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From ancient times, humans have tried to understand the workings of the world around them. The roots of modern physical science go back to the very earliest mechanical devices such as levers and rollers, the mixing of paints and dyes, and the importance of the heavenly bodies in early religious observance and navigation. The physical sciences as we know them today began to emerge as independent academic subjects during the early modern period, in the work of Newton and other 'natural philosophers', and numerous sub-disciplines developed during the centuries that followed. This part of the Cambridge Library Collection is devoted to landmark publications in this area which will be of interest to historians of science concerned with individual scientists, particular discoveries, and advances in scientific method, or with the establishment and development of scientific institutions around the world.

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60 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Astronomy

Page 2 of 3

The Scientific Papers of Sir William Herschel
  • Including Early Papers Hitherto Unpublished
  • Volume 2
  • William Herschel
  • Edited by John Louis Emil Dreyer
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    05 September 2013
    First published in:
    1912
  • By the time of his death, William Herschel (1738–1822) had built revolutionary telescopes, identified hundreds of binary stars, and published astronomical papers in over forty volumes of the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions. This two-volume collection, which originally appeared in 1912, was the first to gather together his scattered publications. It draws also on a wealth of previously unpublished material, from personal letters to numerous papers presented to the Philosophical Society of Bath. Although Herschel is best known for his discovery of Uranus, this collection highlights the true range of his observations and interests. Focusing on his later work, Volume 2 includes notes on some of the moons of Uranus, studies of solar heat and the atmosphere of Saturn, and some practical experiments investigating the capabilities of contemporary telescopes. It also features an appendix of work compiled by his son, John Herschel, and sister Caroline.

Astronomie populaire
  • Description générale du ciel
  • Camille Flammarion
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
  • French astronomer Camille Flammarion (1842–1925) firmly believed that science should not be the preserve of elites. His passion for the discoveries of his time is palpable throughout this classic introduction to astronomy, which stands as a landmark in the history of popular science writing. It features 360 illustrations, including highly detailed maps of the Moon and Mars, the latter being of special interest for Flammarion as he compared and contrasted it with the Earth. Originally published in 1880, the work won the approval of the Académie Française and the Minister of Public Instruction. This reissue is of the version that appeared in 1881 after 50,000 copies had already reached an enthusiastic readership. Its translation into English as Popular Astronomy (1894) and another accessible work by Flammarion, Le Monde avant la création de l'homme (1886), are also reissued in this series.

An Introduction to Practical Astronomy
  • Containing Tables for Facilitating the Reduction of Celestial Observations, and a Popular Explanation of their Construction and Use
  • Volume 1
  • William Pearson
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    05 September 2013
  • Although astronomical guides were available in the early nineteenth century, they tended to come from continental presses and were rarely in English. This two-volume work by the clergyman and astronomer William Pearson (1767–1847) aimed, with brilliant success, to compile data from extant sources into one of the first English practical guides to astronomy. Most of the tables were updated and improved versions, and some were wholly reconstructed to streamline the calculation processes. Sir John Herschel dubbed it 'one of the most important and extensive works on that subject which has ever issued from the press', and for his efforts Pearson was awarded the gold medal of the Astronomical Society. First published in 1824, Volume 1 chiefly comprises extensive tables to facilitate the reduction of a range of astronomical observations, including solar and sidereal movements, alongside thorough instructions. In the history of science, Pearson's work reflects the contemporary challenges of celestial study.

The Moon
  • Considered as a Planet, a World, and a Satellite
  • James Nasmyth, James Carpenter
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    05 September 2013
  • The movement of the moon in space had been well documented by the second half of the nineteenth century. In this monograph, which first appeared in 1874, James Nasmyth (1808–90) and James Carpenter (1840–99) pay closer attention to the lunar surface, notably illustrating their work with photographs of accurate plaster models. At this time, many questions about the moon's properties were still open. Could the moon support life? Did it have an atmosphere? How had its craters been formed? Marshalling the latest available evidence, Nasmyth and Carpenter provide their answers in a text accompanied by explanatory diagrams. Also included are theories on planetary formation, a discussion of lunar volcanism, and a vivid imagining of a day on the moon's surface, describing everything from low lunar gravity to the sudden, monthly sunrise. The work remains an instructive resource, reflecting the state of contemporary astronomical knowledge.

A Treatise on Spherical Astronomy
  • Robert Stawell Ball
  • Published online:
    05 March 2014
    Print publication:
    22 August 2013
    First published in:
    1908
  • Spherical or positional astronomy is used primarily to map objects on the celestial sphere. In this technical work, first published in 1908 and intended for advanced students, Sir Robert Stawell Ball (1840–1913) breaks down the field into distinct areas of study. Assuming a good level of geometry and trigonometry, he begins with fundamental formulae before moving into the determination of coordinates, atmospheric refraction, the theory of cartography, and more. Each section contains exercises derived from a variety of sources, including contemporary Cambridge examinations. The coverage ranges from the calculation of stellar parallax to the geometrical principles behind the Mercator projection. Testifying to the knowledge expected of university students in the early twentieth century, Ball's book remains instructive to their modern counterparts. More accessible to the general reader, The Story of the Heavens (1885), Star-Land (1889) and A Popular Guide to the Heavens (1905) are also reissued in this series.

