ABSTRACT

A History of Astronomy, first published in 1907, offers a comprehensive introduction to the steady development of the science since its inception in the ancient world up to the momentous progress of the nineteenth century. It includes biographical material relating to the most famous names in the study of astronomy – Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Herschel – and their contributions, clear and accessible discussions of key discoveries, as well as detailing the incremental steps in technology with which many of the turning points in astronomy were intimately bound up.

chapter 1|7 pages

Early Notions

chapter 2|6 pages

The Eastern Nations of Antiquity

chapter 3|11 pages

The Greeks

chapter 4|3 pages

The Arabs

chapter 5|11 pages

The Revival—Copernicus—Tycho Brahe

chapter 6|8 pages

Kepler—Galileo

chapter 7|6 pages

Newton

chapter 8|10 pages

Newton's Successors: Laplace

chapter 9|10 pages

Flamsteed—Halley—Bradley—Herschel

chapter 10|10 pages

The Early 19th Century—Neptune

chapter 11|13 pages

Herschel—Bessel—Struve

chapter 12|7 pages

Comets

chapter 13|15 pages

The Sun—Eclipses—Parallax

chapter 14|14 pages

General Astronomy and Celestial Mechanics

chapter 15|9 pages

Observatories and Instruments

chapter 17|13 pages

The Sun

chapter 18|10 pages

Solar Spectroscopy

chapter 19|14 pages

Solar Eclipses: Spectroscopy

chapter 20|9 pages

The Moon

chapter 21|9 pages

The Earth

chapter 22|8 pages

The Interior Planets

chapter 23|10 pages

Mars

chapter 24|7 pages

Minor Planets

chapter 25|15 pages

The Major Planets

chapter 26|6 pages

The Solar System

chapter 27|24 pages

Comets, Meteors, Zodiacal Light

chapter 29|11 pages

Double Stars

chapter 30|15 pages

Variable Stars

chapter 31|9 pages

Clusters—Nebulæ—Milky Way

chapter 32|13 pages

Stellar Spectroscopy

chapter 33|6 pages

Conclusion