| Acknowledgments |
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18 | (3) |
| Preface |
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21 | (5) |
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1 From the Beginning to 1700: The Origins of Astronomy |
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26 | (15) |
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26 | (1) |
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27 | (2) |
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What made the "Greek experience" central to Western thought? |
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29 | (3) |
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32 | (3) |
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Europe's astronomical Renaissance |
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35 | (6) |
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2 Cosmology Begins at Home: Captain Edmond Halley, FRS, RN, Astronomer, Geophysicist, and Adventurer |
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41 | (16) |
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42 | (2) |
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Early adventures: St Helena, Danzig, and across |
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44 | (3) |
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Europe: the making of a physical scientist Edmond Halley, the father of meteorology and geophysics |
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47 | (3) |
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Later adventures: Captain Halley RN takes |
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50 | (1) |
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HMS Paramore among the icebergs Professor Halley and the Great Aurora Borealis of 1716 |
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51 | (2) |
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Halley studies the nebulae and ponders cosmological vastness |
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53 | (4) |
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3 Could a Comet Have Caused Noah's Flood? |
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57 | (16) |
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Changing views about comets, 1580-1720 |
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57 | (2) |
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Dr Robert Hooke takes comets into the chemical laboratory in 1677 |
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59 | (2) |
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Comets tamed at last: 1680-1705 |
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61 | (1) |
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Noah's Flood, the ancient earth, comets, and the saltiness of the sea |
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62 | (2) |
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Edmond Halley: the Astronomer Royal and the longitude, 1720-42 |
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64 | (5) |
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Religion and politics, a merry life and a sudden death |
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69 | (4) |
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4 "Let there be more light." How Telescope Technology |
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73 | (16) |
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Became the Arbiter in Cosmological Research Long telescopes on tall poles |
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73 | (4) |
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All done with mirrors: the early reflecting telescope |
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77 | (2) |
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John Hadley and his Newtonian reflecting telescope |
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79 | (2) |
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A golden guinea an inch: James Short turns the reflecting telescope into big business |
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81 | (3) |
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John Dollond "perfects" the refracting telescope c. 1760 |
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84 | (2) |
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"Every gentieman must have one!" |
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86 | (3) |
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Benjamin Martin, lecturer, and entrepreneur, makes scientific instruments fashionable |
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5 The Rector and the Organist: Gravity, Star Clusters, and the Origins of the Milky Way |
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89 | (15) |
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Thomas Wright of Durham and eighteenth-century speculative cosmologies |
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89 | (2) |
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The Revd John Michell: the Pleiades Cluster, "dark stars", and gravitational "black holes" in 1783 |
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91 | (2) |
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Charles Messier: comet hunter and nebula cataloguer of the Antien Regime in Paris |
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93 | (1) |
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The enterprising oboist: Herschel comes to England |
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94 | (3) |
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Herschel the fashionable church organist and musical impresario of Bath |
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97 | (1) |
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From organ pipes to telescopes, from acoustics to optics, and on to cosmology |
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98 | (2) |
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Bath, 13 March 1781: William Herschel discovers a "comet" |
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100 | (4) |
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6 William and Caroline Herschel Fathom the |
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104 | (17) |
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"Construction of the Heavens" from an English Country Garden William Herschel's telescope technology |
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106 | (1) |
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Observing with a Herschel telescope |
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107 | (2) |
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Stars, the Milky Way, and the "Construction of the Heavens" after 1784 |
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109 | (3) |
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"Oh Herschel! Oh Herschel! Where do you fly? |
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112 | (1) |
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To sweep the cobwebs out of the sky" "Shining fluids", glowing rings of light, star clusters, and gravity: the Herschelian universe |
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113 | (3) |
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Observatory House, 1784: an account by a visiting French savant |
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116 | (2) |
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Sir William Herschel, Knight Guelph |
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118 | (1) |
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A Herschel telescope postscript |
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119 | (2) |
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7 Measuring the Heavens and the Earth in Eighteenth Century Europe |
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121 | (1) |
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Part 1 In Pursuit of Venus: Astronomy's First Great International Adventure |
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In pursuit of the solar parallax |
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122 | (18) |
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Venus in transit, June 1761 |
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125 | (4) |
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Venus transits the sun in 1769 |
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129 | (4) |
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Le Gentil and the 1769 transit |
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133 | (1) |
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Practical observation, Venus, and the longitude |
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134 | (6) |
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8 Measuring the Heavens and the Earth in Eighteenth-Century Europe |
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140 | (1) |
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Part 2 Pendulums, Planets, and Gravity: Creating the Science of Geodesy |
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The curious behaviour of M. Richer's clock: Cayenne, Brazil, 1672 |
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140 | (2) |
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Geophysics by degrees and the shape of the earth |
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142 | (5) |
