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History of astronomy books?

SacRiker

By SacRiker
in The Astro Lounge

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wheresthetorch?

wheresthetorch?

Posted
Posted

I'd recommend either of these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1554075378/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?qid=1423348063&sr=8-4π=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=history+of+astronomy&dpPl=1&dpID=41AMIFLfuKL&ref=plSrch

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0521411580/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1423348136&sr=8-3&keywords=history+of+astronomy&dpPl=1&dpID=512E0ES8QKL&ref=plSrchπ=AC_SY200_QL40

I've read both and found them fascinating.

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ghostdance

ghostdance

Posted
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Whoa......I can see that cover photo showing up on countless American spook, nut, conspiracy & Greys websites!

'See, ah told yew, PROOF - that photograff clearleh shows a Type 2a planet'ry kraft flyin' above Stonehenge....yew can see tha two windows an the obviously alien strukchure.....'

:D

*Absolutely no insult intended to my saner and literate American friends, who I hope long continue to vastly outnumber the tinfoil brigade...

Or The Carpenters........I think...?

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SacRiker

SacRiker

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Thanks -- I think I'm going to check out one of those.

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gkec

gkec

Posted
Posted

I'm not a great fan of Heather Couper but I did enjoy her and Nigel Henbest's book that you mention.

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mikeDnight

mikeDnight

Posted
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Here are a few of my favourites which are really to do with the history of observational astronomy, as well as the colourful characters that make it so enjoyable.

Epic Moon by Sheehan and Dobbins.

Planets & Perception by William Sheehan.

Mars by Sheehan & O'Meara.

(Anything by William Sheehan is excellent)!

The History of the Telescope by King.

William Herschel and the Construction of the Heavens by Hoskin.

The Georgian Star by Michael D. Lemonick.

The Haunted Observatory by Richard Baum.

The Astronomical Scrapbook by Joseph Ashbrook.

Here's a belter! Telescopic Work for Starlight Evenings by W. F. Denning. (Though the science is outdated, this book is full of Dennings brilliant statements of fact, things that could start a full blown fight at a star party. For example: " There is little point in having a lens of large capacity at one end of a telescope and a man of little capacity at the other"! Brilliant! With some of the astronomers I associate with it would take about 15 minutes for that one to sink in, and by the time it had, I'd be long gone).

Mike :-)

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Joves

Joves

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If you have iBooks, type in Astronomy and it brings up a heap of classic observational literature from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Not quite "history of astronomy BEFORE the telescope", but they are fantastic reads.

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r3i

r3i

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If you have iBooks, type in Astronomy and it brings up a heap of classic observational literature from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Not quite "history of astronomy BEFORE the telescope", but they are fantastic reads.

They're a fascinating read and demonstrate just how much our knowledge has grown over the last century or so.  For example they often discuss what 'spiral nebulae' might be and would put down the suggestions made by some at the time that they were galaxies in their own right that existed far outside our own.  Makes you wonder what astronomers in a 100 years time will make of our current theories.

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