from: Cambridge University Press
Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 520.9
EAN num: 9780521411585
ISBN number: 0521411580
Label: Cambridge University Press
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 400
Printing Date: January 13, 1997
Publishing house: Cambridge University Press
Sale Popularity Level: 376128
Studio: Cambridge University Press
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Product Description:
Expertly written and lavishly illustrated, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Astronomy offers a unique account of astronomical theory and practice from antiquity to the present day. How did Moslems of the Middle Ages use astronomy to calculate the direction of Mecca from far-flung corners of the Islamic world? Who was the only ancient Greek to suspect that the earth might revolve around the sun? How did Christopher Columbus abuse his knowledge of a lunar eclipse predicted by an astronomical almanac? Packed with anecdotes and intriguing detail, this book describes how we observed the sky and interpreted what we saw at different periods of history; how this influenced our beliefs and mythology; and how great astronomers contributed to what we now know. The result is a lively and highly visual history of astronomy - a compelling read for specialists and non-specialists alike.
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Rated by buyers -
I enjoyed this book immensely, because it combines two of my favorite topics, history and science, and shows how one makes the other. The book is lavishly illustrated with photographs of stone tablets, astronomical instruments, original sketches, and drawings to underpin its narrative of history of astronomy. The book takes the reader from antiquity thru Copernicus to Hobble in a narrative that is gripping as the quest for knowledge and understanding of the universe unfolds.
As a scientist in microelectronics, I appreciated how people of different ages developed a concept of the universe based on their sometimes incomprehensible observational data; how that concept changed due to the ever increasing accuracy of observation; and how the need for more accurate observation drove the need for improvements in instrumentation.
Unlike a typical astronomy (or engineering) textbook that lists facts that is perhaps a culmination of a thoughtprocess of many generations, this book tries to answer the even more important question, how did they figure that? - outlining breakthrough concepts and how and why they were arrived at but not dragging the reader down in detail.
The history of astronomy is the history of people (and not that of a single genius), and how scientists and astronomers built on the results of the previous generation, sometimes tearing concepts down, but ever improving our view. There have been some very smart people in the past in astronomy and in other sciences; and it is incredible what they accomplished with what little they had. The book pays respect to these individuals, as we all should, as we all stand on the shoulders of these giants.
Rated by buyers -
Like other works in this series, the Cambridge 'Illustrated History of Astronomy' is both a useful reference work and a visually entertaining table-top book. Combined, those two elements make for an excellent history of the science of astronomy.
The scholarship is top-notch: Michael Hoskin is the editor and a contributor, and other contributors include J.A. Bennett, Owen Gingerich, Clive Ruggles, Christopher Cullen and David Dewhirst--superb scholars all. They cover the history of astronomy from prehistory, through the invention of the telescope and the scientific revolution, to the rise of astrophysics and beyond. Astronomy in non-western cultures (China, India, Islam) is also covered, and makes a welcome addition to the traditional Euro-centric story.
But the illustrations (many in color) really make the book: pictures, graphs, sidebars, frontispieces, manuscript pages, newspaper clippings, paintings, etc. enhance the written portion and make it that much more informative.
In sum, this may be the most useful and enjoyable book on the history of astronomy in print.
Rated by buyers -
When you see a "coffee table" book like this, you sometimes wonder about whether the writing is going to match the pictures, but with people like Michael Hoskin, Christopher Cullen and Owen Gingerich writing the text, you know that this one is going to be a winner even before you open it. Let me just say that the pictures and the desing in fantastic, and that the writing is at a level suitable for the general public without being "dumbed down". Trust me, you're going to enjoy this one!
Rated by buyers -
This is the single best history of astronomy I've ever encountered. Not only is the narrative interesting, the pictures--from William Herschel's journal pages describing his discovery of Uranus to full-page illuminations of the Cartesian cosmology--enhance the experience even more than one might expect. At less than ( ), this book is a must for any astronomy buff.
Rated by buyers -
An excellent survey with both breadth and depth, covering non-European astronomy (for example the Dresden Codex - a Mayan calendar), the difficulties of the Geo-centric model, the development of the telescope, modern astrophysics, up to the Hubble Space Telescope. Includes a great many sidebars with much peripheral information (I did not know that Herschel was an organist by trade).
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