Reading suggestions - History of Astronomy?

My interest in astronomy got into high gear about a year ago with the
gift of a telescope. Yes, it turned out to be one of those
unmentionables, but it did get me hooked. So when I am not struggling
to get some view of some DSO, I like to read everything I can get my
hands on, particularly on the history of astronomy. I am just
finishing Asimov's (somewhat dated) _Eyes on the Universe_ and I would
like to draw on the expertise here. Anyone have a favorite book on
the history of astronomy they would like to recommend?

[BTW - I liked the Asimov book, but found some of his technical
descriptions a bit sparse, especially on spectography, but overall I
enjoyed the narrative - FWIW].

socalsw

In message , socalsw
writes
My interest in astronomy got into high gear about a year ago with the
gift of a telescope. Yes, it turned out to be one of those
unmentionables, but it did get me hooked. So when I am not struggling
to get some view of some DSO, I like to read everything I can get my
hands on, particularly on the history of astronomy. I am just
finishing Asimov's (somewhat dated) _Eyes on the Universe_ and I would
like to draw on the expertise here. Anyone have a favorite book on
the history of astronomy they would like to recommend?

Depending on how far back you consider to be "history".

"The History of Astronomy" by Giorgio Abetti (in English translation
1954) is another pretty good general overview if now a little dated. And
you can sometimes find copies going for a song in second hand bookshops.
Second hand astronomy books are not often very expensive.

"Great Astronomers" by R. S. Ball, London, 1906 is also an interesting
read about the contributions, life and times of various famous
astronomers.

It is always worth keeping an eye out for unusual astronomy books.

Regards,
--
Martin Brown

socalsw wrote:
My interest in astronomy got into high gear about a year ago with the
gift of a telescope. Yes, it turned out to be one of those
unmentionables, but it did get me hooked. So when I am not struggling
to get some view of some DSO, I like to read everything I can get my
hands on, particularly on the history of astronomy. I am just
finishing Asimov's (somewhat dated) _Eyes on the Universe_ and I would
like to draw on the expertise here. Anyone have a favorite book on
the history of astronomy they would like to recommend?

Sure. Michael Hoskin, Cambridge Illustrated History of Astronomy.
The prose isn't as good as Asimov's, in my opinion (but then I'm
rather pro-Asimov), but the coverage is quite good. I draw on it
considerably in my own essays.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

I would
like to draw on the expertise here. Anyone have a favorite book on
the history of astronomy they would like to recommend?

Hi:

It's nice to go back to the very beginning. For that I recommend Patrick
Moore's _Watchers of the Skies_. It may be out of print now (which would be
shameful). If so, you can still get it through Amazon used.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html

"Rod Mollise" wrote

It's nice to go back to the very beginning. For that I recommend Patrick
Moore's _Watchers of the Skies_.

Oh, c'mon, Rod. He's not THAT old! ;^)

Howard Lester




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In article , Martin Brown wrote:

Depending on how far back you consider to be "history".

"History of Astronomy from Thales to Kepler" by J. L. E. Dreyer is in
print. If it is written it is history. Before that it is prehistory.

Here are three recommendations, none of which are general histories of
astronomy but would be of interest to amateur astronomers and
telescope lovers. BUT checking with amazon.com it is disappointing to
see that all three are now out of print. Amazon says they may be
available used and perhaps libraries may have them.

1. "The Astronomical Scrapbook", by Joseph Ashbrook, a former editor
of Sky and Telescope. A collection of 83 of Ashbrook's "Astronomical
Scrapbook" columns which ran in Sky and Telescope for 23 years. This
is a perfect book to sample for a few minutes when you want to enjoy
something astronomical, historical and invariably interesting. The
topics are very much selected with amateur astronomer interest in
mind. Wonderful.

2. "The History Of The Telescope" by Henry King. It's what the title
says, covering up to about the 1960's. Very readable and entertaining
for those interested in telescopes. SAA people may especially like
reading of the refractor vs reflector battles over various centuries!
One wonders what Fraunhofer would have been like as a poster. : )

3. "The Perfect Machine" by Ronald Florence. Well written history of
the epic building of the 200 inch reflector at Palomar. I believe
there are several books on this subject - I read this one and liked
it. If you have never read about Palomar and you like telescopes,
history and astronomy then do yourself a favor and find an account of
this incredible story.

Jeff Marsh
Pittsburgh, PA

William Hamblen wrote:
"History of Astronomy from Thales to Kepler" by J. L. E. Dreyer is in
print. If it is written it is history. Before that it is prehistory.

It may be that Martin was concerned about the "recent end" of history,
rather than the "distant end." One might not consider the discovery of
accelerated expansion to be quite history yet.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

One of my favorites is "Man Discovers the Galaxies" by Berendzen, Hart,
and Seeley. I think this one is out of print too, but if you can dig up
a copy, the pictures alone are worth having the book for. A wonderful
browse...
Marty

socalsw wrote:
My interest in astronomy got into high gear about a year ago with the
gift of a telescope. Yes, it turned out to be one of those
unmentionables, but it did get me hooked. So when I am not struggling
to get some view of some DSO, I like to read everything I can get my
hands on, particularly on the history of astronomy. I am just
finishing Asimov's (somewhat dated) _Eyes on the Universe_ and I would
like to draw on the expertise here. Anyone have a favorite book on
the history of astronomy they would like to recommend?

I'm currently in the middle of _Parallax_ subtitled _The Race to Measure
the Cosmos_ (by Alan Hirshfeld) which uses the device of "How we know
the size of the universe" to survey the histroy of astronomy and the
great astronomers. I'm very impressed so far (don't anyone tell me how
it comes out. That would spoil the suspense!)