The Life of Roger Langdon
  • Told by Himself, with Additions by his Daughter
  • Roger Langdon, Ellen Langdon
  • Published online:
    05 March 2014
    Print publication:
    18 November 2010
    First published in:
    1909
  • First published in 1909, this autobiography details the astonishing life of Roger Langdon (1825–94), a country station-master and amateur astronomer. Langdon's life is a remarkable story of self-education and determination: he started work as a farmer's boy at the age of eight, ran away from the home to work for a shipowner in Jersey at fourteen, and was then employed by a blacksmith, canvas manufacturers, and a solicitor before finding work with the Great Western Railway. Langdon was from an early age interested in astronomy, and eventually constructed four telescopes and his own observatory. He developed his own method for photographing the moon and the transit of Venus, and presented a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society, which is included in the appendices. Langdon died before completing his autobiography, and the latter chapters on his scientific achievements and final years were completed by his daughter Ellen.

A Popular Guide to the Heavens
  • Robert Stawell Ball
  • Published online:
    05 March 2014
    Print publication:
    19 September 2013
  • A talented mathematician trained at Trinity College, Dublin, Sir Robert Stawell Ball (1840–1913) was best known in the early twentieth century for his immensely popular books on astronomy. He also gave the Royal Institution's Christmas Lectures on five occasions. First published in 1905, this concise guide to the basics of astronomy assumes almost no prior knowledge of the subject. Beginning with simple phenomena such as the seasons and the effects of atmospheric refraction, Ball expands quickly into month-by-month indexes of the night sky, star charts, and explanations of some of the lesser-known stellar and solar features, from the paths of sunspots to details of the major nebulae. Including over eighty pages of meticulous charts and illustrations, his book remains an excellent resource for students in the history of science, and interested laypeople. Also reissued in this series are The Story of the Heavens (1885) and Star-Land (1889), alongside Ball's more technical Treatise on Spherical Astronomy (1908).

Pioneers of Science
  • Oliver Lodge
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    28 June 2012
    First published in:
    1893
  • Knowing there was no money in science, Vincenzo Galilei wanted his son to become a cloth-dealer. While the young Galileo was disobeying his father and cultivating an unwholesome interest in geometry, Tycho Brahe was maintaining the impoverished Johannes Kepler and his entire family. Not long after this, a certain Cambridge mathematician noticed a strange phenomenon that became known as 'the precession of the equinoxes', before formulating his law of gravity. In this fascinating collection of lectures, first published in 1893, the eminent Professor of Physics Oliver Lodge (1851–1940) takes the reader on a tour of the history of astronomy. Including biographical notes on landmark astronomers, more than a hundred illustrations, and simple explanations of important concepts, this engaging book's range from the geocentric theory of the universe to the discovery of Neptune and the calculation of tides. It remains highly accessible to the general reader today.

A Compendious System of Astronomy
  • In a Course of Familiar Lectures
  • Margaret Bryan
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    07 June 2012
    First published in:
    1797
  • Throughout her lifetime, Margaret Bryan (fl.1795–1816) ran several schools for girls. Although science and maths were not usually considered suitable subjects for young women, Bryan was convinced that the use of one's reasoning faculties was all but a religious obligation. She taught across a huge range of topics, including optics, trigonometry and the history of astronomy. This book is a collection of ten of her lectures and was first published in 1797. Largely non-technical and written for those without a thorough knowledge of mathematics, the lectures explain contemporary science as simply as possible, using everyday experiments and clear diagrams. From astronomical predictions for the flooding of the Nile in Ancient Egypt to Newton's theory of the aether, the material covered is still readable and fascinating today, and represents a remarkable example of female scholarship long before the acceptance of the first woman into the Royal Society.

The Planet Neptune
  • An Exposition and History
  • John Pringle Nichol
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1848
  • J. P. Nichol (1804–59), astronomer and political economist, was Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow. He brought astronomy to a non-scientific audience through his enthusiastic public lectures and astronomy books. His works include the popular Views of the Architecture of the Heavens (1837; also reissued in this series) in which he supported the nebular hypothesis, which in modified form is the model of star formation most widely accepted today. Neptune was (in 1846) the first planet to be discovered by mathematical prediction rather than empirical observation, and in this book, first published in 1855, Nichol describes that discovery to a lay readership. Part 1 is an exposition of the then current view of the solar system and the research and discoveries which led to that view; Part 2 is dedicated to Neptune; while the third part explains the controversies over the planet's discovery.

