Almagest
From: www.almagest.co.uk
Almagest is unique; an astronomical clock and tabletop planetarium. It tracks and displays the movements of the planets as they move across the sky.
Functioning in clock mode Almagest shows a three-dimensional view of the current position of the planets, as they appear to us on Earth. As a reference instrument, the clock shows the position of the planets at any time or place between 1,000 BC and 5,000 AD.
Just enter any time and date from the past or the future and your chosen location on Earth and watch and wonder! The brass wheels start to turn and the planets move into position.
Housed in a glass dome, Almagest features an intricate pattern of gears, all hand assembled from polished brass. It is a clock, an astrological tool, an astronomers reference, a beautiful ornament, the ultimate conversation piece and a testament to finest British craftsmanship.
"I conceived the idea of Almagest some twelve years ago and completed the first prototype using plywood, cardboard and a throat lozenge tin in July 1989. From these humble origins the clock has undergone a comprehensive redesign and many subsequent modifications and developments. The finished article presented on this web site is the culmination of many years of research, design, model building and testing.
I am sure that you will agree that the result is spectacular and offer many thanks to all those who have helped turn my 'labour of love' into a reality. My thanks go, in particular to Julian Atiyah, for galvanizing me into action, and to Patrick Moore and the Sky at Night team, for their helpful advice.
It is my intention that Almagest will always be an exclusive product. Our small factory in Wiltshire has the capacity to produce 100 units each year. Each one is hand assembled and undergoes an independent and rigorous test routine before being presented for sale.
Finally, to help you on your journey through time and space you will receive with your clock a comprehensive handbook with user instructions and much other useful reference material".
Almagest is unique; an astronomical clock and tabletop planetarium. It tracks and displays the movements of the planets as they move across the sky.
Functioning in clock mode Almagest shows a three-dimensional view of the current position of the planets, as they appear to us on Earth. As a reference instrument, the clock shows the position of the planets at any time or place between 1,000 BC and 5,000 AD.
Just enter any time and date from the past or the future and your chosen location on Earth and watch and wonder! The brass wheels start to turn and the planets move into position.
Housed in a glass dome, Almagest features an intricate pattern of gears, all hand assembled from polished brass. It is a clock, an astrological tool, an astronomers reference, a beautiful ornament, the ultimate conversation piece and a testament to finest British craftsmanship.
"I conceived the idea of Almagest some twelve years ago and completed the first prototype using plywood, cardboard and a throat lozenge tin in July 1989. From these humble origins the clock has undergone a comprehensive redesign and many subsequent modifications and developments. The finished article presented on this web site is the culmination of many years of research, design, model building and testing.
I am sure that you will agree that the result is spectacular and offer many thanks to all those who have helped turn my 'labour of love' into a reality. My thanks go, in particular to Julian Atiyah, for galvanizing me into action, and to Patrick Moore and the Sky at Night team, for their helpful advice.
It is my intention that Almagest will always be an exclusive product. Our small factory in Wiltshire has the capacity to produce 100 units each year. Each one is hand assembled and undergoes an independent and rigorous test routine before being presented for sale.
Finally, to help you on your journey through time and space you will receive with your clock a comprehensive handbook with user instructions and much other useful reference material".
1. Almagest and its Control Box
Almagest may be bigger than you think. Its dimensions are 13" high by 15" diameter (330mm by 380mm). It weighs approximately 40lb (18kg). The Control Box is the rectangular box in the bottom right hand foreground (sometimes mistaken for a cigar box!). Almagest is electrically powered and needs to be connected to a mains supply via a transformer (supplied). The flex leading to Almagest is thin and inconspicuous. The battery-powered control box is free-standing (with IR link to the clock).
2. View from above
From the side Almagest appears mysterious - an intriguing and mysterious objet with a suggestion of the "H.G.Wells" about it. Seen from above, Almagest reveals its serious purpose. Here we see the cosmos as conceived by the ancient Greek philosophers: nested crystalline spheres (here represented by the blue-purple rings) each carrying a planet...Collectively reproducing the intricate yet ordered pattern of planetary motions that has fascinated mankind through the ages. What Pythagoras called the Music of the Spheres... The same pattern that astrologers, new and old, have long pondered, endeavouring to determine its significance for humanity, and for each of us individually.
3. Detail: The Eastern Horizon
The horizon is marked Oriens. This is the Latin word for 'rising', from which the English words 'orient' and 'oriental' are derived. The sign of Pisces (the Fishes) has just risen in the East. Also visible in the Eastern sky are Aquarius (the Water-bearer) and Capricorn (the Goat). Below the word 'Oriens' notice the tail of the dragon.
