History of Astronomy: a new sub-forum

[jambouk]

Thank you SGL for setting up this new sub-forum dedicated to the history of astronomy. I hope it proves to be a popular area of the lounge.

I look forward to hearing about the people, events or equipment which interest other SGL members, and learning more about this fascinating discipline which bridges the science of astronomy with the arts and humanities.

Many of us have our favourite famous "astronomers", and I suspect mine include Clyde Tombaugh (of Pluto fame), Caroline Herschel (sister of William) and from more recent times, Patrick Moore. In fact I think it was reading one of Patrick Moore's books, Watchers of the Stars, which really kick started my interest in the history of astronomy.

But there are countless lesser known figures from more recent times and from the very distant past who either made significant scientific contributions to astronomy, or who simply took great pleasure in astronomy or in teaching others about astronomy; it is these individuals who really fascinate me.

What aspects of the history of astronomy float your boat?

James

[Putaendo Patrick]

Hope this sub-forum takes off, it will be really fascinating!

Historically my favourite astronomer has to be Tycho Brahe - fantastically rich, with a false nose aparently made of silver, and a pet elk with a taste for binge drinking.

Another interest which has piqued my curiosity over the last couple of months is the growth of astronomy as a popular hobby since the end of World War 2. Today there is a range and quality of telescopes, EPs, accessories etc available to us which is infinitely greater than ever before. In 1970 a basic 50 or 60mm refractor cost between 50 and 100 dollars in the USA. Nearly fifty years later the price is the same! A 10 or 12 inch Dob is no longer an impossible dream for the dedicated amateur. Affordable scopes from Japan in the 1960s, 70s and 80s have given way to even cheaper offerings from China. Companies such as Tasco, Meade and Celestron, and even retail chains such as K-Mart and Sears in the US or Dixons in the UK have catered to the needs of an increasingly wide public on the one hand, while at the same time the tastes of this very same public have determined the expansion and diversification of these same companies on the other hand.

Finally a book recommendation:

Breakthrough! 100 Astronomical Images that changed the World by Robert Gendler and R. Jay GaBany (Springer 2015).

It's a history of astrophotography from the earliest images made in the 19th Century up to the present. The earliest surviving photograph of the Moon, for example, was taken by John Adams Whipple in 1852. The first shot of the Moon was in fact taken twelve years earlier by John Draper but subsequently destroyed in a fire! Tons of information about the people, the technology and, of course, the images themselves.

[baggywrinkle]

This should be a good forum. I have been collecting early books on astronomy from the Victorian era and I am fascinated by their thoughts and observations. Most of these books also dealt with naked eye astronomy, telescopes then were even more costly but the lower light pollution was in their favour.

[ollypenrice]

I love the interaction of seemingly unrelated ideas suddenly producing entirely new insights. (General relativity and Hubble's redshift-distance relation, for instance, or quantum theory and the Hertzprung Russell diagram.) There's a kind of 'web of discovery' as things come together. When my grandomther was thirty-nine (thirty nine!) we discovered that the universe was expanding. That beats reality TV.

Olly

[barkis]

I also have an Interest in the work of Tycho Brahe, In particular the Instruments he used, and the fact he made most of them himself,

and used them to great effect. He was some character, and very very rich man.

[laudropb]

My favourite has to be Galileo and there is so much material written about him.

[baggywrinkle]

Tycho's Uraniborg was totally destroyed by the landworkers/peasant on the island after he had died. Great astronomer but apparently not a humane man at all, hence the hatred that existed towards him.

[Jim78154]

I have just cracked open this book,

HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY BY GEORGE FORBES, M.A., F.R.S., M. INST. C. E., (FORMERLY PROFESSOR OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, ANDERSON'S COLLEGE, GLASGOW)

 

Forbes, George (2012-05-17). History of Astronomy (Kindle Locations 2-3).  . Kindle Edition.

 It is available free at Amazon.com   Just download it and the Kindle ap for free.

 

This I found at another site and I hope that these artifacts and those that are yet to be found will remain safe. There are those in that area of the world that will destroy things like that  out of ignorance and religious zeal.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/01/28/clay-tablets-reveal-babylonians-invented-astronomical-geometry-1400-years-before-europeans/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_calculus-330pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

[Jim78154]

On 1/6/2016 at 07:10, baggywrinkle said:

Tycho's Uraniborg was totally destroyed by the landworkers/peasant on the island after he had died. Great astronomer but apparently not a humane man at all, hence the hatred that existed towards him.

Yes indeed. A professional astronomer and an armature human being.