Rational recreations, in which the principles of numbers and natural philosophy are clearly and copiously elucidated by a series of easy, entertaining, interesting experiments. Among which are all those commonly performed with the cards
Rational Recreations is a 1787 London book of scientific parlour experiments by the physician William Hooper, printed for L. Davis and aimed at general readers curious about numbers and natural philosophy. Its engraved plates show apparatus diagrams in fine black line: an electrical machine, a cylindrical device with a dial, grids of playing-card-style marks, and a trapezoidal box with pins, all drawn with clean hatching and lettered reference points a designer could adapt for technical diagrams.
