References
Below are accumulated references both online and in print that I have found useful for various topics of study. I’ve repeated entries in multiple categories in which they are applicable.
Item is bold are specific devices, primarily historical but some also contemporary. Those not in bold are categorizations of devices.
Specific Astronomical Clocks
Jens Olsen World Clock (1955) - A personal favorite that lives in Copenhagen, beyond being complex and beautiful it is also designed to be decipherable to the observer.
Third Strasbourg Cathedral Clock (1842) - The current clock in the cathedral, it is exquisite in design although I’ve found in my research that it is not fully documented
Astroskeleton Clock (2022) - In a way the antithesis of the Jens Olsen clock, an absolute masterpiece of a clock that is a visual cacophony in the most delightful way. Fairly recently built for Mark Frank by Buchanans of Chelmsford. Frank has maintained an excellent set of build pictures for the project, although plans and calculations are not available.
Dondi’s Astrarium (1364) - One of the earliest astronomical clocks and in an interesting 7-sided structure.
Clock of the Long Now (Ongoing) - A massive project to build a clock that will run for 10,000 years. Run by the non-profit Long Now Foundation, plans for the prototype are available for purchase for a modest sum although they are insufficient to actually attempt a build.
Prague Orloj (1410) -
Specific Astronomical Models
Geocentric/Calendrical
These models, which tend to be earlier, show astronomical motion in a geocentric sense.
Antikythera Mechanism (87 BC) - If you are not familiar with this stunning device you are certainly in for a treat.
Dondi’s Astrarium (1364) - One of the earliest astronomical clocks and in an interesting 7-sided structure.
Ptolemaic Orrery (2017) - A unique orrery as it models the geocentric orrery of Ptolemy, build in the style of an 19th century orrery.
Eidouranion (1720) -
Heliocentric - Tellurion
Tellurions are models that include the sun, earth, and moon.
Ferguson ‘Paradox’ Orrery -An elegantly simple tellurion with only 5 gears, showing the precession of the lunar nodes and lunar apsides. It’s a clever application of epicyclic gearing in the most minimalist sense.
Heliocentric - Orrery
Ferguson ‘Paradox’ Orrery -An elegantly simple tellurion with only 5 gears, showing the precession of the lunar nodes and lunar apsides. It’s a clever application of epicyclic gearing in the most minimalist sense.
Other Devices of Interest
Primarily Heaven Models
Armillary Sphere - A device with an appearance of a skeletal globe, showing the celestial sphere around a geocentric observer. It typically has fixed rings corresponding to the horizon and cardinal meridians, and collectively moving rings corresponding to the celestial equator, tropics, and ecliptic. At center there is often a small ball representing the earth.
Primarily Time-telling
Dioptra -
Diptych - An early type of folding sundial with a string gnomon. Often includes a compass to orient it north.
Navicula -
Navigation and Angle Measurement
Sextant -
Octant -
Kamal -
Other
Heliostat - Now largely electronically controlled, mechanically driven heliostats were used in experiments where a beam of sunlight was required to be stationary (counteracting solar motion).
Volvelle -
Jovilabe -
Website References
Astronomical Instruments
BC Gnomonics - A cultivator and educator of historical astronomy instruments. Well
Clocks
Eric Freitas - Very unique clock style and stylish videos, although not much information provided on the actual builds
Mark Frank - Outside of videos of his Astroskeleton clock, also posts detailed explanations of rare and intricate historical clocks and clockwork mechanisms.
Astronomy
JPL Horizons - An interface that will give you nearly any astronomical data if you can understand it. Considered the most accurate data of its kind.
Stellarium - A free application (also a web version) for emulating the sky for astronomy planning. Can be used as a more user-friendly data source compared to JPL Horizons
Eyes on the Solar System - A realtime simulation of the solar system and spacecraft, no real numerical outputs to use but very usable.
Machining
Clickspring - Likely the best filmed small-shop machining videos, focused on clockwork and exploring traditional manufacturing methods. Currently building an Antikythera Mechanism, fairly rare video poster but active on patreon.