Popular Astronomy
  • Simon Newcomb
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    24 October 2011
    First published in:
    1878
  • Furnished with more than a hundred figures, maps and tables, this book was first published in 1878 by Simon Newcomb (1835–1909), a noted mathematician and professor at the United States Naval Observatory. A meticulous work, originally intended to be of use to the general reader as well as the student, it provides a view of astronomy as it stood on the eve of General Relativity, and inevitably includes some theories which have since been disproved. Newcomb outlines a brief history of astronomy, from ancient Greece (when the planets were thought to be fixed in crystal spheres), to the application of the new laws of thermodynamics and the latest observations of the solar system. Included are a rejection of the then prevalent theory that the sun has a cool interior and its own inhabitants, details of the anomaly of Mercury's orbit according to Newtonian theory, and thorough observational guides.

An Account of the Revd. John Flamsteed, the First Astronomer-Royal
  • To Which Is Added, his British Catalogue of Stars, Corrected and Enlarged
  • Francis Baily, John Flamsteed
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1835
  • John Flamsteed (1646–1719) was the first Astronomer Royal, appointed to the newly founded Greenwich Observatory. Charged with improving navigation at sea, he used meticulous telescopic observations to compile a 'Catalogue of British Stars', radically updating Tycho Brahe's previous naked-eye calculations. However he delayed publishing, leading to a vituperative quarrel with contemporaries Newton and Halley, who published his results without his permission. Flamsteed managed to destroy most of that edition - his own was published posthumously - but his reputation was damaged. A century later, Francis Baily (1774–1844), a stockbroker who became President of the Royal Astronomical Society, rediscovered Flamsteed's papers, including autobiographical writings and extensive correspondence. Their publication in this volume, along with a revised version of the catalogue, rehabilitated Flamsteed's reputation and restated the importance of methodical observation in astronomy. Today, this book illuminates both the social context of Flamsteed's work and the intellectual climate of Baily's London.

The World of Comets
  • Amédée Guillemin
  • Translated by James Glaisher
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    31 October 2010
    First published in:
    1877
  • Written in 1877 by the French journalist Amédée Guillemin, this work appeared on British bookshelves at a time of intense interest in space, the solar system and stars. In the same year, Schiaparelli made his infamous 'discovery' of Martian canals, whetting the public's appetite for all things astronomical. Guillemin's account of comets was equally ambitious and, ultimately, more valuable. His subjects range from comet superstitions in Renaissance Italy to an accessible explanation of their orbits, constitution and brilliance. As James Glaisher notes in his Preface, 'there is no work that at all occupies the ground covered' by Guillemin. The author's imaginative prose, exemplified by his description of comets as 'long disowned stars', was translated sympathetically by Glaisher. Accompanied by eighty-five striking illustrations, including Halley's Comet as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, The World of Comets provides a fascinating insight into both astronomy and nineteenth-century scientific enquiry.

The Recent Progress of Astronomy
  • Especially in the United States
  • Elias Loomis
  • Published online:
    05 December 2011
    Print publication:
    10 June 2010
    First published in:
    1856
  • Elias Loomis (1811–1889), Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at the University of the City of New York, published the third edition of this key work in 1856, at a time when the discipline of astronomy was making rapid advances. Recent technological progress had led to a phenomenal number of astronomical discoveries: the existence of a new planet, Neptune; a new satellite and ring for Saturn; irregularities in the movement of many planets and stars; thirty-six new asteroids; numerous comets; extensive catalogues of stars; and new and important observations on the sun. Loomis' report is a treasure-trove of information regarding these discoveries and the significance they had at the time. The chapters on the history of American observatories, various astronomical expeditions, public astronomical surveys, and telescope manufacturing in the USA provide access to information not otherwise available. Recent Progress is a key text in the history of astronomy.

The Concise Knowledge Astronomy
  • Agnes Mary Clerke, Alfred Fowler, John Ellard Gore
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    20 January 2011
    First published in:
    1898
  • The Concise Knowledge Astronomy, published in 1898, was one of a series of popular reference books by experts. Agnes Clerke (1842–1907) was a successful author of books on astronomy and its history (three of her other works being reissued in this series), and her co-authors were astrophysicist Alfred Fowler, an internationally renowned expert in spectroscopy, and J. Elland Gore, a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and expert on variable stars. Illustrated by over 100 photographs and drawings, the book aims to provide the educated non-specialist reader with an understanding of current astronomical knowledge. The application of new technologies, such as photography and spectroscopy, to astronomy in the nineteenth century had led to many new discoveries, and public interest in the subject had greatly increased. The book is divided into four parts - the history of astronomy, astronomical movements and instruments, the solar system, and sidereal astronomy.

