Horology, a child of Astronomy, Fond. Haute Horlogerie
This hardcover book by the "Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie" with 88 full color pages and great illustrations retraces the history of astronomy and horology. Astronomy is the scientific study of the stars. It seeks to explain their origin, evolution, physical and chemical properties.
Horology is the art, science, industry and trade of all intruments that measure time. Primitive Man rapidly became aware of time, though certainly not in our modern-day sense of a succession of hours. Instead it was the alternating of day and night, the natural rhythm of the seasons, and the changing position of the Sun and Moon that aroused his curiosity. Later, Man was able to set fixed reference points in time, and know when to hunt or to harvest by drafting calendars based on lunar and solar cycles.
The Ancient Romans, for example, based their calendars on the lunar cycle. Because of their imprecision, occasional adjustments were required to realign these calendars with the seasons. Lunar under Romulus, the calendar became lunisolar under Caesar, when it took the name of Julian calendar.
It too required various adjustments over the centuries, and in 1582 was reformed again under Pope Gregory XIII. This Gregorian calendar is now used almost universally in the business world. And so from the origins of humankind to the present day, horologists have developed instruments that mirror the Cosmos, and made objects which have evolved from utilitarian and scientific into coveted creations.
This book lifts the veil on the mysteries of astronomy and considers its relation to the measurement of time. It follows the study of the movements of the Sun, Earth, Moon and the Universe to guide the reader towards a closer understanding of the astronomical complications of today's timepieces. The wristwatch carries on a fabulous human adventure, and continues to fascinate admirers of finely-crafted timepieces in its perpetual and annual calendars, age and phases of the moon, equation of time, and other complexities.
Reproductions of ancient documents alongside photographs of timekeeping instruments such as sundials, clocks, pocket watches and wristwatches with astronomical functions illustrate the text, which also includes explanations of the Nebra sky disc, the Antikythera mechanism, and the Prague astronomical clock.
A comprehensive glossary provides terms of interest to anyone curious about astronomical timekeeping.
Contents:
- Foreword by Fabienne Lupo
- Introduction
- Origins
- The Earth
- The Moon
- The Sun
- The Univers
- Glossary
The texts are written in French and in English by Dominique Fléchon and Grégory Gardinetti.
Printed in 2013, this book is NEW and is 11-½ inches x 8 inches ( 29 cm x 21 cm )
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