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The Astronomer Royal, the mountain, and the village fiddler |
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147 | (2) |
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Geophysics goes to the laboratory: Henry Cavendish and the torsion balance experiment, 1797-98 |
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149 | (3) |
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9 Cosmology and the Romantic Age |
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152 | (16) |
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From daffodil fields to starry fields: a universe of awe and wonder |
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152 | (1) |
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Laws of wonder: Herschel, Laplace, and the laws of gravitation |
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153 | (3) |
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Mysteries beyond the spectrum |
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156 | (1) |
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Sir William Herschel discovers the "dark spectrum" in 1800 Science for Georgian ladies and gendemen |
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157 | (3) |
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The London physician, the Bavarian orphan, and the wonders of light |
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160 | (3) |
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Professor Bessel and the distance of the stars |
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163 | (3) |
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Caroline the comet hunter |
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166 | (2) |
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10 Sir John Herschel: The Universal Philosopher of the Age |
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168 | (16) |
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John Frederick William Herschel: a genius in die making |
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168 | (2) |
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John Herschel inherits the cosmological "family business" |
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170 | (2) |
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Optics, chemistry, photography, and a gift for friendship |
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172 | (2) |
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Slough, marriage, then the Cape of Good Hope |
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174 | (4) |
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The Herschel cosmos of 1850 |
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178 | (2) |
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The size of the stars and their absolute brightness |
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180 | (2) |
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Sir John Herschel, the universal philosopher |
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182 | (2) |
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11 There Must Be Somebody Out There! |
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184 | (14) |
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A fascination with "aliens" |
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184 | (2) |
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The Revd Dr Thomas Dick of Broughty Ferry, Dundee |
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186 | (2) |
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New York, August 1835, and the |
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188 | (3) |
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"Great Lunar Hoax" Jules Verne: from the earth to the moon in 1865 |
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191 | (2) |
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Pity the poor Mardans dying of thirst: 1877 |
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193 | (2) |
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195 | (1) |
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So is there really anybody out there? |
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196 | (2) |
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12 Mary Somerville: Mathematician, Astronomer, and Gifted Science Communicator |
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198 | (14) |
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Miss Mary Fairfax, die independent-minded admiral's daughter |
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198 | (2) |
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200 | (1) |
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Continental travel and international madiematical fame |
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201 | (1) |
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Mary Somerville, astronomy, and the Herschels |
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202 | (3) |
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Early mathematical and physical works |
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205 | (1) |
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Mary Somerville, the physical sciences expositor |
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206 | (2) |
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On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences, Physical Geography, and On Molecular and Microscopic Science |
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208 | (3) |
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Natural laws, religion, and her final voyage |
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211 | (1) |
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13 Sir George Biddell Airy of Greenwich: Astronomer Royal to the British Empire |
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212 | (16) |
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Sir George Biddell Airy (1801-92): early life and achievements |
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213 | (4) |
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New instruments, chronometers, time, and the electric telegraph |
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217 | (5) |
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Airy the scientific civil servant |
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222 | (1) |
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Airy and the discovery of Neptune, 1846 |
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223 | (2) |
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The Astronomer Royal and his staff |
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225 | (3) |
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14 Barristers, Brewers, Peers, and Engineers: Paying for Astronomical Research: the British "Grand Amateur" Tradition |
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228 | (21) |
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Funding astronomy in Great Britain: the roots of a tradition |
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228 | (3) |
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The Grand Amateur astronomical world |
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231 | (3) |
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The Liverpool brewer and the Manchester steam-engine builder |
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234 | (6) |
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The Irish nobleman who discovered the "whirlpools" of deep space |
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240 | (6) |
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The Royal Astronomical Society: a Grand Amateur creation |
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246 | (1) |
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Postscript: Grand Amateur astronomy today |
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247 | (2) |
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15 The Camera Does Not Lie: The Birth of Astronomical Photography |
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249 | (17) |
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Monsieur Louis Daguerre, Sir John Herschel, and Mr William Henry Fox Talbot |
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249 | (3) |
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Dr John William Draper of New York: The first astronomical photographer |
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252 | (1) |
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The "miracle" of the "wet collodion" photograph, 1851 |
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253 | (2) |
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Warren De La Rue: the Guernsey-born paper manufacturer and pioneer of astronomical photography |
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255 | (3) |
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The first "custom-designed" photographic telescope |
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258 | (2) |
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James Nasmyth's The Moon (1874): photographing the moon at second hand |
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260 | (2) |
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The "dry geladn" plate and new possibilities |
