| 1-01 |
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First Prologue |
| 1-02 |
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The Dial Is Only Visible By Starlight |
| 1-03 |
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Every Day At Noon The Sun Shines Through These Apertures For The Space Of About A Minute |
| 1-04 |
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The Image Of The Sun Indicates The Sun's Position As It Passes Through A Hole In The Concurve Surface |
| 1-05 |
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There Is A Brass Pointer Fitted With Sights & Pivoted To The Centre Of The Circle By Which Altitude Observations Are Made |
| 1-06 |
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The Chamber Is No Longer Accessible To Visitors |
| 1-07 |
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Access To Any Part Of The Engine Is By Steps Which Offer Vantage Points For Various Readings |
| 1-08 |
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Suspended In The Hum Of History |
| 1-09 |
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Originally Cross Wires Stretched Across Each Hemisphere, East To West & North To South |
| 1-10 |
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The Ramped Stair To The North Of The Two Drums Vanishes At Thirty-two Feet |
| 1-11 |
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These Steps Enable The Observer To See All Aspects Of The Brass Calibration Below |
| 1-12 |
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There Is A Huge Calibrated Sundial On Each Of Its Sides |
| 1-13 |
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This Chamber Is Filled With Garden Tools & Broken Furniture |
| 1-14 |
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The Mosaic Of Starlight Slips Back Like The Lid Of An Opening Eye |
| 1-15 |
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This Engine Is Primarily A Calculator, Though Altitudes May Be Observed Using The Sighting Bar Fitted To The Back |
| 1-16 |
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It Is Inscribed With Concentric Circles, At The Centre Of Which Lies A Pointer |
| 1-17 |
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The Calibrated Parts Are Raised On Three-foot Pillars |
| 1-18 |
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The Pink Masonry Charges The Twilight With A Faint Sound |
| 1-19 |
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Another Slope With Stars For The Reading Of Figures |
| 1-20 |
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This Engine Is Now Only Visible In Twilight |
| 1-21 |
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Here Is An Immense Brass Circle Suspended Vertically From Stone Supports |
| 1-22 |
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Two Hemispheres Representing The Sphere Of Heaven Comprise The Two Halves Of This Engine |
| 1-23 |
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This Wall Describes Accurately The North / South Meridian |
| 1-24 |
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There Are Pillars At The Centre Of Each Circular Wall Each Open To The Sky |
| 1-25 |
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First Memory |
| 1-26 |
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The Sky Has Shaped This Place |
| 1-27 |
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Here I Find A Central Iron Pole With Hooks Facing To The North, South, East & West |
| 1-28 |
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A Shadow Is Cast To The West Before Noon |
| 1-29 |
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The Shadow Can Fall In The Vacant Sector Of A Drum |
| 1-30 |
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Days & Nights Are Measured Here, & In The Measuring Seem Longer, Suspended Somehow |
| 1-31 |
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The Whole Brass Circle Can Be Revolved Around Its Vertical Diameter So That Altitude Observations Can Be Taken Of Any Object At Any Time |
| 1-32 |
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A Lofty But Narrow Chamber Is Contrived In The Thickness Of The Walls & Access Is Gained From A Door Opening From The Masonry Platform On Which The Engine Stands |
| 1-33 |
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A Further Series Of Steps Is Only Visible During The Vernal Equinox |
| 1-34 |
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Hold The Machine In The Vertical Plane |
| 1-35 |
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Visible Portions Of The Celestial Sphere Are Represented By This Map Which Has A Movable Elliptic Which Pivots At The Point Representing The Pole |
| 1-36 |
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To Move Through These Structures Is To Set Them In Motion |
| 1-37 |
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The Altitude Of The Body Observed Is Given While Observing The Vertically Hanging Bar Through The Two Brass Rings |
| 1-38 |
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A Shadow Is Cast To The East After Noon |
| 1-39 |
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These Calibrations Are No Longer Clearly Visible |
| 1-40 |
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Another Flight Of Observation Steps & The Sense Of Quiet Rotation As I Ascend |
| 1-41 |
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I Study The Vaults Of A Shell In Which We Float |
| 1-42 |
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Twenty-seven Degrees, Thirty-seven Seconds |
| 1-43 |
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The Roofs Of The Enclosed Drums Are Implied By Shadows |
| 1-44 |
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The Floor & Walls Are Calibrated To Read Altitude & Azimuth |
| 1-45 |
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These Are The Cool Engines Of Celestial Map-making |
| 1-46 |
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Here Is The Supreme Engine |
| 1-47 |
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The Sun Seen Through The Pair Of Brass Rings Is Used By The Bar To Indicate The Time From Sunrise Until Sunrise |
| 1-48 |
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A Pointer Indicates On Three Arms: West, North & East |
| 1-49 |
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Here Was The Supreme Engine |
| 1-50 |
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Engine Of Amplitude Has A Function Which Is No Longer Known |
| 1-51 |
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This Engine Is A Rectangular Brass Plate |
| 2-01 |
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Second Prologue |
| 2-02 |
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Once Complete Engine Is Formed By Two Differently Incomplete Parts Which Combined Provide Total Reference |
| 2-03 |
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At One Moment In The Year The Sun Shines Through A Hole In The Wall On To A Calibrated Arc |
| 2-04 |
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The Stone Dish Is Slotted With Figures & Shadow |
| 2-05 |
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The Positions & Altitudes Of Heavenly Bodies Maybe Gauged With This Engine |
| 2-06 |
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Some Steps Ascend Past Markings To A Platform |
| 2-07 |
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The Central Pillars Are Five Feet Three Inches In Diameter |
| 2-08 |
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On The East Face Are Inscribed Two Quadrants Of Twenty-feet Radius |
| 2-09 |
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The Plants Will Steal This Engine When We Have Gone |
| 2-10 |
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The Shadow Is Cast North / South At Noon By An Iron Pin |
| 2-11 |
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A Shadow Is Cast To The East After Noon |
| 2-12 |
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These Steps Are Worn To A Ramp & Lead Nowhere |
| 2-13 |
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All The Lead Calibrations Are Warm To The Touch |
| 2-14 |
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It Is Only Necessary To Engrave A Scale Of The Tangents Along The Rim To Obtain A Direct Reading Of The Declination |
| 2-15 |
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Second Memory |
| 2-16 |
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The Lead Calibrations Are Poisonous To The Touch |
| 2-17 |
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This Is The North Pointer Engine |
| 2-18 |
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The Rim Of Each Hemisphere Is A Horizon Divided Into Degrees & Minutes |
| 2-19 |
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Here Is A Room To Divide The Sun Like An Orange |
| 2-20 |
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Sighting Bars Were Placed In The Slots Within The Chamber, But None Remain Now |
| 2-21 |
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The Sound Of Insects Here Studs The Night Like A Thousand Fizzing Stars |
| 2-22 |
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Access By Observers To Each Engine Is Gained By An Imperfection Which Differs From One To Another |
| 2-23 |
|
These Structures Are Made In Receipt Of Starlight |
4.0/5 (