Measuring – Stars, Buildings, Cannonballs I
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
Quadrant. Sebastian Münster, Cosmographia (First edition Bale 1544, here: Basel: Henricus Petrus, 1550), Zentralbibliothek Zürich, Alte Drucke und Rara, K 98, p. 18.
Archive for 2011
Instrument for the Drawing of Wiggly Lines
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
Albrecht Dürer, Unterweisung oder Underrichtung der Messung, in: Opera (Arnhem: Johann Jansen, 1604), Zentralbibliothek Zürich, Alte Drucke und Rara, ZB XXII, D. III.
A Stone Swimming on Water
Monday, March 7th, 2011
A magnet placed in a vessel moves the vessel towards north. This movement can be changed by another magnet. Drawing in the translation of Peregrinus’ letter made by Filippo Pigafetta (1533-1604), manuscript: Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, published by Sturlese*, p. 50.
Geography Relates to the Face – As Chorography to the Ear and the Eye
Sunday, March 6th, 2011
First the sky (the celestial), then the earth. The sky serves as a model for understanding and measuring the earth. Peter Apian (1495–1552) explains how the transfer is done. One aspect of his book is “geography” as a measuring descripition of the earth (as a globe). This leads to measurement and representation of different spots of the earth in the so called “chorography”. This is the representation of space in a local dimension which is not affected by the curvature of the earth. The earth relates to the head as well as a local spot relates to the eye and the ear. Gemma Frisius (1508-1555) comments on this: Cosmographia (Antverpiae; Ioannis Bellerum, 1584), Zentralbibliothek Zürich, Alte Drucke und Rara, Ry 245, p. 2-3.
First: The Poles of the Sky
Friday, March 4th, 2011
Instrument for measuring the heigth of the celestial pole. Peter Apian (1495-1552) discusses the use of compasses for a description of the world and map making. Gemma Frisius (1508-1555) comments on this. The book (first 1540) illustrates the impact of astronomical instruments in training human vision and focusing on pointers: Cosmographia (Antverpiae; Ioannis Bellerum, 1584), Zentralbibliothek Zürich, Alte Drucke und Rara, Ry 245, p. 10.
