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weaktwosToday's word of the day:
orrery (OR-uh-ree) noun
A mechanical model of the solar system that represents the relative
positions and motions of the planets around the sun.
[After Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery (1676-1731), who was given one of those models by John Rowley, a London instrument-maker. They were invented by George Graham c. 1700.]
A picture of an orrery: http://blaubac.co.uk/images/orrery.jpg
What intrigues me about this word is that the Earl of Orrery didn't even invent or build the original "orrery". He just received it as a gift. I think it ought to be renamed a Rowleytron or a Grahamobile, or something related to the manufacturer or inventor. Damn the Man!
orrery (OR-uh-ree) noun
A mechanical model of the solar system that represents the relative
positions and motions of the planets around the sun.
[After Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery (1676-1731), who was given one of those models by John Rowley, a London instrument-maker. They were invented by George Graham c. 1700.]
A picture of an orrery: http://blaubac.co.uk/images/orrery.jpg
What intrigues me about this word is that the Earl of Orrery didn't even invent or build the original "orrery". He just received it as a gift. I think it ought to be renamed a Rowleytron or a Grahamobile, or something related to the manufacturer or inventor. Damn the Man!
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Date: 2004-01-05 08:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-05 08:45 pm (UTC)