God's Clockmaker: Richard Of Wallingford And The Invention Of Time

North, John

ISBN 10: 1852854510 / ISBN 13: 9781852854515

Published by Hambledon & London, London, 2005

About this Item

The picture on our listing is a photograph of the actual book NOT a stock image.[Loc. J5-6].

Seller Inventory # 014558

Bibliographic Details

• Title: God's Clockmaker: Richard Of Wallingford And The Invention Of Time
• Publisher: Hambledon & London, London
• Publication Date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1852854510
• ISBN 13: 9781852854515
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Science

About this title

Synopsis

Clocks became common in late medieval Europe and the measurement of time began to rule everyday life. God's Clockmaker is a biography of England's greatest medieval scientist, a man who solved major practical and theoretical problems to build an extraordinary and pioneering astronomical and astrological clock. Richard of Wallingford (1292-1336), the son of a blacksmith, was a brilliant mathematician with a genius for the practical solution of technical problems. Trained at Oxford, he became a monk and then abbot of the great abbey of St Albans, where he built his clock. Although as abbot he held great power, he was also a tragic figure, becoming a leper. His achievement, nevertheless, is a striking example of the sophistication of medieval science, based on knowledge handed down from the Greeks via the Arabs.

About the Authors

John North is Professor Emeritus of History of Philosophy and the Exact Sciences, University of Groningen, the Netherlands and the author of numerous books including Stonehenge: A New Interpretation of Prehistoric Man and the Cosmos and The Ambassadors' Secret.

John North, Emeritus Professor of the History of Philosophy and the Exact Sciences, University of Groningen, The netherlands and Fellow of the British Academy.