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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
Feature
Walter Steiger, credited as a founder of fashionable astronomy in Hawaii, dies
HILO — Walter Steiger was a renaissance man, a genial polymath who is credited as a founder of modern-day astronomy in Hawaii.
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This review is from: History of Astronomy (Kindle Edition)
This starts with the ancient Chinese, then goes through the Chaldeans, Greeks, and Arabs, then Copernicus and others of the Renaissance, and lastly the 18th and 19th centuries. There are chapters about the telescope and other instruments, the sun, moon, planets and the stars.
The author does a good job of showing how astronomers used the findings of earlier astronomers to increase their own knowledge of the subject. It’s amazing to read how much was known about astronomy in the past, and how accurate their findings were. It’s also funny to read things which were thought to be true at the time when the book was written. Several people reported having seen a planet inside Mercury’s orbit. One man thought Mars had artificially made canals with vegetation growing on their banks. There are lots more. Maybe in 100 years astronomers will be laughing at us for thinking that dark matter and dark energy exist.
The table of contents is active, which is unusual for these free books. There are footnotes and an index at the end.
This is a great book loaded with historical information. I recommend that you have at least a basic knowledge of astronomy before reading this book, because it’s not written for beginners.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviewsÂ
This review is from: History of Astronomy (Kindle Edition)
This book helps place in perspective what we think we know now about the great beyond. The history of the entire concept of the “Milky Way” galaxy and the widespread use of the term “galaxy” before astronomer’s perceived that there was more than one galaxy was most revealing. This book has taught me to be a little more careful when I speculate about things yet unknown. What the author saw as most probable turned out to be not so. None of the speculation about the “Milky Way” had it as our “galaxy”–it was simply a mysterious band of matter that seemed to move both this way and that.
You may want to skip parts of this book, but don’t skip it altogether.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviewsÂ
February 13th, 2011 at 5:03 am
Excellent book of early astronomy,
 Â
This starts with the ancient Chinese, then goes through the Chaldeans, Greeks, and Arabs, then Copernicus and others of the Renaissance, and lastly the 18th and 19th centuries. There are chapters about the telescope and other instruments, the sun, moon, planets and the stars.
The author does a good job of showing how astronomers used the findings of earlier astronomers to increase their own knowledge of the subject. It’s amazing to read how much was known about astronomy in the past, and how accurate their findings were. It’s also funny to read things which were thought to be true at the time when the book was written. Several people reported having seen a planet inside Mercury’s orbit. One man thought Mars had artificially made canals with vegetation growing on their banks. There are lots more. Maybe in 100 years astronomers will be laughing at us for thinking that dark matter and dark energy exist.
The table of contents is active, which is unusual for these free books. There are footnotes and an index at the end.
This is a great book loaded with historical information. I recommend that you have at least a basic knowledge of astronomy before reading this book, because it’s not written for beginners.
Was this review helpful to you?Â
|February 13th, 2011 at 5:35 am
must read for astronomy buff,
This book helps place in perspective what we think we know now about the great beyond. The history of the entire concept of the “Milky Way” galaxy and the widespread use of the term “galaxy” before astronomer’s perceived that there was more than one galaxy was most revealing. This book has taught me to be a little more careful when I speculate about things yet unknown. What the author saw as most probable turned out to be not so. None of the speculation about the “Milky Way” had it as our “galaxy”–it was simply a mysterious band of matter that seemed to move both this way and that.
You may want to skip parts of this book, but don’t skip it altogether.
Was this review helpful to you?Â
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