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262 | (1) |
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Isaac Roberts: photographer of the gahrxies |
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262 | (4) |
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266 | (1) |
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Part 1 Sunlight, Sunspot Cycles, and Magnetic Storms |
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Understanding the Sun, Our Nearest Star |
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266 | (2) |
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The great solar storm of 1859 |
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268 | (2) |
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"Rice grains", "granules", and the solar surface |
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270 | (1) |
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Solar knowledge by 1860: a resume |
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271 | (2) |
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273 | (2) |
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Part 2 Cosmologists and Catholic Priest Pioneers of Astrophysics |
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An afternoon walk in Heidelberg in 1859 |
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275 | (2) |
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Sir William and Lady Margaret Huggins discover gaseous nebulae from a south London garden |
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277 | (4) |
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Father Angelo Secchi of Rome: the Jesuit pioneer of astrophysics |
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281 | (1) |
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The Stonyhurst College Jesuit Observatory |
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282 | (2) |
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The sun and the spectroscope |
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284 | (3) |
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Our American cousins and our Irish friends |
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287 | (4) |
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18 The Revd Thomas William Webb and the Birth of "Popular Astronomy" |
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291 | (19) |
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The Revd Mr Webb of Hardwicke, astronomer and popularize |
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291 | (2) |
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Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes and Webb's telescopes |
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293 | (2) |
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The "modest" amateur astronomer and the new reflecting telescope |
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295 | (2) |
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Victorian clergymen-astronomer-engineers |
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297 | (3) |
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Astronomical societies and The English Mechanic magazine |
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300 | (3) |
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Popular astronomy in France |
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303 | (1) |
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John Jones of Brangwyn Bach and other working-men astronomers |
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303 | (7) |
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19 "Ladies of the Night": The Astronomical Women in Great Britain and America |
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310 | (17) |
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Scientific education for women |
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310 | (2) |
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Professional astronomy for women in the "Old World" |
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312 | (4) |
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Agnes Mary Clerke of Skibbereen, the Irish historian of astronomy |
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316 | (3) |
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Women in the new amateur astronomical societies after 1881 |
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319 | (1) |
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Florence Taylor: from Leeds to Minnesota |
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320 | (2) |
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Elizabeth Brown, the sun, and the eclipse-chasers |
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322 | (3) |
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The first women Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society |
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325 | (2) |
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20 Astronomy for the Masses in the Victorian Age and Early Twentieth Century |
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327 | (17) |
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The age of self-improvement: Sunday schools, Mechanics' Institutes, and the Victorian "knowledge industry" |
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327 | (2) |
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Lord Henry Brougham: pioneer of popular education |
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329 | (2) |
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Astronomy shows, demonstrations, and lectures |
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331 | (6) |
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Richard Anthony Proctor and Sir Robert Stawell Ball: stars of the astronomical lecture circuit |
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337 | (4) |
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Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington and Sir James Hopwood Jeans: astronomy's first "Knights of the airwaves" |
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341 | (3) |
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21 Under New World Skies: The Great American Observatories |
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344 | (18) |
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North America's first big observatories |
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345 | (3) |
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The Harvard astrophysicists |
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348 | (1) |
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The ladies of the Flarvard Observatory |
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348 | (2) |
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Alvan Clark and Sons, opticians of Boston, Massachusetts |
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350 | (2) |
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American Liberal Arts Colleges and astronomy |
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352 | (1) |
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Percival Lowell, the "canals" of Mars, and Flagstaff, Arizona, in the west |
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353 | (2) |
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America's two giant refractors: the Lick and Yerkes Observatories |
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355 | (3) |
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America's giant reflecting telescopes |
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358 | (2) |
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360 | (2) |
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22 On the Eve of the Watershed: Astronomy and Cosmology c. 1890-1920 |
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362 | (19) |
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The universe: a stead}', stately place? |
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363 | (1) |
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The Michelson-Modey Experiment, 1887 |
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364 | (3) |
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"Twinkle, twinkle, little star; now we know just what you are": the birth, life, and death of stars |
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367 | (4) |
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The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram, 1910-13 |
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371 | (2) |
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Henrietta Swan Leavitt and the "Cepheid" stars |
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373 | (2) |
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Harlow Shapley, the spiral galaxies, and the Milky Way |
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375 | (4) |
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The Great Debate: Smithsonian Museum, Washington DC, 26 April 1920 |
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379 | (2) |
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23 It's All Relative. The "Alice in Wonderland" World of Early Twentieth-Century Physics |
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381 | (17) |
