Overview
- Offers the first survey of historical large refracting telescopes in Italy
- Includes historical documents and a wide range of photographs
- Presents new perspectives on the preservation of astronomical heritage
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Historical & Cultural Astronomy (HCA)
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Table of contents (9 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This book comprises a fascinating collection of contributions on the Merz telescopes in Italy that collectively offer the first survey on historical large refracting telescopes in the country, drawing on original documents and photographs. It opens with a general introduction on the importance of Merz telescopes in the history of astronomy and analyses of the local and international contexts in which the telescopes were made. After examination of an example of the interaction between the maker and the astronomer in the construction and maintenance of these refractors, the history of the Merz telescopes at the main Italian observatories in the nineteenth century is described in detail. Expert testimony is also provided on how these telescopes were successfully used until the second half of the twentieth century for research purposes, thus proving their excellent optical qualities.
Reviews
“This is a multi-author work, edited by Ileana Chinnici, and all the chapters are well written and highly informative. There are plenty of illustrations, in both colour and black & white, most of which I had not seen before.” (Richard McKim, The Observatory, Vol. 137 (1260), October, 2017)
Editors and Affiliations
About the editor
Ileana Chinnici is a research astronomer at INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo in Italy. She has been an Officer of the Italian Astronomical Society, National Coordinator of the INAF Museums, and Chair of the International Astronomical Union Commission C41 “Archives” Working Group. She has also served as a member of the Italian Astronomical Society (SAIt) Council and in 2008 was appointed Adjoint Scholar at Vatican Observatory. Her research has focused on the history of nineteenth century astronomy and astrophysics, the history of scientific instruments, and historical astronomical archives. She is the author or editor of several books as well as 25 journal papers and book chapters.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Merz Telescopes
Book Subtitle: A global heritage worth preserving
Editors: Ileana Chinnici
Series Title: Historical & Cultural Astronomy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41486-7
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-41485-0Published: 06 April 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-82366-9Published: 18 July 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-41486-7Published: 30 March 2017
Series ISSN: 2509-310X
Series E-ISSN: 2509-3118
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: IX, 185
Number of Illustrations: 78 b/w illustrations, 30 illustrations in colour
Topics: Astronomy, Observations and Techniques, Cultural Heritage, History of Science