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-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: [HASTRO-L] From Celestial to Terrestrial Timekeeping: New book
about William Cranch Bond, his sons, and observatory timekeeping
Date: Mon, 5 Aug 2019 16:07:16 +0000
From: Schechner, Sara
Reply-To: History of Astronomy Discussion Group 
To: HASTRO-L@LISTSERV.WVU.EDU

Below please find a message from Dr. James Nye, chairman of the
Antiquarian Horological Society, concerning _ From Celestial to
Terrestrial Timekeeping_, a new book by Donald Saff about William Cranch
Bond and his sons and their associations with Harvard College
Observatory and the clockmaking firm of William Bond & Son.   As curator
of Harvard's Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, which
holds the business records, casting patterns, and exquisite astronomical
regulators by the firm, I had the privilege to write the book's
introduction.

If you are interested in observatories and precision timekeepers, this
is a book for you!

Sara Schechner

------------------------------------------------

Dear All,

I hope list members (and their institutions, departments and libraries)
will be interested in a new publication from the AHS
(http://www.ahsoc.org), which covers in depth the contributions of the
Bond family of Boston to the recording of star time, maintaining
accurate time at sea, and time distribution for the New England
Railroads following the organization of time zones. William Cranch Bond
and George Bond, Directors of the Harvard College Observatory, were
distinguished for their celestial discoveries and contributions to
positional astronomy. In 1866, even as he lay dying, Richard Fifield
Bond gave instructions for the finishing touches of a clock escapement
design that proved to be a masterpiece. Soon after, his specifications
were embodied in three ground-breaking clocks that distributed time
signals from Harvard College Observatory, Liverpool Observatory, and the
Bonds' shop in Boston.

 From the construction of the first chronometer in America to their role
in the development of celestial photography, the Bonds were pre-eminent,
utilizing the telegraph system to provide and distribute accurate time,
servicing and rating chronometers for navigation, and providing
observations and calculations for determining longitude in surveys.

At the 1851 Great Exhibition, the Bonds introduced the drum chronograph
to the scientific community, combatting the human inaccuracies inherent
in observing star transits. The system was greatly admired and
universally employed. The Astronomer Royal, Sir George Airy, even coined
a term for it: the 'American Method'.

Don Saff, the author, is familiar to many from different fields, but in
the history of science his best-known work has involved research in
precision horology and coverage of Edward Howard, Charles Fasoldt, and
John Harrison.

Some reviews of the new book can be seen here:
http://www.synchronome.org.uk/AHS_review.pdf
http://www.synchronome.org.uk/NAWCC_review.pdf
http://www.synchronome.org.uk/DGC_review.pdf

The book is 438 pages, casebound, 270mm x 210mm, in a buckram cloth
cover and on 150gsm silk paper.

For buyers in the US and Canada, it can be found here

https://net.nawcc.org/ItemDetail?iProductCode=9999&Category=STBOOKS&WebsiteKey=dcd15410-1f8f-4470-b1ca-5991592773b6

For buyers elsewhere, it can be found at
https://www.ahsoc.org/shop/books/celestial-terrestrial-timekeeping/

   

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