Babylon to Voyager and Beyond: A History of Planetary Astronomy

by David Leverington

• ISBN13: 9780521004619
• ISBN10: 0521004616
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-12-03
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Babylon to Voyager and Beyond covers planetary research from the time of the Babylonians and Ancient Greeks through those of Kepler, Galileo and Newton to the modern era of space exploration. It outlines the key observational discoveries and theoretical developments in their historical context, covering not only the numerous successes but also the main failures. Planetary astronomy has come a long way since the Babylonians used their extensive numerical skills to predict the positions of the moon and planets. That progress is the story of this book, ending, as it does, with the considerable discoveries of the space age, and the discoveries of planets around other stars. This unique account will appeal to both amateur and professional astronomers, as well as those with an interest in the history of science.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. The ancients

2. Copernicus and the new cosmology

3. Kepler and Galileo: the fall of epicycles and the start of telescopic astronomy

4. The mid and late seventeenth century

5. Consolidation

6. The solar system expands

7. The inner solar system in the nineteenth century

8. The outer solar system in the nineteenth century

9. Quiet interlude - the twentieth century prior to the space age

10. The space age - terrestrial planets

11. The space age - the outer planets.