Two Systems Of Astronomy

Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, published in Florence in 1632, was the most proximate cause of his being brought to trial before the Inquisition. Using the dialogue form, a genre common in classical philosophical works, Galileo masterfully demonstrates the truth of the Copernican system over the Ptolemaic one, proving, for the first time, that the earth revolves around the sun. Its influence is incalculable. The Dialogue is not only one of the most important scientific treatises ever written, but a work of supreme clarity and accessibility, remaining as readable now as when it was first published. This edition uses the definitive text established by the University of California Press, in Stillman Drake’s translation, and includes a Foreword by Albert Einstein and a new Introduction by J. L. Heilbron.

This book covers the use and development of software for astronomy. It describes the control systems used to point the telescope and operate its cameras and spectrographs, as well as the web-based tools used to plan those observations. In addition, the book also covers the analysis and archiving of astronomical data once it has been acquired. Readers will learn about existing software tools and packages, develop their own software tools, and analyze real data sets.

Greek astronomy, as developed by medieval Arab philosophers, evolved into the astronomy of Copernicus. This displaced the Earth from the stationary central position that almost all earlier astronomies had assumed. Soon thereafter, in the first decades of the seventeenth century, Kepler found the true shape of the planetary orbits and Galileo introduced the telescope for astronomical observations.

Written specially for practical amateur astronomers who not only want to observe, but want to know and understand the details of exactly what they are looking at. Presents an up-to-date detailed description of the objects, their physics and their evolution (part one); and then (part two) to consider how to observe and record them successfully. Delivers a wealth of information for all levels of amateur observers, from the beginner to the experienced; it is equally fascinating for practical astronomers, and also for those who simply want to find out more about these unusual star systems.

Originally, my intention was to write a "History of Algebra", in two or three volumes. In preparing the first volume I saw that in ancient civiliza tions geometry and algebra cannot well be separated: more and more sec tions on ancient geometry were added. Hence the new title of the book: "Geometry and Algebra in Ancient Civilizations". A subsequent volume on the history of modem algebra is in preparation. It will deal mainly with field theory, Galois theory and theory of groups. I want to express my deeply felt gratitude to all those who helped me in shaping this volume. In particular, I want to thank Donald Blackmore Wagner (Berkeley) who put at my disposal his English translation of the most interesting parts of the Chinese "Nine Chapters of the Art of Arith metic" and of Liu Hui's commentary to this classic, and also Jacques Se siano (Geneva), who kindly allowed me to use his translation of the re cently discovered Arabic text of four books of Diophantos not extant in Greek. Warm thanks are also due to Wyllis Bandler (Colchester, England) who read my English text very carefully and suggested several improve ments, and to Annemarie Fellmann (Frankfurt) and Erwin Neuenschwan der (Zurich) who helped me in correcting the proof sheets. Miss Fellmann also typed the manuscript and drew the figures. I also want to thank the editorial staff and production department of Springer-Verlag for their nice cooperation.