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1 Richard of Wallingford, Abbot
SUBJECT AREA: Horology[br]b. 1291/2 Wallingford, Englandd. 23 May 1336 St Albans, Hertfordshire, England[br]English cleric, mathematician and astronomer who produced the earliest mechanical clock of which there is detailed knowledge.[br]Richard, the son of a blacksmith, was adopted by the Prior of Wallingford when his father died and educated at Oxford. He then joined the monastery at St Albans and was ordained as a priest in 1317. After a further period at Oxford studying mathematics and astronomy he returned to St Albans as Abbot in 1327. Shortly after he had been elected Abbot he started work on a very elaborate astronomical clock. The escapement and the striking mechanism of this clock were unusual. The former was a variation on the verge escapement, and the hour striking (up to twenty-four) was controlled by a series of pins laid out in a helical pattern on a drum. However, timekeeping was of secondary importance as the main purpose of the clock was to show the motion of the Sun, Moon and planets (the details of the planet mechanism are lost) and to demonstrate eclipses. This was achieved in a very precise manner by a series of ingenious mechanisms, such as the elliptical wheel that was used to derive the variable motion of the sun.Richard died of leprosy, which he had contracted during a visit to obtain papal confirmation of his appointment, and the clock was completed after his death. The last recorded reference to it was made by John Leyland, shortly before the dissolution of the monasteries. It is now known only from incomplete manuscript copies of Richard's treatise. A modern reconstruction has been made based upon J.D.North's interpretation of the manuscript.[br]BibliographyFor the drafts of Richard's Treatise on the Clock, with translation and commentary, see J.D.North, 1976, Richard of Wallingford, 3 vols, Oxford.Further ReadingSee J.D.North's definitive work above: for biographical information see Vol. 2, pp. 1–16. Most of the shorter accounts appeared before the publication of North's treatise and are therefore of more limited use.G.White, 1978, "Evolution of the epicyclic gear—part 2", Chartered Mechanical Engineer (April): 85–8 (an account of Richard's use of epicyclic gearing).DVBiographical history of technology > Richard of Wallingford, Abbot
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2 Wallingford, Abbot Richard of
Biographical history of technology > Wallingford, Abbot Richard of
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3 Dondi, Giovanni
SUBJECT AREA: Horology[br]b. 1318 Chioggia, Italyd. 22 June 1389 Milan, Italy[br]Italian physician and astronomer who produced an elaborate astronomical clock.[br]Giovanni was the son of Jacopo de'Dondi dall'-Orologio, a physician who designed a public clock that was installed in Padua in 1344. The careers of both father and son followed similar paths, for Giovanni became Physician to Emperor Charles IV and designed a complicated astronomical clock (astrarium) for which he became famous. Around 1350 he was appointed Professor of Astronomy at the University of Padua. Dondi completed his astrarium in 1381, having worked on it for sixteen years. Unlike the clock of Richard of Wallingford, it used the common form of verge escapement and had no facility for sounding the hours on a bell. It did, however, indicate time on a 24- hour dial and had calendars for both the fixed and movable feasts of the Church. Its principal function was to show the motions of the planets on the Ptolemaic theory, i.e. the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Like the Wallingford clock, it also indicated the position of the nodes, or points where the orbits of the Sun and Moon intersected, so that eclipses could be predicted. The astrarium was acquired by the Duke of Milan and its history can be traced to c.1530, when it was in disrepair. It is now known only from copies of Dondi's manuscript "Tractus astarii". Several modern reconstructions have been made based upon the details in the various manuscripts.[br]Bibliography1987, Astrarium Johannis de Dondis; fac-simile du manuscript de Padoue et traduction française par Emmanuel Poulle, Padua/Paris. For an English translation of Astrarium, see G.H. Baillie, H.A.Lloyd and F.A.B.Ward, 1974, The Planetarium of Giovanni de Dondi, London; however, this translation is less satisfactory as it is a composite of two manuscripts, with illustrations from a third.Further ReadingS.Bedini and F.Maddison, 1966, "Mechanical universe. The astrarium of Giovanni de"Dondi' Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 56:1–69 (for the history of the clock).H.A.Lloyd, 1958, Some Outstanding Clocks Over 700 Years, 1250–1950, London, pp. 9–24 (for its construction).DV -
4 Horology
See also: INDEX BY SUBJECT AREA[br]Ctesibius of AlexandriaGrimthorpe, Edmund Beckett, BaronSu SongYi-XingZhang Sixun
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