British University Observatories 1772û1939

by Hutchins,Roger

• ISBN13: 9780754632504
• ISBN10: 0754632504
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-06-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This is the first full history of the six university observatories that undertook research before World War II Oxford, Dunsink, Cambridge, Durham, Glasgow and London and their struggle to evolve in the middle ground between the royal or government observatories, and those of the 'Grand Amateurs'. The book will intrigue anyone interested in the history of astronomy, of telescopes, of patronage networks, of scientific institutions, and of the history of universities.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Making niches, founding the observatories

Academic astronomers in the age of the 'grand amateurs', 1820-1881

Working the university observatories, 1820-1881

'Encumbered with lectures': developing research and providing for graduates, 1820-1939

University observatories and the opportunities in astrophysics, c.1880-1939

Problems of proximity: Oxford's observatories, 1901-1930

British university observatories and the wider world, 1919-1939

Concluding thoughts on how astronomical knowledge advances

Bibliography

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.