From celestial to terrestrial timekeeping: clockmaking in the Bond family

Uittreksel

Years in the research and writing, this magnificent new AHS publication traces the achievements of the remarkable Bond family, who excelled in practical and theoretical work in astronomy, clock design, time distribution, and celestial photography?assisting astronomers to map the sky, sailors to determine longitude at sea, and the New England Railroads to run to time. At the 1851 Great Exhibition, the Bonds introduced the drum chronograph to the scientific community, combatting the human inaccuracies inherent in observing star transits. The system was greatly admired and universally employed. The Astronomer Royal, Sir George Airy, even coined a term for it: the ?American Method? The book has extensive endnotes, a detailed index and bibliography, and is profusely illustrated with 450 images, mainly in colour (featuring Bond family members, astronomer colleagues, shop drawings, and clocks and chronographs with details) as well as measured drawings of selected Bond clocks. The Appendix list clocks with historical details, advertisements, correspondence, publications, sales notes, servicing records, and a genealogy.