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* *
* ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER FOR THE HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY *
* *
* Published by the Working Group for the History of Astronomy *
* in the Astronomische Gesellschaft *
* *
* Number 42, May 19, 2000 *
* *
* Edited by: Wolfgang R. Dick *
* *
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Contents
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1. Adam Perkins: Keeping time: a celebration of the year 2000
2. The Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena - Third Conference
3. The Fifth Biennial History of Astronomy Workshop
4. New Books
Acknowledgements
Imprint
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Item 1 ENHA No. 42, May 19, 2000
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Keeping time: a celebration of the year 2000
--------------------------------------------
By Adam Perkins, Cambridge, UK
In commemoration of the calendar's turn to the year 2000 an exhibition
`Keeping time', on display from March until September, will draw on the
enormous wealth of material in the University Library's collections to
reflect many aspects of the human appreciation of time and its passage.
One large collection of manuscripts in the Library is the Royal Greenwich
Observatory Archives. To the westerner, the words Greenwich and time are
closely linked. In the seventeenth century, following the observation of
the regularity of the pendulum, European mechanical clocks reached new
levels of accuracy. The accurate measure of time lead directly to accurate
astronomical observations, and the modern science of astrometry, the exact
measurement of the positions of stars and celestial bodies in the sky, was
born. From seventeenth century astronomy sprang the enormous development
of the physical sciences progressing since then.
But the precise regularity of the atomic clocks giving us our time today is
not the only manner in which we can perceive time. In the middle ages the
daylight was sometimes merely divided into two, the fore and after noon; or
the time between sunrise and sunset was divided into twelve equal parts,
parts which varied in length of time throughout the year. The solar year
is central to life on Earth but calendars in different cultures vary. It
is the lunar cycle which gives us the very word `month' and the calendar
in, for instance, Islam is a lunar calendar.
In literature, Donne and Shakespeare lament the passing of the years while
the idea of moving through time has stimulated authors who have created
works with little or no relation to scientific ideas of time and
time-keeping. Time travel has been a device used in children's fiction,
romance and historical novels. The aim of the exhibition `Keeping time' is
to explore some of the many ways in which humankind has sought to grasp and
use the idea of time and our place in time.
Cambridge University Library Exhibition Centre, West Road, Cambridge, UK
Opening times:
18 March to 15 September 2000 (closed 21-24 April; 28 August)
Monday-Friday 09.00-18.00; Saturday 09.00-12.30.
Exhibition open to all. Admission free.
Further information is available on the website
http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/Exhibitions/Keeping_Time/
which has some images.
Author's address:
Adam Perkins, Royal Greenwich Observatory Archivist,
Department of Manuscripts and University Archives,
University Library,
West Road, E-mail: ajp@ula.cam.ac.uk
Cambridge CB3 9DR, Telephone (direct): +44 (0) 1223 333056
United Kingdom. Telephone (UL sw/bd): +44 (0) 1223 333000
Facsimile: +44 (0) 1223 333160
URLs: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/MSS/
telnet://ul.cam.ac.uk/
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Item 2 ENHA No. 42, May 19, 2000
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The Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena - Third Conference
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Palermo (Sicily), Italy - December 31, 2000-January 6, 2001
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS AND PAPERS
Dear Colleagues:
We wish to inform you of the up-coming Third International Conference on
The Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena ("INSAP III"). This meeting will
explore mankind's fascination with the sky by day and by night, which has
been a strong and often dominant element in human life and culture. The
conference will provide a meeting place for artists and scholars from a
variety of disciplines (including Archaeology and Anthropology, Art and Art
History, Classics, History and Prehistory, the Physical and Social
Sciences, Mythology and Folklore, Philosophy, and Religion) to present and
discuss their studies of the influences that astronomical phenomena have
had on mankind.
The first two meetings (Castel Gandolfo, 1994; Malta, 1999) successfully
brought together for the first time people from just such a range of
disciplines to address topics of common interest. Papers from the first
meeting were published in "Vistas in Astronomy" (1995) and in "Leonardo"
(1996), and those from the second will appear shortly in book form. These
papers (described on our Website under "the First (or Second) INSAP
Conference") give an idea of the range of subjects presented at these
meetings. A similar publication is planned for the third meeting.
The meeting will be held overlooking the Mediterranean, a few minutes from
the center of Palermo, and will start with a New Year's Eve (and Millennium
Eve) banquet December 31, 2000. The meeting rooms will include ample space
for display (and sale) of works of art by attendees.
Full information on INSAP III and on the earlier conferences, and an
application form for the upcoming meeting, can be found on our Website
(http://ethel.as.arizona.edu/~white/insap) or obtained from the
undersigned. Attendance will be by invitation from among those applying.
All presentations and discussions will be in English.
