Overview
- Continues from 1802 where earlier volume left off to reveal more on the history of the discovery of the first asteroid, emphasizing the mathematical and philosophical aspects of it
- Whereas the first book contained correspondence and monographs, this volume contains all the scientific papers written about Ceres in the early days, many translated into English from German for the first time
- Based on extensive archival research on Ceres
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Table of contents (10 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
An asteroid scholar, Cunningham in this book picks up where his Discovery of the First Asteroid, Ceres left off in telling the story of the impact created by the discovery of this new class of object in the early 1800s. The best and brightest minds of mathematics, science, and philosophy were fascinated by Ceres, and figures as diverse as Gauss, Herschel, Brougham, Kant, and Laplace all contributed something to the conversation. The first few chapters deal with the mathematical and philosophical aspects of the discovery, and the rivalry between Germany and France that so affected science and astronomy of that era. The jockeying for glory over the discovery of Ceres by both Piazzi and Bode is examined in detail, as is the reception given to Herschel’s use of the word 'asteroid.' Archival research that reveals the creator of the word 'asteroid' is presented in this book.
Astronomy was a truly cosmopolitan field at the time, spanning across various disciplines, and the discovery of Pallas, a story completely told in these pages, exemplifies the excitement and drama of early 1800s astronomy. All the private correspondence about the study of Ceres and Pallas in 1802 is given here, which helps to contextualize and personalize the discovery.
Reviews
“The book is a fascinating description of what was taking place at the time in this field of astronomy. … a work of great bibliographic scholarship and as a detailed collection of relevant material from this brief period in asteroidal research will be extremely useful, thought-provoking, and referred to for many years to come.” (David W. Hughes, The Observatory, Vol. 137, August, 2017)
“The author, Clifford Cunningham, is an expert in the History of Astronomy and in particular about the asteroids, on which he authored several books and papers. He therefore represents an authoritative and well-informed source of information. … this book is interesting for its completeness in an intriguing but often overlooked topic of the history of astronomy. Surely worth the reading.” (Gabriella Bernardi, Astrocom et al., astrocometal.blogspot.de, December, 2016)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Early Investigations of Ceres and the Discovery of Pallas
Book Subtitle: Historical Studies in Asteroid Research
Authors: Clifford Cunningham
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28815-4
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-28813-0Published: 31 August 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-80433-0Published: 09 June 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-28815-4Published: 22 August 2016
Edition Number: 2
Number of Pages: XIX, 412
Number of Illustrations: 163 b/w illustrations, 18 illustrations in colour
Topics: Astronomy, Observations and Techniques, History of Science, Planetology, Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics, Space Exploration and Astronautics)