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(s): Tony Buick
Series: Astronomers' Universe
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 349
City: Cham
Foreword to the First Edition
Foreword to the Revised Edition
Preface
Tracing Back the Orrery’s Story
Notes on the Second Edition
Acknowledgements
Contents
About the Author
Sir Patrick Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS: A Personal Memory
1: Setting the Scene
What Is an Orrery?
Astronomy in Ancient Civilizations
The Development of Scientific and Astronomical Instruments
Mechanical Clocks
Further Reading
2: Honest George, Chronometers and the Mystery of the Disappearing Proto-Orreries
George Graham, Clocks and Chronometers
Graham, the Scientist and Astronomer
The Proto-Orreries
Prince Eugene
John Rowley
On the Trail
Further Reading
3: Orrery: The Man and the Model
The Boyle Family
Richard Boyle
Roger Boyle
Robert Boyle
Charles Boyle, Fourth Earl of Orrery
Budgell’s Boyle
A Gallery of Orreries: Eighteenth-Century Models
Modern Models and Replicas
Astronomical Clocks
Homemade Models
Human Orreries
Solar System Models
A New Orrery: The Lunarium
The Little Bits of the Solar System
Planetary Orreries
Mars
Earth
Further Reading
4: A Closer Look at Gear Calculations, Time Corrections, Escapements and Orbital Resonance
Gears
The Equation of Time
Measurement of Latitude
Cogs and Orreries
Escapement
What Can an Orrery Illustrate?
Orrery Construction
Introduction to Home Orrery Construction
What Can I Buy?
What Can I Make?
Advanced Models
Designing a Geared Orrery: Practical Considerations
Positional Astronomy
Application to Orreries
Novel Orreries
Fruit Bowl
A Flat Orrery in Preparation
A Ptolemaic Orrery
Who Was Ptolemy?
The Model
Further Reading
5: The Clockmaker’s London
London
Fleet Street
Coffee Houses
Tea Houses
Temple Bar
Who Lived Where
Greenwich
A Fairer Hearing
Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
Samuel Pepys (1633–1703)
Nevil Maskelyne (1732–1811)
Sir Cloudesley Shovell (1650–1707)
Sir Richard Steele (1672–1729)
Sir Jonas Moore (1617–1679)
John Flamsteed (1646–1719)
Further Reading
6: Modern and Orrery Times Compared
If You Were There
The Sun
Sunspots
Bright Lights
Climate Effects
Magnetism
Storms
Squabbles
Politics and Piracy
Effects of Enlightenment
The Birth of Banking: Clockmakers Also Invest
Reflections on the Age
Further Reading
7: The Planetarium: A Journey into Space
Introduction
What’s to See in the Universe?
Modern Planetaria
Early Models
Current Models
Creating the Shows
It’s All About Gravity
Gravitational Waves
Gravitational Wave Planetaria?
Further Reading
8: Postface
Further Reading
Appendices
Appendix 1: A Select Timeline
Appendix 2: Glossary
Appendix 3: Bibliography
Index
