, accompanied by a discussion of the use of vacuum seals to reduce inaccuracies in the operation of timepieces. He is the first person known to have used the word chronometer.