"QUANTUM SHOT" #591
Link
- article by M. Christian and
A. Abrams
Antique and Medieval Technology Blended With Art
Many believe early man saw the universe as a living thing: each flash of
lightning, every star in the sky, the rain that fell, the ground beneath
their feet – everything around them was part of some huge, living,
breathing creature.
But then all that changed. The Greeks, along with their intellectual
ancestors, looked at the world and while they saw life they also began to
see a mechanism to it all, a precise and ordered regularity.
(Astrolabe, New York Metropolitan Museum of Art - image credit:
Charles Tilford)
The Antikythera Device
Alhough we know the ancient Greeks were extremely intelligent, just how
smart was hinted at in 1901 – and then confirmed many years later. At
first the hunk of rusted iron pulled from the sea near the Greek island of
Antikythera was just a curiosity, a bit of archeological weirdness. It was
only decades and decades later that modern science was finally able to pry
apart the secrets of ancient science. Very, very ancient science.
The Antikythera Mechanism, as it’s called, is a meticulous and precise assembly of 72 gears – a
simply staggering piece of craftsmanship. What’s even more astounding is
that scientists think the device was an astronomical calculator: an
elaborate, incredibly accurate computer that was built in 150 to 100 BC
(more
info,
also see the mechanism in
action).
(images via 1,
2)
A model of the mechanism by Tatjana van Vark:
(images credit:
Tatjana van Vark)
Other Antikythera Mechanism reconstruction projects and working models:
(images
via)
All the instructions for the mechanism are written in Greek; one case when
you can say "this manual is all Greek to me" and be entirely correct.
Surprising details about this artefact are still being uncovered - for
example, the various dials on the back of the Antikythera Mechanism
include one dedicated to the four-year Olympiad Cycle of athletic games in
ancient Greece!
What’s even more intriguing -- as well as exciting – isn’t the device
itself but the broad hint it sends at how technologically advanced the
ancient engineers were. The device is certainly miraculous but it was also
a common working machine; not a rarity but instead what could be something
that navigators used every day. Who knows what other mechanisms and
devices have yet to be found?
(The Antikythera Mechanism in a fantasy environment - art by
Resona Raille)
Beautiful Astronomical Clock in Prague
A few hundred years later the universe was still a mechanical place but
the engineering that went into creating machines to predict and understand
it became even more complicated and elaborate. Clocks got a developmental
shot in the arm because they – when used with star charts and sextants –
were essential navigation tools. It wasn’t long before clock mechanisms
were used to track not just the hours, minutes and seconds of commerce and
shipping but also the stars and planets in the sky.
One of the more incredible astronomical clocks is the legendary
Prague Astronomical Clock. To say that it’s elaborate would be a
ridiculous understatement. The clock is an insanely complicated instrument
created not only to tell the time but also track the movements of the
stars and planets – at least the ones they knew about in the 1400s when
the clock was built. It's easy to think that making something as
complicated as the Prague clock was a one time, supremely rare thing.
(image credit:
Edgar Barany)
(images via 1,
2,
3)
Although the clock wasn’t a common working gizmo like the Antikythera
device, it also used technology and craftsmanship that existed in many
other Medieval cities – and even, a century or so later, insanely
miniaturized to the point where, if you were rich, you could carry what
was basically a tiny version in your pocket. Read this
article
about the grim fate of the clockmaster... which is only a tale, but an
atmospheric one at that.
(image credit:
ThunderMax)
While complicated, one of the greatest things about the Prague clock is
that it isn’t just a working clock; it almost deserves to be called a
monumental kinetic sculpture. It ticks and tocks and ticks and tocks in
ways, to quote from the Bible, that are “a wonder to behold.” So wondrous,
in fact, that you can find computer models online demonstrating just how
elegant and beautiful the mechanism is – which says a lot that we use 21st
century technology to appreciate the skill of a 1400s clockmaster.
(image via)
Wells Cathedral Astronomical Clock
Another beautiful example of astronomical clock engineering is the famous
Wells Cathedral Clock. Begun a few years before Prague’s, the clock
is another accurate and heavenly (literally as well as figuratively)
mechanism. Like its Prague kin, the clock is a beautiful as well as
accurate view of the world as an enormous clockwork machine - a carefully
assembled, meticulously crafted, creation.
(image credit:
Cormullion)
(images credit:
John Glass)
Unfortunately, the growing ubiquity of these clocks’ technology spelled
their doom. As more and more people could afford to carry watches there
was less and less of a need for a huge, central and, naturally, elaborate
town clock. It simply didn’t make financial sense to keep building them, a
sign that humanity's evolving view of the world was mechanical: ticks and
tocks as well as dollars and sense.
(image credit:
The Science Museum, London)
What’s ironic is that with the dawn of the 21st century, in a world ruled
by the careful calculations of software, humans are starting to
understand, and even plan to use, the uncertainty of a quantum universe:
an existence where things are never quite what they seem and chaos is part
of How Everything Works.
(Augustinian Friar's Astrological Clock, 1679 - one of the hands takes
20,000 years to revolve. At the Clock Museum in Vienna. - image credit:
Curious Expeditions)
Still, the incredible Antikythera device, the Prague and Wells Cathedral
clocks, are beautiful in their antique mechanisms – as well as evoking a
time when the world was as precise and orderly as the back-and-forth swing
of a pendulum.
Astronomical Clock at Hampton Court Palace, London, UK (1540):
(images
via)
Zimmertoren Astronomical Clock on Zimmer Tower in Lier, Belgium (left) and
Strasbourg's Cathedral Astronomical Clock:
(images via
1, 2)
Lund's Cathedral Astronomical Clock, 1424:
(image credit:
Robert)
Lyon's Cathedral Astronomical Clock:
(images via 1,
2)
Beauvais Cathedral has the St. Pierre Giant Astronomical Clock, made by
Auguste-Lucien Verité in 1865-8. It contains 90,000 pieces, 68 statutes
and 52 dials:
(image credit:
Jacques)
Germany's Munster Cathedral Astronomical Clock, 1540:
(image credit:
Sacred Destinations)
CONTINUE TO "UNUSUAL ANTIQUE MAPS" ->
Also Read: "Medieval Suits of Armor"
"Weird Books and Illuminated Manuscripts"
Category:
Art,Vintage
|
7 Comments:
Antikythera is a greek, not an african island
Fantastic photos! Too bad a great invention like the watch more often than not spells the demise of these old clocks - that today will carry a hefty price tag! I was reading about an ancient water clock the other day, that apparently kept time more accurately than anything else until the 17th century, or something like that anyway...
These clocks need to be preserved well, it is funny you did not include biig ben but I guess it was not astrological enough.
That's So Cool Photos, Wonderful Post, in Future People will use this old cool clock at there home..! i think..!
One very famous clock is missing from this collection and that's the Eise Eisinga planetarium in the modest Frisian city of Franeker. He build his clock inside his home and at present is the oldest working still acurate clock of it's kind. W
Website:
http://www.planetarium-friesland.nl/engels.html
Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eise_Eisinga
Thank you for this great tip - we will include it in the follow-up article.
Thanks for this article. I think that astronomical instruments are both philosophical and scientific objects.
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