Editing Athanasius Kircher (section)

===Technology===
[[File:Kirchermagneticclock.jpg|thumb|250px|Kircher's magnetic clock.]]

In 1646, Kircher published ''Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae'', concerning the display of images on a screen using an apparatus similar to the [[magic lantern]] developed by [[Christiaan Huygens]] and others. Kircher described the construction of a "catoptric lamp" that used reflection to project images on the wall of a darkened room. Although Kircher did not invent the device, he improved it and suggested methods by which exhibitors could use his device. Much of the significance of his work arises from Kircher's rational approach towards the demystification of projected images.<ref>Musser, p 613</ref>

Previously,  such images had been used in Europe to mimic supernatural appearances (Kircher himself cites the use of displayed images by the rabbis in the court of [[King Solomon]]). Kircher stressed that exhibitors should take great care to inform spectators that such images were purely naturalistic, and not magical.

Kircher constructed a [[magnetism|magnetic]] clock, which he explained in his ''Magnes'' (1641). The clock had been invented by another Jesuit, Fr. [[Linus of Liege]], and was described by an acquaintance of Line's in 1634. Kircher's patron Peiresc had claimed that the clock's motion supported the [[Copernican principle|Copernican]] cosmological model, arguing that the magnetic sphere in the clock rotated by the magnetic force of the [[sun]].<ref name="Athanasius Kircher's Magnetic Clock">[http://hotgates.stanford.edu/Eyes/kircher/intro.html Athanasius Kircher's Magnetic Clock] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100816044854/http://hotgates.stanford.edu/Eyes/kircher/intro.html |date=August 16, 2010 }}, accessed 23 Apr 2011</ref>

Kircher's model disproved that hypothesis, showing that the motion could be produced by a [[water clock]] in the base of the device. Although Kircher disputed the [[Heliocentrism|Copernican]] model in his ''Magnes'', supporting instead that of [[Tycho Brahe]], his later ''[[Itinerarium exstaticum]]'' (1656, revised 1671), presented several systems&nbsp;— including the Copernican&nbsp;— as distinct possibilities. The clock has been reconstructed by Caroline Bouguereau in collaboration with Michael John Gorman and is on display at the Green Library at Stanford University.<ref name="Athanasius Kircher's Magnetic Clock"/>

The ''[[Musurgia Universalis]]'' (1650) sets out Kircher's views on [[music]]: he believed that the [[harmony]] of music reflected the proportions of the [[universe]]. The book includes plans for constructing water-powered [[automatic organ]]s, [[Musical notation|notations]] of [[bird vocalization|birdsong]] and diagrams of [[musical instrument]]s. One illustration shows the differences between the [[ear]]s of humans and other animals. In ''[[Phonurgia Nova]]'' (1673) Kircher considered the possibilities of transmitting music to remote places.

Other machines designed by Kircher include an [[aeolian harp]], [[automaton]]s such as a statue which spoke and listened via a [[speaking tube]], a [[perpetual motion machine]], and a [[Katzenklavier]] ("cat piano"). The Katzenklavier would have driven spikes into the tails of cats, which would yowl to specified [[Pitch (music)|pitches]] but was never constructed.

In ''Phonurgia Nova'', literally "new methods of sound production", Kircher examined acoustic phenomena. He explored the use of horns and cones in amplifying sound for architectural applications. He also examined echoes in rooms using domes of different shapes, including the muffling effect of an [[elliptical dome]] from Heidelberg. In one section he explored the therapeutic effects of music in [[tarantism]], a theme from southern Italy.<ref>{{cite conference|doi=10.1121/1.2992053|title=The 'Phonurgia Nova' of Athanasius Kircher: The Marvellous sound world of 17th century|pages=015002|series=Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics|year=2008|last1=Tronchin|first1=Lamberto|first2=I.|last2= Durvilli |first3= V.|last3= Tarabusi}}</ref>