Tony Buick

Orrery (eBook, PDF)

A Story of Mechanical Solar Systems, Clocks, and English Nobility

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

To find the true story of the orrery, this book takes the reader to the vibrant, tumultous London of the 1600s. A mechanical model that shows the movements of the Moon and planets, the orrery takes its name from the Boyle family - the Earls of Orrery. Here is the fascinating story of the origins of this intricate device.

Orreries are found everywhere. They appear in paintings, on the side of royal clocks, in stately home hallways, and of course, in museums all over the world. Scientific instruments to demonstrate the movements of the planets and predict their positions using measuring devices, they were devised largely by clockmakers, but many others played a role too and are given due credit.

The story of the Boyles is not just relevant to a tiny corner of Ireland, but spans history. "Orrery" highlights the process of discovery and humankind's universal fascination with the heavens, providing a fascinating example of the relationship between innovative thinking (invention) and precision engineering (execution). It will appeal to anyone interested in popular astronomy, astronomical mechanical devices, scientific instruments, the history of clocks - and even the history of aristocratic and prestigious families!

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Springer New York
• Seitenzahl: 299
• Erscheinungstermin: 26. Oktober 2013
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781461470434
• Artikelnr.: 43788747

Autorenporträt

Dr. Tony Buick is a chemist by profession, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemists. He is the author of the first and second editions of "How to Photograph the Moon and Planets with your Digital Camera" (Springer, 2011) and has had many astronomy and photography articles published, most recently in the Sky at Night magazine: "How to photograph the ISS." In addition he has written for MENSA magazine, the Society for Popular Astronomy and various other magazines and journals. He began his retirement by returning to a lifelong interest in astronomy and has encouraged young and old to observe and understand the sky, especially while teaching science, computing and geography in a local school. Indeed, it was at that school where he showed the children at his science club how to make a human orrery and demonstrated the construction of an orrery from bits and pieces found around the house. This interest took hold and led to the research that forms the foundation of this book. He has a wide range of interests from the infinite - through a telescope - to the infinitesimal - through a microscope - and has published articles on tardigrades, robust microscopic animals that can even survive in space.