Appendix 1: a Select Timeline

Appendix 1: A Select Timeline 1292 Richard of Wallingford, English astronomer/horologist born 1336 Richard of Wallingford, English astronomer/horologist died 1386 Salisbury cathedral clock built 1410 Prague clock installed 1473 Nicolaus Copernicus born 1524 Roger Boyle born in Herefordshire but lived in Kent, England 1525 John Stowe, surveyor of London, born 1532 Nicholas Oursian, French clockmaker first recorded 1543 Nicolaus Copernicus died 1546 Tycho Brahe born 1564 Galileo Galilei born 1566 Richard Boyle was born in Canterbury 1576 Roger Boyle died in Preston, Faversham 1590 Nicholas Oursian died 1600 Lantern clocks became common 1601 Tycho Brahe died 1602 Galileo Galilei discovered pendulum swing independent of amplitude. 1605 John Stowe, surveyor of London, died 1610 Galileo Galilei describes moons associated with Jupiter 1629 Christaan Huygens born 1633 Samuel Pepys born 1635 Robert Hooke born 1639 Thomas Tompion born 1642 Sir Isaac Newton born 1642 Galileo Galilei died 1643 Richard Boyle died 1644 Ole Christensen Rømer born 1646 John Flamsteed born 1650 Sir Cloudesley Shovell born 1650 Duke of Marlborough (John Churchill) born 1656 Professor Edmund Halley born 1657 Christaan Huygens patented pendulum clock 1657 Robert Hooke invented the anchor escapement 1660–1669 Samuel Pepys created his private diaries 1662 Dr Richard Bentley, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, born 1663 Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy-Carignan-Soissons born 1666 Great Fire of London 1667 Jonathan Swift born 1668 John Rowley born 1672 Sir Richard Steele born 1673 George Graham born 1674 Charles Boyle born T. Buick, Orrery, Astronomers’ Universe, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-7043-4, 289 © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014 290 Appendix 1: A Select Timeline 1675 John Flamsteed appointed first astronomer royal at the founding of the Royal Greenwich Observatory 1677 Stephen Hales born 1693 James Bradley, the third Astronomer Royal, born 1693 John Harrison born 1694 The beginnings of the Bank of England 1695 Christaan Huygens died 1695 Cylinder escapement designed by Thomas Tompion and patented by himself, Edward Barlow and William Houghton 1695 Beginning of the battle of Epistles of Phalaris, Charles Boyle 1698 Pierre Louis Maupertuis born 1701 Anders Celsius born 1701–1714 War of the Spanish Accession 1703 Robert Hooke died 1703 Samuel Pepys died 1704 Duke of Marlborough at Battle of Blenheim 1707 Sir Cloudesley Shovell died on the shores of the Scilly Isles 1709 Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene at Battle of Malplaquet 1710 Ole Christensen Rømer died 1710 New St Paul’s Cathedral, designed by sir Christopher Wren, completed 1710 Proto-orreries produced around this time 1712 John Rowley makes the first tellurium to be called an orrery after his patron Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery. 1713 Thomas Tompion died 1715 Thomas Mudge born George Graham’s dead-beat clock escapement 1719 John Flamsteed died 1721 Larcum Kendall born 1722 Duke of Marlborough (John Churchill) died 1722 George Graham made significant improvements on Cylinder escapement 1727 Sir Isaac Newton died 1728 John Rowley died 1729 Sir Richard Steele died 1730 John Harrison created design and drawings for first marine chronometer, H1 1731 Charles Boyle died 1732 Eustace Budgell, ‘Memoirs of the Life and Character of the late Earl of Orrery’ Reverend Nevil Maskelyne born 1736 Prince Eugene died. His huge fortune, buildings and collections passed to Princess Anne Victoria of Savoy, the daughter of his oldest brother who promptly sold the lot for knock-down prices without record keeping 1736 John Arnold born 1741 Anders Celsius simultaneously detected a magnetic storm 1742 Dr Richard Bentley died Professor Edmund Halley died 1744 Anders Celsius died 1745 Jonathan Swift died 1747 Abraham-Louis Breguet born 1749 Thomas Earnshaw born 1751 George Graham died 1753 Johann Georg Nesstfelt completed the repair of English ‘orrery’ 1754 Thomas Mudge invented the detached lever escapement Appendix 1: A Select Timeline 291 1759 Pierre Louis Maupertuis died 1761 Stephen Hales died 1762 James Bradley, the third Astronomer Royal, died 1763 William Jones, clockmaker, born 1767 John Pond born 1775 Detached escapement created by John Arnold 1776 John Harrison died 1780 Detached escapement modified by Thomas Earnshaw 1794 Thomas Mudge died 1795 Larcum Kendall died 1797 James Ferguson born 1799 John Arnold died 1811 Reverend Nevil Maskelyne died 1823 Abraham-Louis Breguet died 1829 Thomas Earnshaw died 1831 William Jones died 1836 John Pond died 1851 Sir George Airy redefined the exact meridian position 1867 James Ferguson died 1884 Greenwich meridian agreed to be the official prime meridian 1890 Sir Harold Spencer Jones born 1930 G&T proto-orrery purchased by a dealer, Jesse Myer Botibol 1937 Rupert Gould describes