This Conference is sponsored by the Palermo Observatory, the Vatican
Observatory, and the Steward Observatory, and is hosted by the Palermo
Observatory as part of the bicentennial of the discovery there of the first
asteroid, Ceres, on the nights of January 1-3, 1801.
Please circulate or post this announcement.
Prof. Salvatore Serio, Palermo Observatory (Chair, Local Organizing
Committee) serio@oapa.astropa.unipa.it
Dr. Rolf M. Sinclair, Chevy Chase MD (International Organizing Committee)
rolf@santafe.edu
Prof. Raymond E. White, Steward Observatory (International Organizing
Committee) rwhite@as.arizona.edu
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Item 3 ENHA No. 42, May 19, 2000
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The Fifth Biennial History of Astronomy Workshop
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The Fifth Biennial History of Astronomy Workshop will be held July 5-8,
2001 at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. Program co-chairs are
Steven Dick and Marc Rothenberg, and Matt Dowd is chair of the Local
Organizing Committee. Matt has posted the workshop web page at
http://www.nd.edu/~histast4.
More information on registration and housing will be forthcoming in the
Fall, as well as a call for contributed papers. For now, please mark your
calendars. Because we have more than a year to prepare, we have a
considerable amount of time to think about the program. Suggestions for
thematic sessions should be sent to Steven Dick (dick.steve@usno.navy.mil)
and Marc Rothenberg (josephhenr@aol.com). Thematic sessions normally
involve 3-6 speakers, and last for about 2 hours.
Over the years the Notre Dame workshop, inaugurated by Prof. Michael J.
Crowe in 1993, has become one of the premier gatherings of historians of
astronomy in the world. We hope you will be able to attend.
Steven Dick (U. S. Naval Observatory)
Marc Rothenberg (Joseph Henry Papers, Smithsonian Institution)
Matt Dowd (University of Notre Dame)
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Item 4 ENHA No. 42, May 19, 2000
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New Books
---------
(From: "Elektronische Mitteilungen zur Astronomiegeschichte" Nr. 49,
28. April 2000, Item 4. Partial translations by the editor.)
Bakich, Michael E.: The Cambridge Guide to the constellations.
Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
xiii, 320 p., 19 x 25 cm, 88 ill., 22 tabs., 88 maps, ISBN 0-521-46520-6,
GBP 35.67 (hb); ISBN 0-521-44921-9, GBP 16.95 (pb)
[Including historical facts, also about "extinct" constellations.]
Review: P.Kelly: J. Roy. Astron. Soc. Can. 91 (1997) 1, 46-47
Bless, Robert C.: Discovering the Cosmos. Sausalito, CA: University
Science Books, 1996. xvii, 714, A24, I12 p., [8] p. of plates: ill. (some
col.), maps (some col.); 26 cm, ISBN 0-935702-67-9, $ 58.00 (hb)
[Introduction to astronomy, including an introduction to its history.
Topics: Cosmology - the beginnings through Newton; the life and death of
stars; cosmology - from Herschel to the present; worlds beyond the Earth.]
Review: S.Bowler: Astronomy and Geophysics 38 (1997) 1, 32-33
Boss, Alan: Looking for Earths. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 1998.
240 p., 24 x 16 cm, ISBN 0-471-18421-7, GBP 18.50 (hb)
[A historical account of the search for planets around other stars,
starting with Peter van de Kamp's claims in the 1960s of planetary-mass
companions orbiting Barnard's star.]
Review: K.Apps: The Observatory 119 (1999) 1150, 156-157
Cartwright, David: Tides: A scientific history. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1998. xii, 292 p., ISBN 0-521-62145-3, GBP 45.00 (hb)
[From the Ancient Greeks to modern times.]
Review: D.Gubbins: J. Brit. Astron. Assoc. 40 (1999), 4.34-4.35
Cassini, Anna: Gio: Domenico Cassini : Uno scienziato del Seicento. Testi
e documenti. [Perinaldo]: Comune di Perinaldo, 1995. 315 p., [16] c. di
tav. : ill. ; 25 cm, Lire 35,000
[Biography of Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1625-1712); in Italian.
Contents: Presentazione. Prefazione. Dedica a Perinaldo. Perinaldo.
Genova. Bologna. Parigi. Appendice documentaria. Ringraziamenti.
Autorizzazioni.
Distribution: Commune di Perinaldo, Piazza S. Antonio, 18030 Perinaldo
(Imperia), Italy.]
Review: A. Van Helden: J. Hist. Astron. 27 (1996) 2, 182-183
Davoust, Emmanuel: L'Observatoire du Pic du Midi. Cent ans de vie et de
science en haute montagne. Paris: CNRS-Editions, 2000. 542 p.,
17 x 24 cm, 70 ill., ISBN 2-271-05723-X, FF 240.00, $ 44.00
Dershowitz, Nachum; Reingold, Edward M.: Calendrical calculations.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. xxi, 307 p.,
ISBN 0-521-56413-1, $ 64.95 (hb); ISBN 0-521-56474-3, $ 22.95 (pb)
Review: D.M.F.Chapman: J. Roy. Astron. Soc. Can. 92 (1998) 4, 216
Dzielska, Maria: Hypatia z Aleksandrii. Krakow: Nakl. Uniwersytetu
Jagiello'nskiego, 1993. 161 p., 24 cm, ISBN 832330646X
(Zeszyty naukowe Uniwersytetu Jagiello'nskiego ; 1099)
[About Hypatia of Alexandria; in Polish. Summary in English.]
Dzielska, Maria: Hypatia of Alexandria. Translated by F. Lyra.
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995. viii, 157 p., 22 cm,
ISBN 0674437756, $ 29.95 (Revealing antiquity ; 8)
[Translation of Dzielska (1993).]
Review: G.J.Toomer: J. Hist. Astron. 27 (1996) 2, 174-176
Evans, David S.: The Eddington enigma. Princeton, NJ: Clibris, 1998.
199 p., 14 x 21.5 cm, ISBN 0-738-80131-3, $ 25.00 (hb);
ISBN 0-738-80132-1, $ 15.00 (pb)
["This is not a biography in the traditional sense, and Evans provides
ample references for such works, but is rather his personal quest to
uncover what made Eddington tick." (D.Stickland)]
Review: D.Stickland: The Observatory 119 (1999) 1151, 237-238
Fairall, Anthony P.: Large-scale structures in the universe. Chichester,
New York, Weinheim, Brisbane, Singapore, Toronto: John Wiley & Sons,
1997. xix, 196 p., ISBN 0-471-96252-X (hb); ISBN 0-471-96253-8 (pb)
(Wiley-Praxis series in astronomy and astrophysics)
[Chapter 1: The recognition of large-scale structures [1768-1990]
(p. 1-21)]
Fasching, Gerhard: Sternbilder und ihre Mythen. [Constellations and their
myths. - In German] 3d, enl. ed. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag,
1998. VIII, 379 p., 101 ill., ISBN 3-211-83026-X, geb. DM 78.00
Feldhay, Rivka: Galileo and the church : political inquisition or critical
dialogue? Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
viii, 303 p., 24 cm, ISBN 0-521-34468-9, GBP 35.00 (hb)
Review: S.Westfall: J. Hist. Astron. 27 (1996) 2, 180-181
Forbes, Eric G.; Murdin, Lesley; Willmoth, Frances: The correspondence of
John Flamsteed, first Astronomer Royal. Vol. 1: 1666-1682. Bristol:
Institute of Physics Publishing, 1995. xlix, 955 p., ISBN 0-750-30147-3,
$ 280.00, GBP 140.00 (hb)
Review: D.W.Hughes: The Observatory 116 (1996) 1132, 179
Review: T.Mahoney: J. Brit. Astron. Assoc. 106 (1996) 6, 343
Review: I.B.Cohen: J. Hist. Astron. 28 (1997) 2, 172-174
Galter, Hannes D. (ed.): Die Rolle der Astronomie in den Kulturen
Mesopotamiens. [The role of astronomy in the cultures of Mesopotamia]
Beitraege zum 3. Grazer Morgenlaendischen Symposium (23.-27.
September 1991). Graz: rm-Druck- & Verlagsges., 1993. 449 p.,
ISBN 3-85375-009-5, Pb OeS 450.00; out of print (?)
(Grazer Morgenlaendische Studien ; 3)
[The contributions are partially in German, partially in English.]
Review: B.R.Goldstein: J. Hist. Astron. 26 (1995) 2, 170-171
Gaertner, Heinz: Er durchbrach die Schranken des Himmels. Das Leben des
Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel. Leipzig: Edition Leipzig, 1996. 256 p.,
ISBN 3-361-00461-6, geb. DM 39.90, out of print.
[Biography of William Herschel, in German.]
Goodwin, Francis: The man in the moon. Edited with introduction and
annotations by John Anthony Butler. Ottawa, Canada: Dovehouse Editions,
1995. 118 p., ill., 22 cm, ISBN 1-89553-742-8, $ 20.00 (hb);
ISBN 1-89553-728-2, $ 8.00 (pb). Out of print (?).
(Publications of the Barnabe Riche Society ; 3)
[Originally published: London : John Norton, 1638.]
Good, Gregory (Ed.): The Earth, the Heavens and the Carnegie Institution
of Washington. Washington, D.C.: American Geophysical Union, 1994.
xiii, 252 p., ill., map, 29 cm, ISBN 0875902790, $ 42.00
(History of geophysics ; 5)
Review: E.R.Paul: J. Hist. Astron. 26 (1995) 2, 183-184
Grau, Conrad: Die Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin. Eine
deutsche Gelehrtengesellschaft in drei Jahrhunderten. [The Prussian
Academy of Sciences at Berlin. A German s 