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The "physics quake" of the 1890s: X-rays, atoms, and radiation |
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382 | (3) |
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385 | (2) |
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Mercury, Vulcan, and the problems of gravity |
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387 | (1) |
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The patent clerk of Bern: Albert Einstein and relativity |
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388 | (4) |
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Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, Einstein, and the solar eclipse of 1919 |
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392 | (2) |
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Albert Einstein the affable celebrity |
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394 | (3) |
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397 | (1) |
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24 Crossing the Watershed: Edwin Hubble, the Celebrity Astronomer of the Galaxies |
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398 | (14) |
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From small-town Missouri to self-created English gentleman |
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398 | (2) |
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Hubble, red shifts, and the "extra-galactic" universe |
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400 | (3) |
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Hubble's Law and Constant |
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403 | (2) |
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The subsequent development of Hubble's cosmos |
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405 | (1) |
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Milton Humason, Walter Baade, and Allan Sandage Milton Humason |
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406 | (1) |
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407 | (1) |
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408 | (2) |
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Edwin Hubble and the stars of Hollywood |
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410 | (2) |
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25 The Belgian Priest-Cosmologist and the "Cosmic Egg" |
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412 | (16) |
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Father Georges Lemaitre of Leuven |
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412 | (2) |
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Making sense of modern cosmology: the Royal Astronomical Society discussion meeting, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, 10 January 1930 |
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414 | (2) |
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Father Lemaitre and Sir Arthur Eddington |
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416 | (1) |
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"It's all a `big bang'": Sir Fred Hoyle and his steady state cosmology of 1948 |
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417 | (3) |
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420 | (2) |
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Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar and the white dwarfs |
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422 | (4) |
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Lemaitre, Pope Pius XII, and the big bang |
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426 | (1) |
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Stephen Hawking and the black hole |
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426 | (2) |
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26 Sir Bernard Lovell and the "Radio Universe" |
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428 | (21) |
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Karljansky's "merry-go-round" and the birth of radio astronomy |
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429 | (2) |
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The "radio window" and how the radio telescope works |
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431 | (2) |
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Grote Reber of Wheaton, Illinois: an amateur leads the way -- yet again! |
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433 | (2) |
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Sir Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell and Jodrell Bank, Cheshire |
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435 | (6) |
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Other great radio telescopes |
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441 | (2) |
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The achievement of radio astronomy |
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443 | (3) |
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Sir Bernard Lovell: a recollection |
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446 | (3) |
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27 "Fly Me to the Moon": The Birth of the Space Age |
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449 | (19) |
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449 | (2) |
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451 | (4) |
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455 | (2) |
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Yuri Gagarin (1934-68), the first space man, 1961 |
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457 | (1) |
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457 | (2) |
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Touchdown: the Sea of Tranquillity, 20 July 1969 |
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459 | (1) |
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The Book of Genesis goes to the moon |
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460 | (1) |
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Christmas 1968 The end of manned missions |
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460 | (1) |
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The unmanned space probes |
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461 | (2) |
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The Hubble Space Telescope |
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463 | (1) |
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Exploring the surface of Mars |
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464 | (3) |
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467 | (1) |
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28 A Universe for the People: Sir Patrick Moore and the |
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468 | (21) |
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New Amateur Astronomy Popular astronomical fallacies |
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469 | (3) |
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Television and astronomy's new popular audience |
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472 | (1) |
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Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore and The Sky at Night, 1957-2012 |
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473 | (3) |
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Moonstruck: amateur astronomy and the moon after 1950 |
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476 | (2) |
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Transient lunar phenomena, or "TLP"s |
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478 | (1) |
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479 | (2) |
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The researches of modern amateur astronomers |
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481 | (2) |
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The post-1950 amateur astronomy movement |
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483 | (1) |
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Carl Edward Sagan and Cosmos, 1980 |
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484 | (1) |
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Sir Patrick Moore: the man and the astronomer |
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485 | (4) |
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29 Postscript: Creation Revisited: Where Do We Stand Today? |
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489 | (7) |
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Life on other worlds and space travel, twenty-first-century style |
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490 | (3) |
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Creation, cosmology, and the mind of God |
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493 | (3) |
| Appendix: The Cock Lane Ghost, or the "Ghost Catch" |
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496 | (1) |
| Notes |
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497 | (11) |
| List of In-text Illustrations |
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508 | (5) |
| Further Reading |
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513 | (32) |
| Index |
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545 | |
