Wilson The Hill-Brown Theory of the Moon’s Motion

Its Coming-to-be and Short-lived Ascendancy (1877-1984)
2010
ISBN: 978-1-4419-5937-9
Verlag: Springer US
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 323 Seiten, eBook

Reihe: Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences

This book, in three parts, describes three phases in the development of the modern theory and calculation of the Moon's motion. Part I explains the crisis in lunar theory in the 1870s that led G.W. Hill to lay a new foundation for an analytic solution, a preliminary orbit he called the "variational curve." Part II is devoted to E.W. Brown's completion of the new theory as a series of successive perturbations of Hill's variational curve. Part III describes the revolutionary developments in time-measurement and the determination of Earth-Moon and Earth-planet distances that led to the replacement of the Hill–Brown theory in 1984.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wilson, Curtis

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface.-Part I: Hill lays the foundation (1877-1878).- 1. George William Hill, mathematician.-2. Lunar theory from the 1740s to the 1870s – a sketch.-3. Hill on the motion of the lunar perigee.- 4. Hill’s Variation Curve.- 5. Early assessments of Hill’s work on the lunar theory.- Part II: Brown completes the theory (1892-1908), and constructs tables (1908-1919).-6. E.W. Brown, celestial mechanician.-7. First papers and a book.-8. Initiatives inspired by John Couch Adams’ papers.-9. Further preliminaries to the systematic development.-10. Theory of the Motion of the Moon.-11.A solution-procedure without approximations.-12. The ‘Main Problem’ solved.-13. Correcting for the idealizations.-14. Direct Planetary Perturbations of the Moon.-15. Indirect Planetary Perturbations of the Moon.-16. The effect of the figures of the Earth and Moon .-17. Perturbations of order (delta R)2.-18.The Tables.- 19. Determining the Values of the Arbitrary Constants.-20. Ernest W. Brown as theorist and computer.- Part III: Revolutionary developments in time measurement, computing, and data collection.- 21. Introduction .- 22. Tidal acceleration, fluctuations, and the variability of the Earth’s Rotation, from the 1690s to 1939.- 23. The quest for a uniform time: from Ephemeris Time to Atomic Time.- 24. 1984: The Hill-Brown theory is replaced as the basis of lunar ephemerides.- 25. The mathematical and philosophical interest in an analytical solution of the lunar problem.- Appendix: 'Observations on the Desirability of New Tables of the Moon' (file of George William Hill, Naval Observatory Library).-Index.