A Brief History Of Astronomy And Astrophysics

This book traces out the unfolding history of important discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics, and anchors our present understanding of the Universe within the findings and personalities of accomplished astronomers. They have used telescopes and instruments to extend our vision to places that cannot be seen with the unaided eye, discovered a host of unanticipated objects, found out how various parts of the night sky are related, and discovered that the Universe is larger, more complex, and older than has been previously thought. This comprehensive historical approach to the present state of astronomy is a unique aspect of the book.

This comprehensive Encyclopedia covers the full history of astronomy from its ancient origins in Africa, South America, the Middle East and China to the latest developments in astrophysics and space-based research. The initial articles, which are largely organised chronologically, are followed by numerous thematic historical articles on the constituents of the solar system, types of stars, stellar evolution, active galaxies, cosmology and much more. These are followed by articles on tools and techniques, from the history of spectroscopy to adaptive optics. The last part of the Encyclopedia is devoted to the history of ground- and space-based telescopes and observatories, covering the full spectral range from gamma-rays through the optical waveband to radio waves. Informative and accessibly written, each article is followed by an extensive bibliography to facilitate further research, whilst consistent coverage from ancient times to the present makes this an ideal resource for scholars, students and amateur astronomers alike.

Designed for students who have a basic understanding of physics and mathematics, this text provides a fundamental, three-in-one introduction to astronomy and astrophysics. Universe is a triumph of the intelligence, ingenuity and sheer hard work of the many scientists involved in this story. This book traces out the unfolding history of important discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics, and anchors our present understanding of the Universe within the findings and personalities of accomplished astronomers. They have used telescopes and instruments to extend our vision to places that cannot be seen with the unaided eye, discovered a host of unanticipated objects, found out how various parts of the night sky are related, and discovered that the Universe is larger, more complex, and older than has been previously thought. This comprehensive historical approach to the present state of astronomy is a unique aspect of the book.

This is a textbook on the history of astronomy focusing on the topics of prime importance.

Astronomy, perhaps the first of the sciences, was already well developed by the time of Christ. Seventeen centuries later, after Newton showed that the movements of the planets could be explained in terms of gravitation, it became the paradigm for the mathematical sciences. In the nineteenth century the analysis of star-light allowed astrophysicists to determine both the chemical composition and the radial velocities of celestial bodies, while the development of photography enabled distant objects invisible to the human eye, to be studied and measured in comfort. Technical developments during and since the Second World War have greatly enlarged the scope of the science by permitting the study of radiation. This is a fascinating introduction to the history of Western astronomy, from prehistoric times to the origins of astrophysics in the mid-nineteenth century. Historical records are first found in Babylon and Egypt, and after two millennia the arithmetical astronomy of the Babylonians merged with the Greek geometrical approach to culminate in the Almagest of Ptolemy. This legacy was transmitted to the Latin West via Islam, and led to Copernicus's claim that the Earth is in motion. In justifying this Kepler converted astronomy into a branch of dynamics, leading to Newton's universal law of gravity. The book concludes with eighteenth- and nineteenth-century applications of Newton's law, and the first explorations of the universe of stars. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

The history of astronomy and astrophysics ranges from antiquity to the landing of spacecraft on the Moon, Mars, Venus, and even an asteroid. Since early times, human beings have sought to understand what they see in the sky. The invention of the telescope opened new avenues of observation and research. Speculation about life on the Moon and other planets became a hot topic, and theories about the evolution of the universe were developed. New investigative tools, such as spectrometry and photometry, were used to determine spectral characteristics and brightness of cosmological objects. Then scientists began to detect electromagnetic radiation other than visible light from the sky, such as infrared, ultraviolet, and X-rays. This book approaches the history of astronomy and astrophysics from a biographical point of view, considering people to be more interesting than things, and the combination of the two more interesting than the sum of the individual parts. After a brief overview of classical astronomy and modern astrophysics, 293 one-page biographies of individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of astronomy and astrophysics are presented.

The International Astronomical Union and the International Union for the History and Philosophy of Science have sponsored a major work on the history of astronomy, which the Press publishs are in four volumes, three of which will be divided into two parts. Publication commenced with volume 4, part A. The history of astronomy has never been tackled on this scale and depth and this major synthesis breaks wholly new ground. The individual chapters of each volume have been prepared by leading experts in every field of the history of astronomy.

The history of astronomy is, like most history, a multidimensional story, and when writing about a specific period, the author has to decide how to handle all the developments of earlier times in order to set the scene. I have done this by starting most chapters of the book with a summary of astronomical knowledge at the beginning of our chosen period, together with a brief review of how such knowledge had been gained. This story is not only interesting in itself, but it will also assist those readers that would appreciate a brief reminder of some of the basic elements of astronomy. It is also necessary to decide when to start our history. Should it be the year 1900 or 1890, or should it be linked to some key development or investigation, e. g. the discovery of the electron by J. J. Thomson in 1897, or the discovery of spectroscopic binary stars by Pickering and Vogel (independently) in 1889, or maybe the year 1890 in which Thomas Edison tried unsuccessfully to detect radio waves from the Sun and Johannes Rydberg published his formula for atomic spectra? I have, in fact, decided to start this history at about 1890, as it was the year of publication of the Draper Memorial Catalogue of stellar spectra which, together with its updates, provided essential data for the understanding of stellar spectra until well into the twentieth century. This date also gives a clear hundred years up to the present.