Gnomon
From Inventions
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| - | Instrument for architectural measurements and surveying. Generally known as [[Geometrical Square | geometrical square]], the instrument is composed of a shadow square carrying a vane with optical sights. The term "gnomon" appears in several medieval treatises, in a manuscript by the Medicean engineer Bernardo Puccini, who describes a variant of his own invention, and in Vincenzo Scamozzi's treatise on architecture. In Puccini's variant, the instrument is also equipped with a compass, a planispheric plate and two graduated vanes. It could also be used for perspective drawing. | + | Instrument for architectural measurements and surveying. Generally known as [[Geometrical Square | geometrical square]], the instrument is composed of a shadow square carrying a vane with optical sights. The term "gnomon" appears in several medieval treatises, in a manuscript by the Medicean engineer Bernardo Puccini, who describes a variant of his own invention, and in Vincenzo Scamozzi's treatise on architecture. In Puccini's variant, the instrument is also equipped with a [[compass]], a planispheric plate and two graduated vanes. It could also be used for perspective drawing. |
The name is generally used also for the style of a sundial. | The name is generally used also for the style of a sundial. | ||
Current revision as of 14:03, 13 November 2009
Name used since antiquity (as surveying instrument since the Middle Ages), derived from the Greek gnomon, "one who knows".
Contents |
Inventor
Bernardo Puccini
Historic Period
ca. 1570
Description
Instrument for architectural measurements and surveying. Generally known as geometrical square, the instrument is composed of a shadow square carrying a vane with optical sights. The term "gnomon" appears in several medieval treatises, in a manuscript by the Medicean engineer Bernardo Puccini, who describes a variant of his own invention, and in Vincenzo Scamozzi's treatise on architecture. In Puccini's variant, the instrument is also equipped with a compass, a planispheric plate and two graduated vanes. It could also be used for perspective drawing. The name is generally used also for the style of a sundial.
Bibliographical Resources
Domenico da Chivasso. Practica geometriae, ms., XIV secolo, Bibl. Laurenziana, San Marco 215, cc. 124v-144r.
Domenico da Chivasso. The Practica Geometriae of Dominicus de Clavasio (Cod. lat. Monac. 410), a cura di H.L.L. Busard, in «Archive for the history of exact sciences», 2, 1965, 6, pp. 520-575.
Lamberini, Daniela. Il principe difeso: vita e opere di Bernardo Puccini. Firenze, La Giuntina, 1990, pp. 351-403.
Puccini, Bernardo. Modo di misurar con la vista (1570-71) , Firenze, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Fondo Nazionale II-282, fasc. 15.
Scamozzi, Vincenzo. L’idea della architettura universale, Venezia, 1615, Parte I, Lib. II, Cap. VIII, p. 124: “cosa che rade volte si può fare (misurare le distanze topografiche)… col Gnomone…”.
Images
 Bernardo Puccini, Trattato del modo di misurare con la vista, ms., ca. 1570, Firenze, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Fondo Nazionale, II-282, fasc. 15, c. 39. |
 Bernardo Puccini, Trattato del modo di misurare con la vista, ms., ca. 1570, Firenze, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Fondo Nazionale, II-282, fasc. 15, c. 36. |
 Modello dello gnomone di Bernardo Puccini: Museo Galileo. Istituto di Storia della Scienza (2001). |
 Modello dello gnomone di Bernardo Puccini (montaggio verticale per disegni prospettici): Museo Galileo. Istituto di Storia della Scienza (2001). |
Author of the entry: Filippo Camerota
