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Rasmus Sørnes

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hands showing the position of the Sun and the Moon on the ecliptic circle. The Sun hand makes one revolution every year, and the Moon hand one revolution every 29.5 day. This dial also shows when and where solar and lunar eclipses occur. The orbit of the Moon has an inclination of 5° with regard to the ecliptic, so solar or lunar eclipses can only occur when the Sun and the Moon are simultaneously located at one of the crossings of the two orbits. These two crossings rotate once in 18.5 years (known as the Saros cycle) and are indicated by the hand with the Ω (omega) sign. Eclipses occur when the three hands overlap, which typically happens two or three times a year; they overlap in nearly exactly the same position every 18.5 years. In the centre of the dial, a spherical slice of the Earth is located. It rotates counter-clockwise once in a sidereal day, and is used to indicate where the eclipse is visible.
302:, showing standard and Greenwich time, all solar and lunar cycles and phases, the Julian calendar, high and low tides, and sunset/sunrise. The firmament is visualized on a two-dimensional dial, with holes drilled for the larger stars. The dial is illuminated from behind to make the stars visible in the evening. A switch allows the clock to be run forward and backwards in time. The clock is controlled by Sørnes' own invention, an electromagnetic balance wheel escapement. It feeds the system with a constant revolution of one rotation per second and is in this clock powered by two 1.5 V batteries. He experimented with the escapement for many years but eventually resorted to more traditional solutions. The accuracy of the celestial orbits suffered as the calculations were based on regular calendars without full correction of the irregularities. Around at the same time he designed and constructed a large 323:, which gains 1 day in 128 years. This might sound more than sufficiently accurate for a man's lifetime, but as seen in clock No. 1, Sørnes wanted to be able to run his clocks forwards and backward in time to examine previous and coming events. Another shortcoming is that the sidereal works will slow down 1 minute in 10 years. On the other hand, the error for the Earth's rotation around the sun is only 0.7 seconds per year. This can be compared to the famous astronomical clock in Strasbourg, which has an error of maximum 2 seconds per year. This clock is currently on display at 907: 171:
a bicycle factory. The job was boring and repetitious and he only lasted six months. The next job was in a mechanical workshop in Stavanger, where he stayed for about a year. At the age of 18 or 19, Sørnes was hired as an electrician apprentice, and in two years he earned a certificate as an electrician from Stavanger Technical School. Sørnes was a man of modest education, but he was self-taught in a variety of scientific trades and technological disciplines, including advanced
368: 1218: 340: 395:) is a magnificent fusion of art, craftsmanship, and electromechanical technology, engraved and with gold and silver plating. Every part of the clock was handmade in Sørnes' workshop with the sole exception of the pendulum itself; Sørnes also devised and hand-crafted the tools required to make the clock. 254:, unemployment was high and the entire staff had few options but to move along with their employer. Sørnes built a new house on the island and brought his family there one year later. Sørnes equipped the house with an alarm system, lightning protection, a radio mast, and a house phone to his workshop. 355:
At the bottom of the clock, two globes are located. The terrestrial globe rotates once per day, and the arc shows the division between day and night. The celestial globe shows the stars as they would appear if projected on a sphere surrounding the Earth. It rotates once in a sidereal day, but it also
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on 22 March 1893 from a mediocre background, his parents were farmers with limited resources. He was the oldest of four brothers and one sister. His mother died shortly after the birth of the sister, and his father brought up the children by himself. According to his sister, he was already as a young
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Immediately after finishing clock No. 1, Rasmus Sørnes started working on clock No. 2. It is larger than the first one, but still a mantelpiece clock size. Not much is known about this clock, as it was never fully completed. It is functioning, but without any finish or decoration. While constructing
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After finishing elementary school, Sørnes applied to be a watchmaker apprentice in Stavanger, but was rejected on the grounds that he was a farmer son with big hands and lumpy fingers. The bitterness over this rejection followed him throughout his life. Sørnes started his career assembling bikes at
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began its regular broadcasts in 1925. During the broadcasts, he would read news, and his wife would sing. To make sure he got listeners, Sørnes supplied friends and neighbours with receivers. His private station was later shut down by the manager of the power company as he was afraid that the radio
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The principal design of gear trains and transmissions is similar to Sørnes' fourth and final clock, arguably the most complicated of its kind. Completed in 1967, clock No. 4 was made in Sørnes' spare time, with his own funding, and using his own self-made tools. The clock was exhibited at the Time
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The base of the clock contains a tape recorder, with recordings of Rasmus Sørnes' voice describing the features of the clock. The clock's astronomical part may be driven forwards and backwards at a speed of eight days per minute. The large dial in the middle of the front has a fixed Zodiac and two
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Rasmus Sørnes steadily kept improving his design and adding even more features, and in 1954, the 3rd clock was finished. The gear trains from the two previous clocks have been revised for improved accuracy, several correction works have been added to make up for irregularities in the celestial
261:, Sørnes built another radio transmitter for the purpose of clandestine communication, based on his earlier device. The radio he built during the war, was later described as "a masterpiece of technical elegance and intelligent camouflage" by historians. The radio itself is on display in the 167:
boy very creative and industrious, at least when it came to his own ideas. He was less eager if he had to work with ideas from others, and it often happened that he skipped school for a day or two if he was working on something interesting. In spite of this, his grades were very good.
