SMITHSONIAN PRESS MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY Contributions From the Museum of History and Technology Papers 34-44 On Science and Technology SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION · WASHINGTON, D.C. 1966 Publications of the United States National Museum The scholarly and scientific publications of the United States National Museum include two series, Proceedings of the United States National Museum and United States National Museum Bulletin . In these series, the Museum publishes original articles and mon

The history of the 18th-century Borghesi astronomical clock is described here from contemporary source material. The evolution of its design by Father Francesco Borghesi and the building of the complex mechanism devised by the clockmaker, Bartolomeo Antonio Bertolla, is a story of the vision of one man turned into reality by another. The result of their collaboration is the unique, astronomical timepiece now in the Museum of History and Technology. The Author : Silvio A. Bedini is curator of mec