An eidouranion is a kind of orrery that combined mechanical movement with a method of back projection. Its invention is attributed to Adam Walker (1731-1821)[1] who in the 1780s[2] built one measuring 27 feet in diameter. He used it to accompany his lectures on astronomy. It is an ancestor of planetarium projectors.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Adam_Walker_at_English_Opera_House_exhibiting_Eidouranion_21_March_1817.png/220px-Adam_Walker_at_English_Opera_House_exhibiting_Eidouranion_21_March_1817.png)
It is known that Adam Walker held lectures featuring the Eidouranium at the Royal Theatre in London in the 1780s[3] and the London Lyceum.[4] The shows were continued by his eldest son, William Walker (1767-1816), from around 1812.[1] The shows were continued through the 1820’s by William’s younger brother Deane Franklin Walker (1778-1865).[1]
The word "eidouranion" derives from the Greek compound "eid + ouranos".[5] The combining elements are "eidos", which means "what is seen, shape, form",[6] and "ouranos", which was the name of the god of the heavens.[7] Thus, the combined form means "shaped like the heavens" or "formed like the heavens".
References
edit- ^ a b c "1977JBAA...88...32G Page 32". articles.adsabs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
- ^ "Glossary of the Magic Lantern Society". Archived from the original on 2012-02-13.
- ^ Lankford, John (1997). History of astronomy: an encyclopedia. p. 405. ISBN 9780815303220.
- ^ During, Simon (2002). Modern Enchantments: The Cultural Power of Secular Magic. p. 219. ISBN 9780674013711.
- ^ Webster's New International Dictionary (Second ed.). The Riverside Press, Cambridge, MA USA: G. & C. Merriam Co. 1950.
- ^ "eid". The Cognatarium. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
- ^ "Uranus". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
Further reading
edit- King, Henry C, and John R. Millburn. Geared to the Stars: The Evolution of Planetariums, Orreries, and Astronomical Clocks. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1978. Print. [esp. Ch. 19: The Eidouranion and Other Large Transparent Orreries]