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KF5JRV > TECH 05.09.16 16:51l 67 Lines 3771 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 1485_KF5JRV
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Subj: Pocket-sized Globes
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<ZL2BAU<GB7YEW<VK2DOT<KQ0I<N0KFQ<KF5JRV
Sent: 160905/1527Z 1485@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
Pocket-sized globes
Pocket-sized globes, measuring around 3 inches in diameter, had several
functions including acting as status symbols for gentlemen and educational
tools for children. Although the popularity of pocket globes peaked in the
first half of the 18th century, makers continued to produce the items into the
19th century.
Joseph Moxon brought pocket globes to England between 1659 and 1670. Pocket
globes consist of a terrestrial sphere of around 7.5cm in diameter inside an
outer case, which often bears celestial cartography.
Much of what we know about the uses of globes comes from instruction manuals.
However, few, if any, pocket globes had accompanying booklets, so it is
difficult for us to know who used these objects and for what purposes. It is
unlikely that pocket globes served precise practical ends; their size makes
accurate calculations impossible, and they tend to lack the rings and dials
required for the most common manipulations. Additionally, makers continued to
use pictorial constellation figures on pocket globes, even after the images
fell out of use on larger globes as they were considered 'unscientific'.
Pocket globes could have served as status symbols for wealthy gentlemen.
Alternatively, the small globes could have been used in children's education,
especially since they were made of cheap materials such as papier mâché.
Authors suggested that children suspended a 3-inch globe near a candle,
representing the Sun, to demonstrate the passing of day into night. Some
pocket globes have a hole drilled through their spindle, which could have been
threaded with a cord for hanging. The printing firm Darton and Co. specialised
in children's literature. This supports the idea that children were a
prominent audience for pocket globes.
Looking out on the heavens
The celestial sphere is an imaginary surface surrounding the Earth onto which
stars are mapped. The surface of a celestial globe represents the celestial
sphere. Standard globes have a convex surface, and stars are marked as if the
observer is looking in on the celestial sphere from the outside. This is
called an external projection. However, pocket globe cases offered a concave
surface, so that the heavens were mapped in the way that an observer looking
out from Earth would see them. This is called a geocentric projection. In
1731, Richard Cushee became the first maker to use geocentric projections on
the concave surface of a pocket globe case for a in 1731. Darton used Cushee's
method for his pocket globes and showed the heavens as they appeared from
Earth. This gave users the impression of being inside a larger celestial
globe, or the celestial sphere itself.
Patriotic cartography
Although Darton's pocket globe was probably aimed at children, it dealt with
some mature themes. Darton depicted the track of George Anson's blighted
circumnavigation of 1740-1744, a voyage in which around 90 percent of the men
lost their lives. This voyage recorded an important episode in English
imperial history. Anson's journey was celebrated as a significant success
among multiple failures in the war with the Spanish in the Caribbean and on
the Pacific coast of South America. By showing this route, along with that of
Captain James Cook's mission to claim the east coast of Australia, Darton
encouraged children to remember important events in their country's maritime
history. England is also celebrated on Darton's globe as the home of the
meridian of zero longitude. Darton shows the Prime Meridian passing through
the south east of England, even though the meridian was not officially settled
until the International Meridian Conference of 1884.
73, Scott kf5jrv
KF5JRV @ KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
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