| 释义 |
orrery|ˈɒrərɪ|
[Named after Chas. Boyle, Earl of Orrery, for whom a copy of the machine invented by George Graham c 1700 was made by J. Rowley, an instrument-maker.]
A piece of mechanism devised to represent the motions of the planets about the sun by means of clockwork.
1713Steele Englishm. No. 11 Mr. John Rowley..calls his Machine the Orrery, in Gratitude to the Nobleman of that Title. 1720W. Stukeley in Mem. (1882) I. 50 A machine..in the nature of what we since call Orrerys. 1742Young Nt. Th. ix. 787 [It] dwarfs the whole, And makes an universe an Orrery. 1833Herschel Astron. viii. 287 Those very childish toys called orreries. 1854Lowell Jrnl. Italy Pr. Wks. 1890 I. 191 When that is once done, events will move with the quiet of an orrery. |