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BACK
EXPLORE
The skeletal view of this orrery made by Scottish astronomer James Ferguson reveals the intricacy of a mechanically animated solar system. The instrument was among the most wondrous inventions in 18th-century London, by then the European center of instrument trade. Used as didactic tools to demonstrate the movements of planets, these wheelworks transform the abstract and remote planetary system into an accessible and tangible model. This particular device, signed as Ferguson’s own invention, contains three micro-systems: a central moveable trio of sun, earth, and moon, with an inclined lunar orbit; one fixed pair of earth and moon, on the left; and one revolving pair of earth and moon, on the right.
James Mynde
English, 1702 – 1771
after James Ferguson
Scottish, 1710-1776
Wheelwork of James Ferguson’s Orrery
Plate 6 (page 89) from James Ferguson, Astronomy Explained upon Sir Isaac Newton's Principles…,
1764
Engraving
Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation
2015.2
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