A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century
  • Agnes Mary Clerke
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    17 June 2010
    First published in:
    1885
  • Agnes Mary Clerke (1842–1907) first published A Popular History of Astronomy in 1885. The work was received with widespread acclaim and brought Clerke an international reputation as a science writer. The History surveys the progress made in the field of astronomy during the nineteenth century. It is split chronologically into two parts, dealing with the first and the second half of the century. Part 1 focuses on the career of the astronomer William Herschel (1738–1822) and the development of sidereal astronomy; part 2 deals with the discovery of spectrum analysis and the progress of knowledge about sun spots and the magnetic disturbances which cause them. Clerke's work, a classic example of Victorian popular scientific literature, stands alongside Grant's earlier History of Astronomy in its success in popularising the subject. The work is important today for scholars researching the history of the discipline and its place in educated Victorian society.

Memoir of the Life and Labors of the Rev. Jeremiah Horrox
  • To Which is Appended a Translation of his Celebrated Discourse Upon the Transit of Venus Across the Sun
  • Arundell Blount Whatton, Jeremiah Horrox
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    10 June 2010
    First published in:
    1859
  • Jeremiah Horrox (1618–1641) was one of the most interesting astronomers Britain has ever produced, and his tragically early death deprived the field of one of its most brilliant talents. In his short life he achieved much, having mastered the current state of astronomy at Cambridge University and going on to make important new calculations about the diameter and position of known planets, moons and stars. In the 1660s and 70s several prominent scientists, including Huygens, Newton and Flamsteed, took an interest in Horrox's discoveries and published his surviving treatises. This memoir of 1859 was part of a Victorian revival of interest in Horrox. It includes translation of his major work, Venus in Sole Visa, a draft of a treatise on the transit of Venus, in which he describes the conjunction of Venus with the sun, which he correctly calculated and observed in 1639.

Life of James Ferguson, F. R. S.
  • In a Brief Autobiographical Account, and Further Extended Memoir
  • Edited by Ebenezer Henderson
  • James Ferguson
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    19 August 2010
    First published in:
    1867
  • James Ferguson (1710–1776) was a Scottish self-taught astronomer, instrument maker and artist. Of humble background, he became a highly successful lecturer on experimental philosophy and science. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1763, received a royal pension, and is particularly remembered as an inventor and improver of astronomical and other scientific apparatus. These include a new type of orrery, clocks, and his astronomical rotula. His lectures and books were noted for their clear explanations for a general audience, and Astronomy Explained upon Sir Isaac Newton's Principles and Made Easy for Those Who Have Not Studied Mathematics (1756) was a bestseller. This autobiographical memoir, expanded by Ebenezer Henderson in 1867, also contains a full description of Ferguson's principal inventions, with many illustrations.

Sidereal Chromatics
  • Being a Re-Print, with Additions from the Bedford Cycle of Celestial Objects and its Hartwell Continuation on the Colours of Multiple Stars
  • William Henry Smyth
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    01 July 2010
    First published in:
    1864
  • Admiral William Henry Smyth's Sidereal Chromatics (1864) represents a landmark achievement in nineteenth-century astronomy, offering the most precise observations of the colours of double stars yet recorded. An expansion upon his well-known Bedford Cycle of Celestial Objects, which garnered a gold medal from the Royal Astronomical Society, Sidereal Chromatics provides both a theory concerning the source of double-star colours and a method for determining their most exact description. Detailed charts compare Smyth's measurements of more than one hundred double stars with his own previously published observations and those of his fellow astronomer, Father Benedetto Sestini. This edition also includes Smyth's famous colour chart, an attempt to standardise the process of identifying double-star colours. Sidereal Chromatics ends with Smyth's plea to amateur astronomers to continue the effort of charting the heavens, aided by improved telescopes and works such as his, 'trustworthy treatises available to all men'.

A Handbook of Descriptive and Practical Astronomy
  • George Frederick Chambers
  • Published online:
    05 July 2011
    Print publication:
    17 June 2010
    First published in:
    1861
  • This handbook by George Frederick Chambers (1841–1915), a young and enthusiastic amateur astronomer, became a best-seller soon after its publication in 1861 and made Chambers' reputation as a popular astronomy writer. The work is divided into ten parts covering the following topics: the planets of our solar system; eclipses; gravity and tides; phenomena including aberration and refraction; comets; chronological astronomy; stars; astronomical instruments; the history of astronomy; and meteoric astronomy. It is richly illustrated with photographs and woodcuts depicting a wide variety of astronomical phenomena. Chambers went on to become one of the leading amateur astronomers of the nineteenth century. The usefulness and accessibility of his practical advice ensured that his published works became indispensable for thousands of less famous amateurs. The Handbook, reissued in many editions, remains his most popular work and is a key text in the history of Victorian popular astronomical writing.

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