the restoration and mechanism of Rowley orrery 1948 G&T proto-orrery sold at Sotherby’s auction sales in, Lot 174 1960 Sir Harold Spencer Jones died 1974 Derek J de Solla Price published “Gears from the Greeks: the Antikythera mechanism” Appendix 2: Glossary Armillary An armillary has other names such as spherical astrolabe and armil and consisting of a spherical framework, usually metal, of rings centered on the Earth. They represent objects in the sky (celestial sphere) and/or lines of celestial longitude, latitude and the ecliptic. It differs from a celestial globe that is a smooth ball produced to map the constellations. Astrarium clock A clock that displays more than the usual time. It includes astronomical information such as mean time, sidereal time, the phases of the moon, motions of the Sun and known planets and can display tide tables. The first to be described was one by de Dondi in 1364. Astrolabe An astrolabe is, essentially, a calculator and has been known since ancient times. Its mechanism is based on an inclinometer and has been used for astrologers, navigators and astronomers to determine time and latitude and predict the positions of the Sun Moon, planets and stars. Amongst its many other uses it was used by Muslims to find the direction of Mecca. Board of Longitude The full name for the Board was Commissioners for the Disco- very of the Longitude at Sea and was set up purely as a result of accidents (tragedies) due to the lack of knowledge of precise location. The dedicated aim of many was to use the position of the stars and Moon that could have taken many more decades had it not been for the invention of the marine chronometer by John Harrison. Clepsydra A water clock or a mechanism for drawing water from a contai- ner too large from which to pour. Diptych A diptych literally means two leaves and refers to a book-like object with two panels joined by a hinge. It has many uses and applications ever since ancient times but in astronomy it refers to a sundial with a string that acts as the gnomon that appears as the diptych is opened. Ellipticity Flattening or squeezing of a circle of sphere results in the pro- duction of an ellipse that is the shape of the orbits of astronomical bodies. It is essential to understand the parameters of ellipses to delve deeper into some astronomical mechanisms. Escapement The mechanism that prevents the main movement of a clock from running away and unwinding wildly. The clicking sound is the escape wheel doing its job as it regulates the movement to a particular frequency. Foliot The foliot was part of the verge escapement mechanism that consisted of a horizontal bar that swung to and fro to control the movement of the verge. The oscillations could be varied by moving weights on the arms of the foliot. T. Buick, Orrery, Astronomers’ Universe, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-7043-4, 293 © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014 294 Appendix 2: Glossary Fusée As a spring winds down it loses its force. By allowing the chain attached to the spring mechanism to pass round a drum with a re- ducing radius the force can become even. The drum or cone is called a fusée. Isochronism Isochronous is simply the keeping of regular time. The great leap forward for isochronous clocks was the adaptation of the pendulum as first described by Galileo. The time of a swing of a pendulum of a specified length will be the same for different angles of swing. Lantern clock These weight-driven clocks were the first commonly used clocks. They were not tremendously accurate which is why they originally had only one hand, the hour hand. A bell rang every hour. Meridian Meridians are imaginary circles around any globe or sphere that can be anywhere on that sphere. Tying down its geographical position leads to the Greenwich meridian, 0 degrees longitude, for interna- tional navigation or, for astronomical reference, is a Great Circle passing through the celestial poles and the zenith for a particular location. Quadrant A quadrant is simply an instrument that is used to measure angles up to 90 degrees. Its special use in astronomy is to precisely find the coordinates of stars and was known in ancient times. The quadrant must be firmly attached to a wall or similar. A telescope is attached for accurate measurement. A hand-held quadrant was used at sea for navigation but was superseded by the more modern sextant. Resonance The interaction of various parameters of celestial bodies that result in stable orbits is referred to as being in resonance. The shape of the orbits themselves can interact to produce resonance, or, if resonance is not achieved something has to give and one of the bodies may be thrown out of the system altogether. Saros cycle A Saros cycle is the interval between times when all three bodies, the Sun, Moon and Earth are in alignment to produce an eclipse of the Moon.

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