Glorious Gearworks--Model of the Solar System, 1817

JF Ptak Science Books  Quick Post

This is the heart of the beautiful orrey created by William Pearson (1767-1847, and one of the founders of the Royal Astronomical Society) as found in the magisterial if not occasionally problematic Cyclopedia of Abraham Rees (1743-1825). It was published in 1817 and features the main gearing for a mechanical display of the functioning of the Solar System:

This is the detail from the following, full-length version, which is 8"x10"--so there's a fair amount of detail in a limited field:

 

And the beautiful Dadaist detail of Jupiter and Saturn:

• The original print is available from the blog's bookstore, here.