Babylon to Voyager and Beyond: A History of Planetary AstronomyCambridge University Press, 2003 M05 29 - 558 pages Babylon to Voyager and Beyond describes the fascinating story of planetary research from the time of the Babylonians and Ancient Greeks to the modern age of space exploration. In it, David Leverington outlines the key astronomical discoveries in their historical context, covering not only the successes but also the main failures. Babylon to Voyager and Beyond is written to be accessible to both amateur and professional astronomers, and those interested in the history of science. Extensively illustrated, the book concludes with a description of the extensive planetary discoveries made by spacecraft, and the discoveries of planets around other stars. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
THE ANCIENTS 11 Early astronomy | 2 |
12 The Babylonians | 4 |
13 The Greeks | 12 |
14 The Greeks in Egypt | 27 |
15 Epicycles | 32 |
COPERNICUS AND THE NEW COSMOLOGY 21 TheDark1 Ages | 40 |
22 Copernicus | 44 |
THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 81 Jupiter | 247 |
82 Saturn | 254 |
83 Uranus | 264 |
84 Neptune | 267 |
91 Pluto | 269 |
92 Mercury | 276 |
93 Venus | 278 |
94 Origin of the solar system | 284 |
23 Tycho Brahe | 48 |
KEPLER AND GALILEO THE FALL OF EPICYCLES AND THE START OF TELESCOPIC ASTRONOMY 31 Kepler | 55 |
32 Early telescopes | 70 |
33 Galileo | 72 |
THE MID AND LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 41 Saturn | 91 |
42 Jupiters satellites | 98 |
43 New planetary characteristics | 102 |
44 Solar parallax | 105 |
45 The moon | 106 |
46 Early concepts of gravity and Descartes vortex theory | 110 |
47 Isaac Newton | 112 |
CONSOLIDATION 51 Halleys comet | 133 |
52 Atmospheric refraction | 136 |
53 Aberration of light | 138 |
54 The 1761 and 1769 transits of Venus | 140 |
55 Secular acceleration of the moon | 146 |
THE SOLAR SYSTEM EXPANDS 61 William Herschel and the discovery of Uranus | 148 |
62 Saturn | 155 |
63 Origin of the solar system | 159 |
64 The first asteroids | 161 |
65 The discovery of Neptune | 166 |
THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 71 Vulcan | 181 |
72 Asteroids | 186 |
73 Comets | 192 |
74 Meteor showers | 202 |
75 Kreutz sungrazing comets | 211 |
76 Mercury | 213 |
77 Venus | 216 |
78 The moon | 219 |
79 The earth | 227 |
710 Mars | 233 |
95 The moon | 290 |
96 The earth | 292 |
97 Mars | 304 |
98 Internal structures and atmospheres of the four large outer planets | 310 |
99 Jupiter | 319 |
910 Saturn Differential rotation | 322 |
911 Uranus Rotation period | 326 |
912 Neptune Rotation period | 331 |
913 Asteroids Orbits | 336 |
914 Comets Chemical composition | 341 |
THE SPACE AGE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS 101 The earth The ionosphere | 350 |
102 The moon | 360 |
103 Origin of the solar system | 372 |
104 Mercury | 379 |
105 Venus | 382 |
106 Mars Prespacecraft concepts | 400 |
THE SPACE AGE THE OUTER PLANETS 111 Jupiter Pioneer 10 | 426 |
112 Saturn Pioneer 11 | 452 |
113 Uranus | 466 |
114 Neptune | 477 |
115 Pluto and Charon | 487 |
116 Asteroids Spacecraft intercepts | 491 |
117 Comets | 502 |
118 Other solar systems | 507 |
119 Concluding remarks | 512 |
Glossary | 514 |
| 523 | |
Units | 533 |
Name index | 534 |
| 547 | |
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Babylon to Voyager and Beyond: A History of Planetary Astronomy David Leverington No preview available - 2007 |
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Bibliographic information
| Title | Babylon to Voyager and Beyond: A History of Planetary Astronomy Babylon to Voyager and Beyond: A History of Planetary Astronomy, David Leverington |
| Author | David Leverington |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press, 2003 |
| ISBN | 0521808405, 9780521808408 |
| Length | 558 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |