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Time Restored: The Harrison timekeepers and R.T. Gould, the man who knew (almost) everything de Jonathan Betts

Time Restored: The Harrison timekeepers and R.T. Gould, the man who knew (almost) everything

Autor Jonathan Betts
en Limba Engleză Hardback – 29 iun 2006

Autorul Jonathan Betts, curator principal la Observatorul Regal din Greenwich și un practician premiat în ceasornicărie tehnică, aduce în acest volum o rigoare documentară rar întâlnită în biografiile tehnice. Experiența sa directă în conservarea instrumentelor de precizie îi permite să analizeze nu doar viața lui Rupert T. Gould, ci și complexitatea mecanică a cronometrelor lui John Harrison pe care Gould le-a restaurat. Putem afirma că această lucrare funcționează ca un pod între istoria tehnicii și expertiza practică, oferind detalii despre modul în care manuscrisele și jurnalele inedite au fost folosite pentru a reconstitui un proces de restaurare istoric.

Ne-a atras atenția modul în care Betts echilibrează portretul unui om cu o memorie fotografică fenomenală — celebru pentru emisiunile BBC — cu detaliile tehnice meticuloase ale orologeriei marine. Abordarea diferă de Longitude de Dava Sobel prin faptul că este mult mai puțin abstractă și mult mai aplicabilă; în timp ce Sobel se concentrează pe narațiunea istorică a premiului longitudinii, Betts oferă o perspectivă tehnică profundă asupra modului în care mecanismele au fost readuse la viață. De asemenea, spre deosebire de Oddities, lucrarea scrisă chiar de Rupert T Gould care explorează mistere naturale, Time Restored rămâne ancorată în realitatea fizică a atelierului și a arhivelor.

În contextul operei sale, această biografie completează cercetările anterioare din John Harrison and the Quest for Longitude, unde autorul analiza inventatorul, mutând acum reflectorul asupra celui care a salvat moștenirea tehnică a acestuia. Este o analiză tehnică a unei minți enciclopedice, susținută de o iconografie bogată, esențială pentru înțelegerea evoluției instrumentelor de măsurare a timpului.

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Specificații

ISBN-13: 9780198568025
ISBN-10: 0198568029
Pagini: 484
Ilustrații: 59 b&w halftones, 18 colour photo plates
Dimensiuni: 147 x 223 x 30 mm
Greutate: 0.89 kg
Editura: OUP OXFORD
Colecția OUP Oxford
Locul publicării:Oxford, United Kingdom

De ce să citești această carte

Recomandăm această carte cititorilor pasionați de inginerie de precizie și istoria tehnicii. Veți câștiga o perspectivă unică asupra restaurării cronometrelor marine Harrison, ghidați de expertiza celui mai avizat curator în domeniu. Este mai mult decât o biografie; este un studiu de caz despre perseverență tehnică și recuperarea patrimoniului științific, ideal pentru cei care apreciază detaliul mecanic în detrimentul generalizărilor istorice.

Despre autor

Jonathan Betts este Senior Curator Emeritus la Observatorul Regal, Muzeul Maritim Național din Greenwich. Cu o carieră începută prin obținerea Premiului Național Tremayne pentru ceasornicărie practică în 1975, Betts a activat ani de zile ca restaurator independent înainte de a prelua conservarea colecțiilor de orologerie ale Marii Britanii. Este recunoscut la nivel mondial pentru expertiza sa în cronometrele lui John Harrison, fiind distins cu premiul Callender pentru contribuțiile sale remarcabile în domeniu. Experiența sa practică de ceasornicar îi conferă o autoritate tehnică rară în literatura de specialitate, transformându-l în biograful ideal pentru Rupert Gould.