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clock No. 2, Sørnes started outlining a larger clock. It seems that clock No. 2 was too small to incorporate all the features he wanted, too inaccurate, or simply too crowded for the necessary maintenance. A perfect astronomical clock must have a perpetual calendar, for example a
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Although trained as an electrician and employed as a radio technician, watches and clocks were a source of lifelong fascination for Sørnes. He created four astronomical clocks, with the first two described by himself as "test objects", and the last two his masterpieces.
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rotates around a second axis once in 25,800 years because of the precession of the equinoxes. To achieve this, a gear train with a ratio of 1:9,500,000 is required. This globe is illuminated from inside, and holes are drilled for the larger stars.
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In 1922 Sørnes was employed as a technician at the local Ullandhaug Radio Station, and the same year he started his own radio station called "Radio Grannes" which broadcast every night 6:00—8:00 p.m.. This was only two years after the
183:. He enjoyed frequent collaboration with university research communities. He lectured on lens-making to optics students and clockmaking to watchmaker students, although he had formal education in neither. 438:'s 248 year orbit and the 25,800 year period of the polar ecliptics (precession of the Earth's axis). It has a high degree of accuracy, having an error of only 7 seconds per 1000 years. 225:
for better sound quality. While commercial industry was uninterested in this feature for the lifetime of the patent, this has in modern times become standard in loudspeaker design.
709: 273:) in Oslo. In 1945, the exhibition "The illicit Norway" displayed Sørnes' radio as an example of an ingenious solution. He designed the first automatic 982: 146:, the most precise of which has an inaccuracy of 7 seconds during 1000 years. During his lifetime, Sørnes also designed and built a large variety of 359:
This clock is on display at Borgarsyssel Museum, Sarpsborg, Norway. However, during 2013 it was stored away while the building was being renovated.
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Rasmus Sørnes married his longtime fiancée Gunhild Serina Kvaeven in 1922, and they had six children. One of his sons is
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at the time. He patented a chicken incubator and a milk/cream separator. In 1913 he patented corrugated diaphragms in
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automobile. His tractor, which was meant for use on the family farm, was more advanced and efficient than the
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for display, until it was sold to an anonymous bidder at auction in 2002. Its location is currently unknown.
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in Norway, which was used in a shop window exhibition, and a solar-cell-powered radio-controlled engine for
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orbits, and most importantly, the precession of the equinoxes has been taken into account.
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In 1926, Sørnes built a tractor after his own design, which he based on the German
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complete with electric ignition and water-cooling system and he constructed a
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to be used at his parents' farm. In 1910, he designed and built a four-stroke
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Its astounding features include: locations of the Sun and Moon in the
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In 1931, the radio station where he worked was moved to the island of
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station uncontrollably drained off the electricity out into the air.
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As a child, he designed and constructed an electrically driven
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and radio technician, and is most famous for his advanced
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began broadcasting in 1920, and three years before the
134:(22 March 1893 – 15 February 1967) was a Norwegian 380:beginning in 1967. In 1999, it was transferred to 387:The clock No. 4, also called "the Sørnes Clock" ( 1235: 710:"Bygdegeniet som forløper for fremtidssamfunnet" 362: 334: 309: 293: 857: 434:cycles and a complete planetarium including 663:: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ( 250:, in southeast Norway. In the midst of the 153: 864: 850: 263:Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology 29: 758: 541:25,800 year period of the polar ecliptics 298:In the 1937 Sørnes constructed his first 366: 338: 228: 871: 763:[Rasmus Sørnes - elaboration]. 538:25 800 year precession of the equinoxes 1236: 832:The search for Rasmus Sørnes 4th clock 633: 631: 382:Chicago Museum of Science and Industry 1117:Copenhagen (Jens Olsen's World Clock) 845: 638:Store norske leksikon (2005 - 2007). 426:, solar and lunar cycle corrections, 1217: 707: 703: 701: 699: 628: 13: 837:Website dedicated to the 4th clock 807: 559:. He is the grandfather of author 528:Solar and lunar eclipse indication 240:Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation 14: 1280: 825: 696: 499:Time when the Sun is in the south 1259:20th-century Norwegian inventors 1216: 905: 546: 186: 779: 752: 727: 671: 593: 284: 1: 587: 1165:Giovanni Dondi dell'Orologio 815:The Clockmaker Rasmus Sørnes 535:with precise orbits (Orrery) 7: 761:"Rasmus Sørnes – utdypning" 570: 10: 1285: 563:. Sørnes died in 1967, in 158:Rasmus Sørnes was born in 91:Stavanger Technical School 1213: 1145: 1109: 1063: 1037: 991: 965: 914: 903: 879: 765:Norsk biografisk leksikon 121: 113: 103: 95: 87: 65: 40: 28: 21: 1264:People from Sola, Norway 957:Versailles (Passemant's) 582:Jens Olsen's World Clock 442:Features of Clock No. 4 154:Early life and education 1190:Jean-Baptiste Schwilgué 897:Žibřidice (Chaloupka's) 1185:Richard of Wallingford 1122:Dubrovnik (Bell Tower) 791:Sarpsborg Arbeiderblad 503:High tide and low tide 392: 372: 344: 270: 217:tractors available in 132:Rasmus Jonassen Sørnes 1254:Norwegian clockmakers 1200:Auguste-Lucien Vérité 739:Store Norske Leksikon 644:Store Norske Leksikon 577:Clock of the Long Now 370: 342: 229:As a radio technician 117:Gunhild Serina Kvæven 1269:People from Rogaland 787:"Historien om et ur" 420:daylight saving time 304:reflecting telescope 271:Norsk Teknisk Museum 16:Norwegian clockmaker 1175:Nikolaus Lilienfeld 1132:Lier (Zimmer tower) 1004:Clusone 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Index


Sola
Rogaland
Jeløy
Østfold
Clockmaking
inventor
clockmaker
astronomical clocks
agricultural
Sola
Norway
mathematics
physics
astronomy
water pump
combustion engine
turbine
power plant
Adler
Moline
Jæren
loudspeakers
BBC
Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation
Jeløy
Great Depression
World War II
Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology
Norwegian

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