|
|
Their own right time: A tale of two clocks
Presented by Alan Emmerson
September 15, 2009
Towards the end of the last century two eminent English scientists each set out to build the clock of his dreams. They succeeded in building two clocks as different as chalk and cheese, but both were technically in advance of anything that had come before. One clock had links back to 1920s and to Father O'Leary of Riverview College Sydney, the other was so precise that its rate was influenced by a chestnut tree growing nearby and the position of one of the chairs in the clock room. Aficionados will know these clocks as 'the Littlemore' and 'W5'. This presentation will describe the clocks and examine in detail some of the more intriguing features.
Alan is an aeronautical engineer of some 45 years standing. He held a variety of senior appointments in Australian airworthiness control...In addition to an involvement in model engineering and the restoration of quality clocks over some thirty years, Alan has had a particular interest in revisiting the kinematics of mechanical clocks. His journal articles cover topics such as Huygens and the cycloid misunderstanding, the equations of motion of real pendulums, the inelastic behaviour of mainsprings, and an analysis of one of the clocks discussed in this lecture.
|
|
|
|