4. The Earth-sphere and the Dragon
The sphere in the centre of the 'clock face' is stationary. It represents the earth under our feet. To understand what the clock face is saying, try to forget what you learnt at school, that the earth is a planet, spinning on its axis and flying though space. Instead, assume that the surface of the earth is as fixed as it appears to be, and that it is the sun, moon and stars that are rotating about us. The dragon echoes the traditional idea that each evening the sun is eaten up by a monster, only to be reborn again in the morning.
5.The Western Horizon
The horizon is marked Occidens. This is the Latin word for 'setting', from which the English words 'occident' and 'occidental' are derived (meaning West and Western). The sign of Libra (the Scales) is just about to disappear beneath the horizon. The sign that has already just disappeared is Virgo (the Maiden). The column to the left of the picture belongs to the planet Venus, which has also just set in the West.
Is Almagest an orrery?
Not quite.
On the one hand, an orrery is probably the existing invention that Almagest most closely resembles. On the other hand, the spirit in which Almagest is conceived is very different.
An orrery is a working model of the 'solar system'. The original orrery was built by George Graham and Thomas Tompion for Charles Boyle, the fourth Earl of Orrery, in 1712.
Not many years earlier (1687) Sir Isaac Newton had shown how the orbits of the heavenly bodies may be calculated in great detail using his three Laws of Motion together with the Inverse Square Law of gravity. The hypothesis of Copernicus and Galileo, that the sun stands still at the centre of the solar system, with the earth and other planets revolving around it, was apparently justified, since it was now part and parcel of an elaborate theory which could produce extraordinarily accurate predictions.
It was time for anyone who regarded themselves as 'modern' to finally purge themselves of what had for millennia been regarded as common sense: that the earth under our feet is what is standing still, while the sun and the starry sky turn about the earth. Of course this change of outlook had been 'in the air' for many decades, but during the 1700's it became virtually compulsory for any educated person.
The problem with the heliocentric point-of-view has always been that it defies common sense: it does not agree with what one actually sees. Orrery-building may be regarded as an attempt to help overcome this difficulty. An orrery demonstrates what one would see if one could view the solar system from outside - from outer space. What God sees, in fact.
Almagest represents a fusion of the two beliefs
geocentric - common sense
heliocentric - modern, numerically effective.
It uses the Newtonian theory to calculate the positions of the planets, as viewed from earth, but then presents the results as if the geocentric theory were the true one.
Almagest could be described as a geocentric, digital orrery. But an orrery as traditionally conceived, it is not!
Is Almagest a reproduction of an antique instrument?
No. Almagest is wholly original in concept and design.
As explained above, it differs from an orrery in that it puts the earth at the centre of the cosmos. In earlier times, before the Scientific Revolution of the 17th and 18th centuries, astronomical clocks were built whose aim was essentially similar to Almagest's, that is, to show the movements of the sun, moon and planets as we actually observe them in our sky. The difference between those clocks, impressive as they are, and Almagest is that their workings were limited to clockwork machinery, whereas Almagest makes use of digital electronics to aid it in its task of reproducing the movements of the heavens. As a result it is more accurate, more versatile and infinitely easier to set up and use.
Why does it cost £5650 (plus VAT) ?
Almagest is an innovative product, produced in small quantities. Most of its 250-odd parts are specially made for it, to a high standard. We haven't skimped on the quality - or the quantity - of the materials. Most of the working parts are of brass, with the designs on the Zodiac Ring and the Horizon Plate etched into (not printed onto) the brass. The wooden base is oak. We have gone to great lengths to make the Control Box easy for anyone to use; and made it separate from the clock itself (communicating by means of infra-red beams), so as not to detract from the elegance of the main unit.
The dimensions of Almagest are 13" high by 15" diameter (330mm by 380mm). It weighs approximately 40 lbs (18 kg) - make sure you have a sturdy table to place it on.
Where can I see it?
Please ring us on 01273 774822 (international 0044-1273-774822). We will be able to advise you as to where Almagest is currently on view.
Will Almagest work anywhere in the world?
Yes.
Make sure you enter your latitude and longitude at the same time as you set the time of your Almagest.
Just one proviso: Almagest is designed primarily for use in the Northern Hemisphere. If you live in the Southern Hemisphere (more than say 15 or 20 degrees South of the equator), the relationship between Almagest's 'clock face' and what you see in the sky will not be quite so direct as if you lived in the Northern Hemisphere. For example, during the day, Almagest's sun moves from left to right across the clockface. Whereas, the actual sun (in the South) moves from right to left. During the course of a year, the sun moves through the signs of the Zodiac in the order Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc... (this is the same for everyone). Looking at the corresponding constellations in the sky, Gemini is to the left of Taurus, which is to the left of Aries - in the Northern Hemisphere: the other way round in the South. Again, Almagest takes the Northern view (so Taurus is to the left of Aries).
