Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b83b14cd4142fe10848741bb2a14c66b.jpg

If you could meet one historical astronomer, who would it be?

CrowdFoundAstro

By CrowdFoundAstro
in The Astro Lounge

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 64
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Cloudwatcher

Cloudwatcher

Posted
Posted

George Alcock, who once discovered two comets in a single week! Good going in any circumstances but ...with binoculars....under British skies....Awesome! ;):wink:

I would like to have asked him how he was able to retain in his minds eye the postions of hundreds of thousands of stars which enabled him to 'spot the difference' when observing. (That could be very handy!)

CW

Link to comment
Share on other sites
James

James

Posted
Posted

Astroman has already bagged Robert Burnham so I'd like to meet Percival Lowell - firstly to ask what on earth was he on about regarding canals on Mars and also to give him a discount voucher to Specsavers or the like to have his eyes tested!

James

Link to comment
Share on other sites
beamish

beamish

Posted
Posted

There are many but for me Einstein,

by the way, wasn't Neville Maskelyne (whilst Astronomer Royal) almost single handedly responsible for Kyboshing John Harrison's chronometer, whilst trying his utmost to promote his own Luna calculations method of determining Longitude ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
prasadka

prasadka

Posted
Posted

For me it has to be Bhaskaracharya the tenth century Indian astronomer and mathematician.

He devised a way to determine the latitude and longitude of a place, opined that the earth was round and also thought that there was some weird force that causes objects to stick to the earth. He was the father of calculus and used pi as 22/7. He sometimes approximated pi to be sqrt(10) for architectural purposes.

He also knew of the geocentric parralax and knew how to correct it to determine the exact occurrence of the eclipse from the surface of the earth.!

Most of the Indian astronomers/mathematicians those days were also proficient astrologers and philosophers. Primarily, maths for them was a tool that helped them in their daily activities.

Cheers,

Prasad

Link to comment
Share on other sites
barkis

barkis

Posted
Posted

Astroman has already bagged Robert Burnham so I'd like to meet Percival Lovell - firstly to ask what on earth was he on about regarding canals on Mars and also to give him a discount voucher to Specsavers or the like to have his eyes tested!

James

Oh. James, even today that poor man is pilloried for making a mistake the fragile human eye is still guilty of today.

Everyone conveniently forgets the very good work he accomplished. He made a mistake, and he was never allowed to forget it.

Sorry, I just have the utmost sympathy for the guy, whos career did not deserve this blemish.

Ron.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
barkis

barkis

Posted
Posted

I would like to have met Tycho Brahe in his observatory at Hven. It is well documented he had the finest collection of scientific instruments of the time in there. Would be nice to actually get to look them over. Maybe to suggest a few modifications to improve certain aspects.

He would probably have taken my nose off at such affrontary ;)

Ron. :wink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
proflight2000

proflight2000

Posted
Posted
by the way, wasn't Neville Maskelyne (whilst Astronomer Royal) almost single handedly responsible for Kyboshing John Harrison's chronometer, whilst trying his utmost to promote his own Luna calculations method of determining Longitude ?

In fairness, some aspects of the "kyboshing" were grounded in respect that it forced the competition, {lifted text} Among his achievements were the British Mariner's Guide of 1763, the invention of the prismatic micrometer, making the first calculations of the Earth's mass in 1775 based on Newton's theories. The other aspect is that the principles he set for measurment were actually used for a century afterwards as they were cheaper.

Maskelyne also took a great interest in various geodetical operations, notably the measurement of the length of a degree of latitude in Maryland and Pennsylvania (ibid. lviii. 323), executed by Mason and Dixon in 1766 - 1768, and later the determination of the relative longitude of Greenwich and Paris (ib. lxxvii. 151). On the French side the work was conducted by Count Cassini, Legendre, and Méchain; on the English side by General Roy. This triangulation was the beginning of the great trigonometrical survey which was subsequently extended all over Britain {end of lifted text}

Anyways, I was going to opt for the clangers as they first got me introduced to the moon but i had to keep it serious. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
James

James

Posted
Posted

.... so I'd like to meet Percival Lovell - firstly to ask what on earth was he on about regarding canals on Mars and also to give him a discount voucher to Specsavers or the like to have his eyes tested!.....

James

Oh. James, even today that poor man is pilloried for making a mistake the fragile human eye is still guilty of today.

Everyone conveniently forgets the very good work he accomplished. He made a mistake, and he was never allowed to forget it.

Sorry, I just have the utmost sympathy for the guy, whos career did not deserve this blemish.

Ron.

OK, I feel bad now - even more so since I spelt his name wrong.. :oops:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
barkis

barkis

Posted
Posted

.... so I'd like to meet Percival Lovell - firstly to ask what on earth was he on about regarding canals on Mars and also to give him a discount voucher to Specsavers or the like to have his eyes tested!.....

James

Oh. James, even today that poor man is pilloried for making a mistake the fragile human eye is still guilty of today.

Everyone conveniently forgets the very good work he accomplished. He made a mistake, and he was never allowed to forget it.

Sorry, I just have the utmost sympathy for the guy, whos career did not deserve this blemish.

Ron.

OK, I feel bad now - even more so since I spelt his name wrong.. :oops:

You are hereby forgiven, on both counts.

;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Macavity

Macavity

Posted
Posted

"Lord Rosse" might have been quite a cool guy?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Parsons,_3rd_Earl_of_Rosse

In the 1840s, he built his "Leviathan of Parsonstown" 72-inch (183-cm) telescope... ;)

I was looking for a picture of a youthful Caroline Herschel, beyond the traditionally presented "Mother Hubbard" stage. So, in the spirit of "We were all young once"... :?

http://www.klima-luft.de/steinicke/ngcic/persons/herschel_c.htm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.