A History of Astronomy : from 1890 to the Present
Why start at 1890? That year marked one of the most significant dates in the history of the multidimensional story that is the history of astronomy. It was the year in which the Draper Memorial Catalogue of Stellar spectra was published - a publication that provided essential data for an understanding of stellar spectra well into the twentieth century. It's also slightly over a hundred years ago. This is a long enough span of time for any one book on this subject to cover, but sufficient to chart the progress of astronomy from a time when Newtonian physics reigned supreme, photography was in its infancy, and radio astronomy was decades in the future. Paradoxically, the theories of Einstein, Planck and Heisenberg, along with modern radio, X-ray, and space-borne telescopes mean that the cosmos seems to hold more mysteries today than it did a hundred years ago. Any reader with a basic knowledge of astronomy will find this book quite fascinating. Academics, historians, and others who need a definitive history of the major events and characters that influenced the growth of astronomy
1 online resource (XII, 388 pages)
9781447121244, 1447121244
840277483
Printed edition:
1 • The Sun
Early Work
The Temperature of the Sun and its Generation of Energy
The Corona
Sunspots and the Disturbed Sun
The Quiet Sun and the Interplanetary Plasma
The Solar Constant
The Solar Spectrum
2 • The Moon
Early Work
The Surface
The Origin and Subsequent History of the Moon
3 • The Origin of the Solar System
Early Theories
Collisions and Close Encounters
Condensing Nebulae Re-examined
4 • The Terrestrial Planets
Mercury
Venus
The Earth
Mars
5 • The Gas Giants
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
6 • Small Bodies of the Solar System
Pluto
The Asteroids
Comets
Meteorites
7 • Stellar Evolution and Stellar Structures
Early Work
The Luminosity of Stars
The Harvard Classification
Initial Evolutionary Ideas
Ionisation and the Abundance of Hydrogen in Stellar Atmospheres
The Surface Temperature of Stars
The Internal Structure of Stars
The Source of Energy in Stars
The MKK and BCD Classification Systems
Later Evolutionary Ideas
Stellar Populations
8 • Variable and Double Stars
Early Work
Short Period Variables
Long Period Variables
Irregular Variables
Flare Stars
Eclipsing Binaries
Non-Eclipsing Binaries
9 • Young Stars, Old Stars and Stellar Explosions
Young Stars
Pulsars
Novae and Supernovae
Black Holes
10 • The Milky Way
Early Work
Dimensions and Structure
The Interstellar Medium
Nebulae in the Milky Way
11 • Galaxies
The Nature and Distance of Spiral Nebulae
Red Shifts
Quasars
Dwarf Galaxies
Galactic Evolution
12 • Cosmology
Early Cosmological Theories
Revisions to the Hubble Constant
The Microwave Background Radiation
The Missing Mass
13 • Optical Telescopes and Observatories
Early Telescopes
Early Observatories
The Transition to Reflectors
The Harvard College Observatory
Mount Wilson
Palomar Mountain and the 200 inch
Schmidt Telescopes
South Africa
KittPeak
The Multi-Mirror Telescope
Mauna Kea
LaPalma
The Anglo-Australian Observatory
The European Southern Observatory
14 • Tools and Techniques
Photography
Spectroscopy
Photometry
Other Tools and Techniques
15 • Radio Astronomy
Early Radio Astronomy
Radio Telescopes
16 • Space Research
Results from Early Sounding Rockets
Sputniks and the Formation of NASA
The Race to the Moon
Early Solar Plasma Research
Missions to the Terrestrial Planets
Pioneers 10 and 11
Voyagers 1 and 2
The Halley Intercepts
Orbital Observatories
17 • Modern Astronomy in Context
1890-1914
1914-1939
1939-1970
1970 to the Present
References and Further Reading
Units
General Abbreviations Used
The Greek Alphabet
Name Index
English