Astronomical Clock of Strasbourg Cathedral : Function and Significance

Oestmann, Günther; Irwin, Bruce W. (TRN)

ISBN 10: 900442346X / ISBN 13: 9789004423466

Published by Brill, 2020

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 51839034-n

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Astronomical Clock of Strasbourg Cathedral : Function and Significance
• Publisher: Brill
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 900442346X
• ISBN 13: 9789004423466
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Strasbourg Cathedral’s astronomical clock is one of the most famous monuments to Time in the world. No other clock has been described and appreciated so often and in such a myriad of ways. There were three clocks built consecutively within the cathedral: the earlier fourteenth century clock has left little trace; a second clock was realized in 1570-1574; while the nineteenth century clock began as a proposal for repairs, but was intended by its maker as a replacement clock. This book gives a detailed outline of the artistic and technical components of the second clock, much of which survives, and it describes the astronomical indications and its underlying conceptual framework. The author has discovered a hitherto disregarded contemporary statement that the clock displays four ways of determining the ascendant as described by Ptolemy. He also shows that the Strasbourg clock is the result of a highly original reception of the architectural theory of Vitruvius and other mathematical and mechanical texts of Late Antiquity.

Revised and updated translation from the German edition Die Straßburger Münsteruhr: Funktion und Bedeutung eines Kosmos-Modells des 16. Jahrhunderts. Published by GNT-Verlag in 1993.

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About the Author

Günther Oestmann, Ph.D. (1992), Technical University Berlin, is a professional clockmaker and Professor for History of Science. His fields of research are the history of scientific instruments and clocks, history of astronomy and mathematical geography, as well as maritime history.