Topics for ReadingArticle and Contributor
Early Interest in the Sky.
Astral theology—the “assumption of a close link between the movements going on in the heavens and occurrences on the earth.” The history of astrology traced to ancient Babylonia (about 3000 B.C.).Astrology (Vol. 2, p. 795), and Babylonian and Assyrian Religion (Vol. 3, p. 114), by Dr. Morris Jastrow, author of Religion of the Babylonians and Assyrians.
Story of the Constellations. A Map of the Heavens.Constellation—with star-maps and tables (Vol. 7, p. 11), by Charles Everitt, fellow Royal Astronomical Society. See also separate articles on the principal constellations and stars.
Development of Astronomy.
Scientific knowledge of the ancient Chinese, Egyptians and Babylonians. Revolutionary cycle of the planets.Astronomy, History (Vol. 2, p. 808), by Agnes M. Clerke, author of A Popular History of Astronomy.
First conception of the earth as a globe. “The harmony of the spheres.” Identification of morning and evening stars (about 520 B.C.).Pythagoras (Vol. 22, p. 699), by Dr. A. S. Pringle-Pattison, author of Man’s Place in the Cosmos, etc.
The Greeks measure the earth by astronomical means (about 200 B.C.).Eratosthenes of Alexandria (Vol. 9, p. 733), by Sir Thomas Little Heath, author of Treatise on Conic Sections.
The first observatory.Observatory (Vol. 19, p. 954), by J. L. E. Dreyer, Director of Armagh Observatory.
The first systematic astronomer, Ptolemy and his System (A.D. 150).Ptolemy, Mathematics (Vol. 22, p. 620), by Prof. George J. Allman, Queen’s, Galway; Copernicus (Vol. 7, p. 100), by Agnes M. Clerke.
Revival of heliocentric theory (A.D. 1506–1512).Kepler, Johann (Vol. 15, p. 749), by Agnes M. Clerke.
Plan of Solar System realized. The founder of descriptive astronomy (1564–1642).Galileo Galilei (Vol. 11, p. 406), by Agnes M. Clerke.
Newton’s contributions to astronomy and astronomical physics (1585–1586).Newton, Sir Isaac (Vol. 19, p. 586), by Henry M. Taylor, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Continuation of Newton’s work.Euler, Leonhard (Vol. 9, p. 887).
Nebular hypothesis of Laplace (1796).Nebular Theory (Vol. 19, p. 333), by Sir Robert S. Ball, author of The Story of the Heavens, etc.
The New Astronomy.
Work of Wollaston, Fraunhofer, Kirchoff, and Rowland in spectrum analysis.Astrophysics (Vol. 2, p. 819), by Dr. Simon Newcomb, late director National Observatory, Washington.
Discoveries during recent eclipses. Photographing the Heavens, Star-charts, etc.Photography, Celestial (Vol. 21, p. 523), by Prof. H. H. Turner, Oxford, author of Modern Astronomy, etc.
Measuring light and heat from the stars,—radio-micrometer.Photometry, Celestial, or Stellar Photometry (Vol. 21, p. 530), by Dr. H. H. Turner, Oxford.
New method of photographing the sun and the results of this mode of study.Spectroheliograph, illustrated (Vol. 25, p. 618), by Dr. George E. Hale, inventor of the spectroheliograph.
Principles of Astronomy.
How the positions and motions of the heavenly bodies are defined. System of co-ordinates.Astronomy, Spherical or Geometrical Astronomy (Vol. 2, p. 801), by Dr. Simon Newcomb.
Distance of sun from earth the fundamental celestial measurement.Parallax (Vol. 20, p. 760), by Dr. Simon Newcomb.
Methods of determining distances of stars.Star, Distances and Parallaxes of the Stars (Vol. 25, p. 789), by Arthur S. Eddington, Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
Apparent motion of the heavenly bodies.Aberration, Aberration of Light (Vol. 1, p. 54), by Dr. S. Otto Eppenstein, Zeiss Optical Works, Jena, Germany.
Eclipses and their recurrence. List of solar eclipses. Methods of computing eclipses.Eclipse (Vol. 8, p. 887), by Dr. Simon Newcomb.
Diameter of earth as an astronomical unit. Determination of diameter and figure of earth.Earth, Figure of the (Vol. 8, p. 801), by Alexander R. Clarke, Ordnance Survey, and Prof. F. R. Helmert, University of Berlin.
The Stars. The two Star-Streams. Milky Way. Distribution of stars.Star (Vol. 25, p. 785), by Arthur S. Eddington, Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
True nebulae. Constitution. How they differ from star-clusters.Nebula, illustrated (Vol. 19, p. 332), by Arthur S. Eddington.
Comets—origins and orbits. Physical constitution. List of periodic comets.Comet, illustrated (Vol. 6, p. 759), by Dr. Simon Newcomb.
Shooting Stars. History of meteoric showers.Meteor (Vol. 18, p. 260), by W. F. Denning, formerly president, Liverpool Astronomical Society.
Constitution of Shooting Stars.Meteorite (Vol. 18, p. 262), by Lazarus Fletcher, author of Introduction to the Study of Meteorites.
