Topical Guide 571
Mark Dorset
Gadgets: Mechanical: Orrery
Where Do You Stop? Chapter 3:
The whole arrangement reminded me of the electrified model of the solar system kept in a glass case in the hallway of the oldest of the elementary schools in town. The school board had spent quite a lot of money to buy this model solar system and, fearing that use would wear it out, limited its public appearances to an annual demonstration before an assembly of students in the school auditorium, when we actually got to see the creaking mechanism turn.
James Cooke, “Orrery,” History of Science Museum, University of Oxford:
An orrery is a mechanical model of the Solar System that shows the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons according to the heliocentric (Sun-centred) model.
See also:
Gadgets, Electronic TG 83; TG 84; TG 433; Car Phone TG 439; Kitchen TG 457; Personal Computers TG 466; Hyperlinks and Hypertext and Hypercard TG 466; Mechanical: Compressed Earth Blocks Machine TG 470; Fantastical, Useless, Self-Destructive TG 567
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