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William and Caroline Herschel - Pioneers in Late 18th-Century Astronomy (Paperback, 2014 ed.)
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William and Caroline Herschel - Pioneers in Late 18th-Century Astronomy (Paperback, 2014 ed.)
Series: SpringerBriefs in Astronomy
Expected to ship within 10 - 15 working days
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This beautifully structured book presents the essentials of William
and Caroline Herschel's pioneering achievements in late
18th-century astronomy. Michael Hoskin shows that William Herschel
was the first observational cosmologist and one of the first
observers to attack the sidereal universe beyond the solar system:
Herschel built instruments far better than any being used at the
royal observatory. Aided by his sister Caroline, he commenced a
great systematic survey that led to his discovery of Uranus in
1781. Unlike observers before him, whose telescopes did not reveal
them as astronomical objects, Herschel did not ignore misty patches
of light. Hoskins points out Herschel's achievement in surveying,
cataloguing, and describing them as "nebulae" and even coming to
the correct conclusion that their structure evolved over time, with
Newton's gravity being the agent of change. Herschel's surveys
established a new astronomy - looking at the universe rather than
the planets! Michael Hoskin's account includes sketches and
diagrams from Herschel's manuscripts in the Royal Astronomical
Society Archives in which he attempts to delineate the structure of
the Milky Way galaxy. While it is well-known that Herschel was a
revolutionary in telescope design who constructed the world's
largest telescopes, Hoskin also gives the full picture of the man
as an entrepreneur who built and traded some 400 telescopes. Hoskin
also pays close attention to the role of William's sister Caroline
Herschel, who is usually portrayed as a "helpmate" to her brother.
But in fact she became a significant astronomer in her own right.
This book also offers a wealth of information of the wider Herschel
family. It is enriched by a complete set of portraits of William
and Caroline Herschel with an extensive set of images of their
residences and closes with a charming appendix on how visitors to
the Herschels recorded their encounters. William and Caroline
Herschel - Pioneers in Late 18th-Century Astronomy will appeal to
amateur astronomers and all those interested in popular astronomy.
This book will rapidly establish itself as the primary introductory
work for students, astronomers, and scholars working on the history
of natural science in the late 18th century.
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