Blondihacks - One of the best channels to learn home machining from, tending more towards steam engines but does regular videos on specific shop topics. Weekly video poster.
Inheritance Machining - Wonderful and often over-engineered contraptions, but with a traditional machining flair. Posts about every other week.
Chronova Engineering - Generally watch focused and occasionally eclectic, but good production quality. Post about every other week.
Tubelcain - Massive amounts of knowledge on eclectic machining topics and tools. Fairly straightforward production.
Book References
Astronomical Clocks and Devices
Jens Olsen’s Clock, Otto Mortensen (1957). The authoritative text on the design and function of the Jens Olsen World Clock, written by his close friend who finished building it. The entire text is a technical description and while I still had some questions at the end, everything I’ve found for technical description has come from this book. Note that it was written before the renovations by Soren Anderson, so does not include those alterations.
A Portable Cosmos, Alexander Jones (2017). A fantastic reference for diving deep into the Antikythera Mechanism, and one of the more modern texts on it. This book covers the mechanics, but also the cultural context around the various inscriptions and concepts of the device.
Orreries, Clocks, and the London Society, Tony Buick, (2020). A history of both the devices themselves as well as the individuals involved in the development of orreries, all the way to modern times with LEGO models.
The Clock of the Long Now, Alexander Rose (2010). Primarily just a booklet of part drawings, there is also some description of design and Mathematica code for generating profiles like the 3D cam.
Geared to the Stars, Henry C. King (1978). One of the best books I’ve found on the subject, it is 400+ pages of detailed pictures and diagrams of astronomical clocks/models supplemented with detailed descriptions. Definitely a book to get used, the price tag is no joke.
Astronomy
Celestial Geometry, Ken Taylor (2019). A wonderful read about historical astronomical sites and how they were laid our relative to celestial significance.
An Introductory Treatise on the Lunar Theory, Ernest Brown (1896). A very deep dive into the theory of understanding lunar motion via harmonic analysis and various forcing functions. You’ll need close to a graduate level working knowledge of calculus to follow much of the mathematics, it is not for the faint of heart.
Orbital Motion, A.E. Roy (2005) - Solid detailed reference for orbital mechanics, including some of the more nuanced lunar motions that astronomical clocks compensate for. Thankfully a pdf is uploaded online.
Mechanics
507 Mechanical Movements, Henry T Brown (1908). Intended to be a vast catalogue of simple mechanisms, each is represented by a small hand drawing but the website linked is undertaking to animate the majority.
Computing Mechanisms and Linkages, Antonin Svoboda (1948). An underrated and rare book published at MIT, it describes designs and methods for creating mechanical analog computational elements in great detail. It appears someone has scanned it and it’s publicly available at the link.
Machining/Workshop
Machinery’s Handbook - Often considered the “machining bible”, it is an extensive reference for machinists. It is not a good reference to learn from but one to keep on hand when you want to look up speeds/feeds, gear profiles, general tolerances, and a mountain of other subjects. It is a thick book with thin pages, available in many editions but for most purposes whatever you can get used will work just fine.
Workshop Practice Series. A series of 40+ individual short books of various authors broken down by topics, regarding home workshops. Below are those I recommend, I would advise choosing those based on your interests rather than buying the entire collection.
#17 Gears and Gear Cutting, Ivan Law (1998)
#12 Drills, Taps, and Dies, Tubal Cain (1987)
#3 Screwcutting on the Lathe, Martin Cleeve (1984)
#30 Workshop Materials, Alex Weiss (1999)
#14 Making Small Workshop Tools, Stan Bray (1987)
#6 Measuring and Marking Metals, Ivan Law (2022)
Geo-metrics III, Lowell Foster (1994). For those delving into Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing (GD&T), the best reference and easily picked up to learn a concept
Horology Specifics
Watchmaking, George Daniels (2011). One of the quintessential books on the subject and by a vary acclaimed author. The details is there and it is readable, but do not expect to see anything far from traditional methods.
Wheel and Pinion Cutting in Horology, Malcolm Wild (2001). A solid reference book for exactly what it describes: cutting gear wheels for clocks. There is plenty of information on the subject and little beyond it.