Authors:
- Revisits and analyzes from historical, political, and social perspectives the role of the optical telescope in the advancement of astronomy
- Details the discoveries and hypotheses directly attributable to optical telescopes
- Provides biographical information of individuals pivotal in astronomy and telescope development
- Discusses social trends influencing the development of telescopes and the growing desire to understand the universe
Part of the book series: Historical & Cultural Astronomy (HCA)
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Table of contents (11 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
This book is uniquely about the relationship between the optical telescope and astronomy as they developed together. It covers the time between the telescope's pivotal invention in the 1600's up to the modern era of space-based telescopes. Over the intervening centuries, there were huge improvements in the optical resolution of telescopes, along with changes in their positioning and nature of application that forever altered the course of astronomy.
For a long time, the field was an exclusive club for self-motivated stargazers who could afford to build their own telescopes. Many of these leisure-time scholars left their mark by virtue of their meticulous observations and record keeping. Although they would now be considered amateurs, these figures and their contributions were pivotal and are covered in this book alongside professionals, for the first time giving a complete picture of the history of telescopic science.Reviews
“This book succeeds in picking up the most important points, … .There are illustrations, both monochrome and colour, … two shows telescopes — Hevelius’ 210-foot refractor and the Hubble Space Telescope.” (The Observatory, Vol. 139 (1270), June, 2019)
Authors and Affiliations
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Bewdley, UK
Wilson Wall
About the author
Wall is also an avid amateur astronomer. As a professional microscopist, Wall designed microscope lenses. His pursuits in amateur astronomy and interest in lenses eventually led him to build his own telescope lenses and telescopes, which he discovered were easier to design than microscope lenses but harder to use. As his work progressed in building better telescopes, he recognized the important connection between the development of the technology and the evolution of the science of astronomy, aswell as the social setting in which this took place. Recognizing that there was a story here to tell, he became motivated him to write this book.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: A History of Optical Telescopes in Astronomy
Authors: Wilson Wall
Series Title: Historical & Cultural Astronomy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99088-0
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-99087-3Published: 11 October 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-07564-4Published: 03 January 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-99088-0Published: 01 October 2018
Series ISSN: 2509-310X
Series E-ISSN: 2509-3118
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 173
Number of Illustrations: 14 b/w illustrations, 31 illustrations in colour
Topics: Astronomy, Observations and Techniques, History of Science, History of Technology, History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics