Ἀγεωμέτρητος μηδεὶς εἰσίτω

Mikhail Lomonosov

Specifications

Single copy. Brass, patina. Diameter 312 mm.

Price 65 000 R

Description

The instrument measures true local and true standard time at the meridian of Moscow. To convert true tome into mean time, the instrument has a graph of the equation of time. The list if cities of the Eastern Hemisphere is etched on the dial. When the nodus shadow falls on the city name the true noon is in this city.

The instrument also allows you to record the days of transition of the sun from one zodiacal constellation to another. In these days, the nodus shadow goes along the declination lines marked with the zodiac symbols.

The instrument is dedicated to the memory of Mikhail Lomonosov. On the dial nagravirovany lines from his work «The phenomenon of Venus on the sun observed in Saint Petersburg Imperial Academy of Sciences, may 26 days in 1761»:

«The closer our observation with our predictions the clearer we imagine The Creator.»

It is surprising that even in the middle of the 18th century, Lomonosov saw no contradiction between science and religion.

On the east face of the gnomon a facsimile of Mikhail Lomonosov is etched. On the west face of the gnomon there is a quotation from his article «On improvement of telescopes» published in 1762.

«The beauty, the importance, the vastness and greatness of astronomy not only uplift the spirit of wise men, arousing their curiosity and diligence, not only admires the minds of educated citizens finding joy in sciences, but also makes amazed the uneducated crowd. It is not surprising that from time immemorial there are men having outstanding natural talent who devotes the entire life to study astronomy, motivated, seems to us, not with getting a profit but rather with a passion to satisfy their spirit with the pleasantness of the case itself».