Wherever you are Almagest will show the sun rising at the correct time, the moon likewise, will place the planets in the right signs, etc. If you live in the South, you will just have to think a bit harder to connect the 'clock face' with what you see in the sky (basically, they are mirror images of one another).
On the one hand, an orrery is probably the existing invention that Almagest most closely resembles. On the other hand, the spirit in which Almagest is conceived is very different.
An orrery is a working model of the 'solar system'. The original orrery was built by George Graham and Thomas Tompion for Charles Boyle, the fourth Earl of Orrery, in 1712.
Not many years earlier (1687) Sir Isaac Newton had shown how the orbits of the heavenly bodies may be calculated in great detail using his three Laws of Motion together with the Inverse Square Law of gravity. The hypothesis of Copernicus and Galileo, that the sun stands still at the centre of the solar system, with the earth and other planets revolving around it, was apparently justified, since it was now part and parcel of an elaborate theory which could produce extraordinarily accurate predictions.
It was time for anyone who regarded themselves as 'modern' to finally purge themselves of what had for millennia been regarded as common sense: that the earth under our feet is what is standing still, while the sun and the starry sky turn about the earth. Of course this change of outlook had been 'in the air' for many decades, but during the 1700's it became virtually compulsory for any educated person.
The problem with the heliocentric point-of-view has always been that it defies common sense: it does not agree with what one actually sees. Orrery-building may be regarded as an attempt to help overcome this difficulty. An orrery demonstrates what one would see if one could view the solar system from outside - from outer space. What God sees, in fact.
Almagest represents a fusion of the two beliefs
geocentric - common sense
heliocentric - modern, numerically effective.
It uses the Newtonian theory to calculate the positions of the planets, as viewed from earth, but then presents the results as if the geocentric theory were the true one.
Almagest could be described as a geocentric, digital orrery. But an orrery as traditionally conceived, it is not!
Is Almagest a reproduction of an antique instrument?
No. Almagest is wholly original in concept and design.
As explained above, it differs from an orrery in that it puts the earth at the centre of the cosmos. In earlier times, before the Scientific Revolution of the 17th and 18th centuries, astronomical clocks were built whose aim was essentially similar to Almagest's, that is, to show the movements of the sun, moon and planets as we actually observe them in our sky. The difference between those clocks, impressive as they are, and Almagest is that their workings were limited to clockwork machinery, whereas Almagest makes use of digital electronics to aid it in its task of reproducing the movements of the heavens. As a result it is more accurate, more versatile and infinitely easier to set up and use.
Why does it cost £5650 (plus VAT) ?
Almagest is an innovative product, produced in small quantities. Most of its 250-odd parts are specially made for it, to a high standard. We haven't skimped on the quality - or the quantity - of the materials. Most of the working parts are of brass, with the designs on the Zodiac Ring and the Horizon Plate etched into (not printed onto) the brass. The wooden base is oak. We have gone to great lengths to make the Control Box easy for anyone to use; and made it separate from the clock itself (communicating by means of infra-red beams), so as not to detract from the elegance of the main unit.
The dimensions of Almagest are 13" high by 15" diameter (330mm by 380mm). It weighs approximately 40 lbs (18 kg) - make sure you have a sturdy table to place it on.
Where can I see it?
Please ring us on 01273 774822 (international 0044-1273-774822). We will be able to advise you as to where Almagest is currently on view.
Will Almagest work anywhere in the world?
Yes.
Make sure you enter your latitude and longitude at the same time as you set the time of your Almagest.
Just one proviso: Almagest is designed primarily for use in the Northern Hemisphere. If you live in the Southern Hemisphere (more than say 15 or 20 degrees South of the equator), the relationship between Almagest's 'clock face' and what you see in the sky will not be quite so direct as if you lived in the Northern Hemisphere. For example, during the day, Almagest's sun moves from left to right across the clockface. Whereas, the actual sun (in the South) moves from right to left. During the course of a year, the sun moves through the signs of the Zodiac in the order Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc... (this is the same for everyone). Looking at the corresponding constellations in the sky, Gemini is to the left of Taurus, which is to the left of Aries - in the Northern Hemisphere: the other way round in the South. Again, Almagest takes the Northern view (so Taurus is to the left of Aries).
Wherever you are Almagest will show the sun rising at the correct time, the moon likewise, will place the planets in the right signs, etc. If you live in the South, you will just have to think a bit harder to connect the 'clock face' with what you see in the sky (basically, they are mirror images of one another).