Descriere

This is the story of Rupert T. Gould (1890-1948), the polymath and horologist. A remarkable man, Lt Cmdr Gould made important contributions in an extraordinary range of subject areas throughout his relatively short and dramatically troubled life. From antique clocks to scientific mysteries, from typewriters to the first systematic study of the Loch Ness Monster, Gould studied and published on them all. With the title The Stargazer, Gould was an early broadcaster on the BBC's Children's Hour when, with his encyclopaedic knowledge, he became known as The Man Who Knew Everything. Not surprisingly, he was also part of that elite group on BBC radio who formed The Brains Trust, giving on-the-spot answers to all manner of wide ranging and difficult questions. With his wide learning and photographic memory, Gould awed a national audience, becoming one of the era's radio celebrities. During the 1920s Gould restored the complex and highly significant marine timekeepers constructed by John Harrison (1693-1776), and wrote the unsurpassed classic, The Marine Chronometer, its History and Development. Today he is virtually unknown, his horological contributions scarcely mentioned in Dava Sobel's bestseller Longitude. The TV version of Longitude, in which Jeremy Irons played Rupert Gould, did at least introduce Gould's name to a wider public. Gould suffered terrible bouts of depression, resulting in a number of nervous breakdowns. These, coupled with his obsessive and pedantic nature, led to a scandalously-reported separation from his wife and cost him his family, his home, his job, and his closest friends.In this first-ever biography of Rupert Gould, Jonathan Betts, the Royal Observatory Greenwich's Senior Horologist, has given us a compelling account of a talented but flawed individual. Using hitherto unknown personal journals, the family's extensive collection of photographs, and the polymath's surviving records and notes, Betts tells the story of how Gould's early life, his naval career, and his celebrity status came together as this talented Englishman restored part of Britain's - and the world's - most important technical heritage: John Harrison's marine timekeepers.

Recenzii

Time restored can be enjoyed as a well crafted description of the horological contributions of an important persona of his time, but for the reader so inclined, it is much more, it is a sensitive portrait of a troubled, but brilliant human being, who pursued his horological and scholarly goals against the odds imposed by society and his era. Fortunat Mueller-Maerki, Sussex, NJ, December 29, 2006
Gould's life [is] more than adequately and very readably portrayed in [this book]...
Betts has produced a finely crafted biography full of lovingly observed insight into Gould's character, including his many personal failings. But the book is much more than a biography. Lisa Jardine, Nature, Vol. 444, December 2006.
Betts tells his tale very well. In addition to being a 'good read', Time Restored is a work of considerate scholarship; there are over 400 footnotes and six appendices including a bibliography reading list, and glossary. Most usefully there is a comprehensive index...Packed with information for the serious student of horology, there is also so much in this book for the general reader, especially those interested in social history. QP Magazine, Issue Twenty One 2006
... Time Restored like the works of the subject R.T. Gould, is an important contribution to horological literature. It is very accessible and highly recommended. Horological Journal, October 2006 It is very accessible and highly recommended. Horological Journal, October 2006
Horologist and author Jonathan Betts, the current curator of the Harrison timekeepers at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, has crafted a chronicle of a poignant moment in the history of time. Time Restored, his extensively researched biography of Rupert Gould, brings back the man who brought back John Harrison's sea clocks. Just as Gould lovingly restored the long-neglected timepieces (now recognized as national treasures) Betts has taken apart Gould's tumultuous life and reassembled it in perfectly readable order -- sea serpents and all. Dava Sobel, author of Longitude, Galileos Daughter and The Planets

Notă biografică

Jonathan BettsRoyal ObservatoryNational Maritime MuseumGreenwich SE10 9NFJonathan Betts, Senior Curator of Horology at the Royal Observatory, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, took the British Horological Institute finals in Technical Horology in 1975, and was awarded the Tremayne National Prize for Practical watchmaking. For the following five years he practiced as a self-employed Horology Conservator. In 1980 he was appointed Senior Horology Conservation Officer at the National Maritime Museum and in 1989 was presented the NMM's Callender award for his contribution to Horological Conservation. He was appointed Curator of Horology in 1990 and became Senior Curator in 2004.