Elements of Astronomy (Classic Reprint) - Couverture souple

Newcomb, Simon

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1440087784 ISBN 13 : 9781440087783

Editeur : Forgotten Books, 2016

Synopsis

Excerpt from Elements of Astronomy

Two objects have been kept in view in preparing this little book. One was to condense those facts and laws of the science which are of most interest and importance to the general intelligent public within so small a compass as not to make a very serious addition to the curriculum of the high school or college. The other was so to present the subject that as little formal mathematics as possible should be noces sary to its mastery.

Of the first object little need be said. The typical person constantly kept in mind has been the inquiring layman seek ing to know something of the heavenly bodies and their rela tion to the earth, including such subjects of human interest as the changing seasons, the measure of time, and the varying aspects of the planets.

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A propos du livre

Biographie de l'auteur

Simon Newcomb (March 12, 1835 - July 11, 1909) was a Canadian-American astronomer and mathematician. He made important contributions to timekeeping as well as writing on economics and statistics and authoring a science fiction novel. He studied mathematics and physics privately and supported himself with some school-teaching before becoming a functionary in charge of calculations at the Nautical Almanac Office in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1861, he took advantage of one of the ensuing vacancies to become professor of mathematics and astronomer at the United States Naval Observatory, Washington D.C. he set to work on the measurement of the position of the planets as an aid to navigation, becoming increasingly interested in theories of planetary motion. By the time he visited Paris, in 1870, he was already aware that the table of lunar positions calculated by Peter Andreas Hansen was in error. While in Paris, he realised that, in addition to the data from 1750 to 1838 that Hansen had used, there was further data stretching as far back as 1672 and was able to use the “new” data to revise Hansen's tables. He was offered the post of director of the Harvard College Observatory in 1875 but declined, having settled that his interests lay in mathematics rather than observation. In 1877 he became director of the Nautical Almanac Office where he embarked on a program of recalculation of all the major astronomical constants. Despite fulfilling a further demanding role as professor of mathematics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins University from 1884, he conceived with A. M. W. Downing a plan to resolve much international confusion on the subject. By the time he attended a standardisation conference in Paris, in May 1896, the international consensus was that all ephemerides should be based on Newcomb's calculations. In 1878, Newcomb had started planning for a new and precise measurement of the speed of light that was needed to account for exact values of many astronomical constants, when he received a letter from A. Michelson who was also planning such a measurement. Thus began a long collaboration and friendship. In 1880, Michelson assisted at Newcomb's initial measurement with instruments located at Fort Myer and the United States Naval Observatory, then situated on the Potomac River. Though Michelson published his first measurement in 1880, Newcomb's measurement was substantially different. In 1883, Michelson revised his measurement to a value closer to Newcomb's.

Présentation de l'éditeur

Two objects have been kept in view in preparing this little book. One was to condense those facts and laws of the science which are of most interest and importance to the general intelligent public within so small a compass as not to make a very serious addition to the curriculum of the high school or college. The other was so to present the subject that as little formal mathematics as possible should be necessary to its mastery. Of the first object little need be said. The typical person constantly kept in mind has been the inquiring layman seeking to know something of the heavenly bodies and their relation to the earth, including such subjects of human interest as the changing seasons, the measure of time, and the varying aspects of the planets. The second object involves more serious questions. Can an idea of the laws and phenomena of the celestial motions be conveyed to a pupil who has not completed the regular course in geometry and physics? The author believes that it can. It cannot, indeed, be denied that the professional astronomer, engineer, surveyor, and navigator who are to make astronomical observations and computations must have a fairly complete training in at least the elementary branches of mathematics. But this training is not essential to him who desires only a command of general ideas, without proposing to make technical applications of the science. What is really essential are those conceptions of motion and form which one may derive from everyday observation, and the understanding of a few elementary definitions in geometry and physics.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Forgotten Books
• Date d'édition: 2016
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1440087784
• ISBN 13: 9781440087783
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 246
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