Author: Tony Buick Publisher: Springer Nature ISBN: 3030617777 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 367
Book Description
Orreries—mechanical models of the Solar System and its motions—are found everywhere. They appear in paintings, on computers, across natural landscapes, and in museums all over the world. The more you look, the more you find, yet their significance is often overlooked aside other great astronomical inventions. This book reclaims the history of the orrery, offering a fascinating look into its evolution over the centuries. With a particular focus on London society and clockmakers, it weaves together historical narrative with practical know-hows and scientific fact, showing how the orrery changed from a fanciful toy to a high-tech instrument to a vessel for art and education. The first edition, Orrery, explained what an orrery is and how it got its name. This revised edition goes several steps further, tracing the instrument back to the time of Ptolemy and forward to planetariums and star projectors. In addition, it features new sections on how to construct your own orrery at home. This book will appeal to anybody interested in astronomical mechanical devices, scientific instruments, horology, or the history of clocks.
Author: Tony Buick Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 1461470439 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 312
Book Description
“Orrery” appeals to almost anyone interested in popular astronomy, astronomical mechanical devices, scientific instruments, the history of clocks - and even the history of aristocratic and prestigious families! Many people these days – not only astronomers – have a good idea of the main components of the Solar System. They might also know about the orrery, a mechanical model that shows the movements of the Moon and planets. But not too many know why it was so named and who it was named after. The Boyle family – the Earls of Orrery –include the famous Boyle of Boyle’s Law. But others were key in the history of the orrery, not the least being clockmakers. Aware of the lunar and planetary content of the sky, they strove to make scientific instruments to demonstrate their movements and introduced measuring devices to predict their positions. In antiquity, their lives on occasion depended on the accuracy; upsetting kings and lords was dangerous business! Orreries are found everywhere. They can be made of wood or metal, and are even available today as home-assembly kits and children’s toys. They appear in paintings, on computers, on the side of royal clocks, in stately home hallways, and of course, in museums all over the world. This book contains illustrations of orreries to give a guide as to what is and was available and where to see the best examples. It also contains information and references to help readers who want to make (or buy) their own orrery. The story of the Boyles is not just relevant to a tiny corner of Ireland, but spans the world. “Orrery” highlights the process of discovery and humankind’s universal fascination with the heavens. Provides a fascinating example of the relationship between innovative thinking (invention) and precision engineering (execution).
Author: Greenwich Society for the Acquisition and Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (London, England) Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 70
Author: Samuel L. Macey Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 113650883X Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 706
Book Description
In this encyclopedia, some 200 international scholars in 360 articles explore subjects such as physics, archeostronomy, astronomy, mathematics, time's measurements and divisions, as well as covering other scientific and interdisciplinary areas: biology, economics and political science, horology, history, medicine, geography, geology and telecommunications.
Author: John R. Millburn Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1351960822 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 372
Book Description
’G. Adams in Fleet Street London’ is the signature on some of the finest scientific instruments of the eighteenth century. This book is the first comprehensive study of the instrument-making business run by the Adams family, from its foundation in 1734 to bankruptcy in 1817. It is based on detailed research in the archival sources as well as examination of extant instruments and publications by George Adams senior and his two sons, George junior and Dudley. Separate chapters are devoted to George senior’s family background, his royal connections, and his new globes; George junior’s numerous publications, and his dealings with van Marum; and to Dudley’s dabbling with ’medico-electrical therapeutics’. The book is richly illustrated with plates from the Adams’s own publications and with examples of instruments ranging from unique museum pieces - such as the ’Prince of Wales’ microscope - and globes to the more common, even mundane, items of the kind seen in salesrooms and dealers - the surveying, navigational and military instruments that formed the backbone of the business. The appendices include facsimiles of trade catalogues and an annotated short-title listing of the Adams family’s publications, which also covers American and Continental editions, as well as the posthumous ones by W. & S. Jones.
Author: Stefka Ritchie Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing ISBN: 1527521095 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 361
Book Description
The central theme of this book is an under-studied link between the canon of Francis Bacon’s and Isaac Newton’s scientific and philosophical thought and Samuel Johnson’s critical approach that can be traced in a textual study of his literary works. The interpretive framework adopted here encourages familiarity with the history and philosophy of science, confirming that the history of ideas is an entirely human construct that constitutes an integral part of intellectual history. This further endorses the argument that intermediality can only be of benefit to future research into the richness of Johnson’s literary style. As perceived boundaries are crossed between conventionally distinct communication media, the profile of Johnson that emerges is of a writer of passionate intelligence who was able to combine a pragmatic approach to knowledge with flights of imagination as a true artist.
Author: Tony Buick
Author: Tony Buick
Author: James Ferguson
Author: James FERGUSON (F.R.S.)
Author: Greenwich Society for the Acquisition and Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (London, England)
Author: Samuel L. Macey
Author: 
Author: John R. Millburn
Author: Stefka Ritchie
Author: Guildhall Library (London, England)