Invention Timeline – George Graham, English Mathematician and Watchmaker; Invented the Ingenious Mercurial Pendulum and the “Dead-beat Escapement.”
b. ? 1675 and d. November 20, 1751
English mathematician and watchmaker. Gave to various movements for measuring time a degree of perfection which had never before been attained, and also invented several astronomical instruments; he effected great improvements in those which had been in use before. He composed the whole known planetary system within the compass of a small cabinet, from which, as a model, all modern orreries have been constructed. He constructed the most complete planetarium known at the time. He invented the ingenious mercurial pendulum and the “dead-beat escapement.”
Well has His work the mighty Maker made
In mechanism wonderful in man,
And all the parts by many members played
So harmonized into a common plan,
So blended soul and body into one,
That all the healthful frame with soul imbued,
Glorying in existence, its brief span
A full condensed millennium of good,
Bounds with exultant joy-impulsive gratitude.
—Alwyn: James C. Maffatt
1639, November 24—The first transit of Venus over the face of the sun was observed by the Rev. Jeremiah Horrox, or Horrocks, and his friend, William Grabtree, as predicted by Horrox in 1633.
1670—The orrery was invented.
