"Augustus II erected the "Royal Cabinet of Mathematical and Physical Instruments" in Dresden's Zwinger Palace in 1728 as an independent museum, thereby continuing a tradition that goes back to the mid-16th century Kunstkammer in the Residential Palace. This passion for collecting encompassed tools and scientific instruments for calculating the altitude of stars or the next solar eclipse, for surveying, or for aiming cannons. It included terrestrial and celestial globes, fascinating optical, astronomical, and geodetic devices, as well as historical aids for calculating, drawing, and measuring. Last but not least, the holdings also comprised a horological collection and mechanical automatons. The new museum guide takes readers and visitors through the expanded exhibitions, which reopened in 2013 after extensive renovation. The publication documents the sovereigns' passions for collecting and reveals some of the principles on which our present knowledge of the world is based" Back cover