Tangible Heritage: Production of Astrolabes on a Laser Engraver
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Date
2008
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Publisher
The Eurographics Association and Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Abstract
The astrolabe, an analog computing device, used to be the iconic instrument of astronomers during the Middle Ages. It allowed a multitude of operations of practical astronomy which were otherwise cumbersome to perform in an epoch when mathematics had apparently almost been forgotten. Usually made from wood or sheet metal, a few hundred instruments, mostly from brass, survived until today and are valuable museum showpieces. This paper explains a procedural modelling approach for the construction of the classical kinds of astrolabes, which allows a wide variety of applications from plain explanatory illustrations to three-dimensional (3D) models, and even the production of working physical astrolabes usable for public or classroom demonstrations.
Description
@article{10.1111:j.1467-8659.2008.01193.x,
journal = {Computer Graphics Forum},
title = {{Tangible Heritage: Production of Astrolabes on a Laser Engraver}},
author = {Zotti, G.},
year = {2008},
publisher = {The Eurographics Association and Blackwell Publishing Ltd},
ISSN = {1467-8659},
DOI = {10.1111/j.1467-8659.2008.01193.x}
}