Rasmus Sørnes
Encyclopedia
Rasmus Jonassen Sørnes inventor, clockmaker and radio technician, is most famous for his astronomical clock
s, but also designed in his lifetime a large variety of agricultural, radio-technical and mechanical devices, only a few of them patented.
Rasmus Sørnes was born in Sola
in Norway
in 1893. Certified as an electrician at Stavanger Technical School, he was a man of modest education, but was self-taught in a variety of scientific trades and technological disciplines, including advanced mathematics
, physics
, and astronomy
. He enjoyed frequent collaboration with the university research communities. He lectured lensmaking to optics students and clockmaking to watchmaker students, though he had formal education in neither.
As a child, he designed and constructed an electrically driven water pump
with level indicator to be used at his parents' farm. He made his own combustion engine
in 1910, constructed a turbine
power plant, and in 1926 built a tractor. He patented a chicken incubator and a milk/cream separator. In 1913 he patented corrugated diaphragms in loudspeakers 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.
In 1922 he was employed as a technician at Ullandhaug Radio, and the same year built his own radio station, transmitting regular news broadcasts from his own home, possibly the first broadcast
in Norway. He designed the first automatic model railway in Norway, to be used in a shop window exhibition, and a solar-cell-powered radio-controlled engine for lighthouse
s. In the early 1930s he constructed his first astronomical clock
and at the same time a large reflecting telescope
.
His second clock was an experiment, leading on to his third clock exhibited at Borgarsyssel Museum
in Sarpsborg
, Norway. The principal design of gear trains and transmissions is similar to his fourth and final clock, arguably the most complicated of its kind, which was finished in 1967. It was made in his spare time, with his own funding, and using his own self-made tools. The clock was exhibited at the Time Museum in Rockford, Illinois beginning in 1967, and later at the Chicago Museum of Science and Technology until sold to an anonymous owner at Sotheby’s in 2002.
The clock No. 4 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 his workshop with the sole exception of the pendulum itself; Sørnes also devised and hand-crafted the tools required to make the clock. Its astounding features include: locations of the sun and moon in the zodiac
, Julian calendar
, Gregorian calendar
, sidereal time
, GMT, local time with daylight saving time
and leap year
, solar and lunar cycle corrections, eclipses, local sunset and sunrise, moon phase, tides, sunspot
cycles and a planetarium including Pluto
's 248 year orbit and the 25,800 year period of the polar ecliptics (precession of the Earth's axis).
Rasmus Sørnes is the father of Tor Sørnes
, inventor of the keycard lock
.
Astronomical clock
An astronomical clock is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the sun, moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets.-Definition:...
s, but also designed in his lifetime a large variety of agricultural, radio-technical and mechanical devices, only a few of them patented.
Rasmus Sørnes was born in Sola
Sola
Sola is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the region of Jæren. The old municipality of Håland was divided into Sola and Madla in 1930....
in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
in 1893. Certified as an electrician at Stavanger Technical School, he was a man of modest education, but was self-taught in a variety of scientific trades and technological disciplines, including advanced mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, and astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
. He enjoyed frequent collaboration with the university research communities. He lectured lensmaking to optics students and clockmaking to watchmaker students, though he had formal education in neither.
As a child, he designed and constructed an electrically driven water pump
Water Pump
Water Pump is one of the neighbourhoods of Gulberg Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It is near main Water Pump that supplies fresh water to the city of Karachi....
with level indicator to be used at his parents' farm. He made his own combustion engine
Combustion engine
Combustion engine may refer to:* Internal combustion engine* External combustion engine...
in 1910, constructed a turbine
Turbine
A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
power plant, and in 1926 built a tractor. He patented a chicken incubator and a milk/cream separator. In 1913 he patented corrugated diaphragms in loudspeakers 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.
In 1922 he was employed as a technician at Ullandhaug Radio, and the same year built his own radio station, transmitting regular news broadcasts from his own home, possibly the first broadcast
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
in Norway. He designed the first automatic model railway in Norway, to be used in a shop window exhibition, and a solar-cell-powered radio-controlled engine for lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
s. In the early 1930s he constructed his first astronomical clock
Astronomical clock
An astronomical clock is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the sun, moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets.-Definition:...
and at the same time a large reflecting telescope
Reflecting telescope
A reflecting telescope is an optical telescope which uses a single or combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century as an alternative to the refracting telescope which, at that time, was a design that suffered from...
.
Borgarsyssel Museum
Borgarsyssel Museum is a museum in Sarpsborg, Norway.It was founded in 1921, and named after Borgarsysla, the Norse name of Østfold county. Since 1947 it is the main county museum of Østfold. Since 1 January 2006 it is a part of the foundation Østfoldmuseet, which organizes all museums in the...
in Sarpsborg
Sarpsborg
is a city and municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg.Sarpsborg is part of the fifth largest urban area in Norway when paired with neighbouring Fredrikstad...
, Norway. The principal design of gear trains and transmissions is similar to his fourth and final clock, arguably the most complicated of its kind, which was finished in 1967. It was made in his spare time, with his own funding, and using his own self-made tools. The clock was exhibited at the Time Museum in Rockford, Illinois beginning in 1967, and later at the Chicago Museum of Science and Technology until sold to an anonymous owner at Sotheby’s in 2002.
The clock No. 4 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 his workshop with the sole exception of the pendulum itself; Sørnes also devised and hand-crafted the tools required to make the clock. Its astounding features include: locations of the sun and moon in the zodiac
Zodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
, Julian calendar
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
, Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
, sidereal time
Sidereal time
Sidereal time is a time-keeping system astronomers use to keep track of the direction to point their telescopes to view a given star in the night sky...
, GMT, local time with daylight saving time
Daylight saving time
Daylight saving time —also summer time in several countries including in British English and European official terminology —is the practice of temporarily advancing clocks during the summertime so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less...
and leap year
Leap year
A leap year is a year containing one extra day in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year...
, solar and lunar cycle corrections, eclipses, local sunset and sunrise, moon phase, tides, sunspot
Sunspot
Sunspots are temporary phenomena on the photosphere of the Sun that appear visibly as dark spots compared to surrounding regions. They are caused by intense magnetic activity, which inhibits convection by an effect comparable to the eddy current brake, forming areas of reduced surface temperature....
cycles and a planetarium including Pluto
Pluto
Pluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
's 248 year orbit and the 25,800 year period of the polar ecliptics (precession of the Earth's axis).
Rasmus Sørnes is the father of Tor Sørnes
Tor Sørnes
Tor Sørnes is a Norwegian author, politician, engineer and the designer and inventor of the VingCard, the first recodable keycard lock and the magnetic stripe keycard lock.-Biography:...
, inventor of the keycard lock
Keycard lock
A keycard lock is a lock operated by a keycard, a flat, rectangular plastic card with identical dimensions to that of a credit card or American driver's license which stores a physical or digital signature which the door mechanism accepts before disengaging the lock.There are several popular type...
.