From Earth-Bound to Satellite

Telescopes, Skills and Networks
Erscheinungsjahr 2011
ISBN: 978-90-04-21150-6
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 2, 265 Seiten, Format (B × H): 164 mm x 249 mm, Gewicht: 664 g

Reihe: Scientific Instruments and Collections

The volume forms a part of the celebrations marking the anniversary of the invention of the telescope. From its Renaissance beginnings to yesterday’s Cold War, the essays contributed here throw a spotlight on a number of significant episodes in the continuing adventures of this well-loved instrument, which has played a crucial role in Man’s thinking about his position – literally and philosophically – in the universe. Drawn from various conferences held by the Scientific Instrument Commission of the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science between 2007 and 2009, these papers make a substantial contribution to our current knowledge about this fascinating optical instrument.

Zielgruppe

All those interested in the history of science and technology, the history of scientific instruments, the history of astronomy from the 17th to the 20th centuries, and institutional and social history.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Weitere Mitwirkende

Morrison-Low, A.D.

Dupré, Sven

Johnston, Stephen

Strano, Giorgio

Fachgebiete

• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Formalen Wissenschaften & Technik
• Naturwissenschaften Astronomie Geschichte der Astronomie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wissenschafts- und Universitätsgeschichte
• Technische Wissenschaften Technik Allgemein Technikgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Illustrations

Notes on Contributors

Foreword, Alison D. Morrison-Low

Introduction: Writing the History of the Telescope: Makers, Markets and Mapping, Sven Dupré

Galileo’s Shopping List: An Overlooked Document about Early Telescope Making, Giorgio Strano

Johann Wiesel’s Telescopes and his Clientele, Inge Keil

The ‘Invisible Technician’ Made Visible: Telescope Making in the Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth-century Dutch Republic, Huib J. Zuidervaart

The Art of Polishing: Practice and Prose in Eighteenth-century Telescope Making, Jim A. Bennett

Networks of Telescope Makers and the Evolution of Skill: Evidence from Observatory and Museum Collections, Gloria C. Clifton

Scoping Longitude: Optical Designs for Navigation at Sea, Richard Dunn

Following the Stars: Clockwork for Telescopes in the Nineteenth Century, James Caplan

Telescopes Made in Berlin: From Carl Bamberg to Askania, Gudrun Wolfschmidt

Wide-Field Photographic Telescopes: The Yale, Harvard and Harvard/Smithsonian Meteor and Satellite Camera Networks, Teasel Muir-Harmony, David H. DeVorkin, Peter Abrahams

The Making of Space Astronomy: A Gift of the Cold War, Robert W. Smith

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Alison D. Morrison-Low, D.Phil. (2000) in Economic History with Physics, University of York, Principal Curator of Science at National Museums Scotland since 1980. Her recent publications explore the English instrument trade, for which she won the 2008 Paul Bunge Prize.

Sven Dupré, Ph.D. (2002) in Philosophy, Ghent University,is Research Group Director at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and Professor of History of Knowledge at the Free University of Berlin. His recent publications focus on the history of optics and the telescope.

Stephen Johnston, Ph.D. (1994) in History of Science, University of Cambridge, is Assistant Keeper at the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford. His publications focus on instruments and practical mathematics from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

Giorgio Strano, Ph.D. (2003) in History of Science, University of Florence, is Curator of the Collections at Museo Galileo in Florence. He has published extensively on the history of astronomy, including "Galileo's Telescope" (2008).