Heavens on Earth (eBook, PDF)

Observatories and Astronomy in Nineteenth-Century Science and Culture
Redaktion: David Aubin, Aubin

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

The Heavens on Earth explores the place of the observatory in nineteenth-century science and culture. Astronomy was a core pursuit for observatories, but usually not the only one. It belonged to a larger group of "e;observatory sciences"e; that also included geodesy, meteorology, geomagnetism, and even parts of physics and statistics. These pursuits coexisted in the nineteenth-century observatory; this collection surveys them as a coherent whole. Broadening the focus beyond the solitary astronomer at his telescope, it illuminates the observatory's importance to technological, military, political, and colonial undertakings, as well as in advancing and popularizing the mathematical, physical, and cosmological sciences.The contributors examine "e;observatory techniques"e; developed and used not only in connection with observatories but also by instrument makers in their workshops, navy officers on ships, civil engineers in the field, and many others. These techniques included the calibration and coordination of precision instruments for making observations and taking measurements; methods of data acquisition and tabulation; and the production of maps, drawings, and photographs, as well as numerical, textual, and visual representations of the heavens and the earth. They also encompassed the social management of personnel within observatories, the coordination of international scientific collaborations, and interactions with dignitaries and the public. The state observatory occupied a particularly privileged place in the life of the city. With their imposing architecture and ancient traditions, state observatories served representative purposes for their patrons, whether as symbols of a monarch's enlightened power, a nation's industrial and scientific excellence, or republican progressive values. Focusing on observatory techniques in settings from Berlin, London, Paris, and Rome to Australia, Russia, Thailand, and the United States, The Heavens on Earth is a major contribution to the history of science.Contributors: David Aubin, Charlotte Bigg, Guy Boistel, Theresa Levitt, Massimo Mazzotti, Ole Molvig, Simon Schaffer, Martina Schiavon , H. Otto Sibum, Richard Staley, John Tresch, Simon Werrett, Sven Widmalm

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Duke University Press
• Seitenzahl: 398
• Erscheinungstermin: 26. Januar 2010
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780822392507
• Artikelnr.: 54929610

Autorenporträt

David Aubin is Professor of History of Science at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, and a member of the Institut de Mathématiques de Jussieu. Charlotte Bigg is a research scientist at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Centre Alexandre Koyré, Paris). H. Otto Sibum is Hans Rausing Professor of History of Science and Director of the Office for History of Science at Uppsala University in Sweden.

Inhaltsangabe

List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: Observatory Techniques in Nineteenth-Century Science and
Society / David Aubin, Charlotte Bigg, and H. Otto Sibum 1
1. The Astronomical Capital of the World: Pulkovo Observatory in the Russia
of Tsar Nicholas I / Simon Werrett 33
2. The Jesuit on the Roof: Observatory Sciences, Metaphysics, and Nation
Building / Massimo Mazzotti 58
3. Eclipse Politics in France and Thailand, 1868 / David Aubin 86
4. Keeping the Books at Paramatta Observatory / Simon Schaffer 118
5. Training Seafarers in Astronomy: Methods, Naval Schools, and Naval
Observatories in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century France / Guy Boistel
148
6. Astronomy as Military Science: The Case of Sweden, ca. 1800–1850 / Sven
Widmalm 174
7. Geodesy and Map Making in France and Algeria: Between Army Officers and
Observatory Scientists / Martina Schiavon 199
8. Michelson and the Observatory: Physics and the Astronomical Community in
Late-Nineteenth-Century America / Richard Staley 225
9. Even the Tools Will Be Free: Humboldt's Romantic Technologies / John
Tresch 253
10. "I thought this might be of interest . . .": The Observatory as Public
Enterprise / Theresa Levitt 285
11. Staging the Heavens: Astrophysics and Popular Astronomy in the Late
Nineteenth Century / Charlotte Bigg 305
12. The Berlin Urania, Humboldtian Cosmology, and the Public / Ole Molvig
325
Bibliography 345
About the Contributors 367
Index 369