General description of the Solar System.Solar System (Vol. 25, p. 357), by Dr. Simon Newcomb.
The photosphere, chromosphere and corona, dimensions, temperature, and age of the sun, sun-spots.Sun, illustrated (Vol. 26, p. 85), by Dr. Ralph A. Sampson, Astronomer Royal for Scotland.
The vast envelope which surrounds the sun.Zodiacal Light (Vol. 28, p. 998), by Dr. Simon Newcomb.
Are Northern Lights due to emanations from the sun?Aurora Polaris, illustrated (Vol. 2, p. 934), by Dr. Charles Chree, president Physical Society of London.
Opaque Bodies, members of the Solar System. Their relation to each other. Their spectra, atmosphere, temperatures. First planetoid discovered (Jan. 1, 1801). Groupings of the planetoids.Planet, illustrated (Vol. 21, p. 714), and Planets, Minor (Vol. 21, p. 717), both by Dr. Simon Newcomb.
The smallest major planet. How it presents the same face always to the sun.Mercury (Vol. 18, p. 154), by Dr. Simon Newcomb.
Venus: Its peculiar rotation and cloudy atmosphere. Has Venus a satellite?Venus (Vol. 27, p. 1013), by Dr. Simon Newcomb.
The earth as a member of the solar system.Earth (Vol. 8, p. 799).
Our nearest neighbour. Is it inhabited? Similarity of physical conditions to those of the earth.Mars, illustrated (Vol. 17, p. 761), by Dr. Simon Newcomb, with a summary by Professor Lowell, of the observations at Flagstaff.
The largest planet. Its belts, spots, markings and surface. Is the great red spot a floating island?Jupiter, illustrated (Vol. 15, p. 562), by W. F. Denning, formerly president, Liverpool Astronomical Society.
The ringed planet. Physical constitution of rings.Saturn (Vol. 24, p. 232), by Dr. Simon Newcomb.
Uranus: Its discovery, physical characteristics and satellites.Uranus (Vol. 27, p. 788), by Dr. Simon Newcomb.
The outermost known planet. Dimensions. Resemblance to Uranus.Neptune (Vol. 19, p. 385), by Dr. Simon Newcomb.
Wonderful story of its discovery (1845).Adams, John Couch (Vol. 1, p. 177).
Leverrier, U. J. J. (Vol. 16, p. 510), by Agnes M. Clerke, author of A Popular History of Astronomy.
The moon. Its aspects, phases and constitution. Its mountains and atmosphere.Moon, illustrated (Vol. 18, p. 802), by Dr. Simon Newcomb.
Development of Practical and Observational Astronomy.
Current mode of star nomenclature adopted (1603). First planetary transit observed by Gassendi (1631).Astronomy, History of Astronomy (Vol. 2, p. 813), by Agnes M. Clerke, author of A Popular History of Astronomy.
Astronomical Instruments.
How co-ordinates used in astronomical research are determined.Astronomy, Practical Astronomy (Vol. 2 p. 807), by Dr. Simon Newcomb.
Telescope: Discovery and history. Parts and mounting. Great telescopes of the world.Telescope, illustrated (Vol. 26, p. 557), by Sir David Gill, formerly Astronomer Royal at the Cape of Good Hope, and H. Dennis Taylor, inventor of the Cooke Photographic Lens.
The Transit Circle due to Tycho Brahe. Description and use.Transit Circle, illustrated (Vol. 27, p. 181), by J. L. E. Dreyer, Armagh Observatory, author of Planetary Systems from Thales to Kepler, etc.
Measuring machines. Importance and use in astronomy.Micrometer, illustrated (Vol. 18, p. 381), by Sir David Gill.
Measuring the sun’s diameter.Heliometer, illustrated (Vol. 13, p. 224), by Sir David Gill.
Old time instruments. “Nearly every one of the modern instruments used for the observatories of practical astronomy is part of the perfected astrolabe.”Astrolabe, illustrated (Vol. 2, p. 795), by Lady Huggins, author of Life and Work of G. P. Mazzini.
Complete list of observatories throughout the world, date of foundation, their equipment and their specialized work.Observatory (Vol. 19, p. 953), by J. L. E. Dreyer, director Armagh Observatory, author of Planetary Systems from Thales to Kepler.

LIST OF ARTICLES IN THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA ON ASTRONOMY

CHAPTER LIV
PHYSICS

Early Ideas of the World

More than two thousand years ago the poet Lucretius, reviewing the physical knowledge and theories of the Greeks, described, as the Britannica tells us, how “the world was formed by the conjunctions of streams of atoms, which condensed into the earth, with its attendant water, air, and aether, to form a self-contained whole,” and went on to tell how in the changes of infinite time all possible forms of life appeared, but only those fittest to survive persisted. Here we have an unconscious anticipation of the nebular hypothesis and the theory of natural selection, two of the most tremendous of modern speculations. Four hundred years earlier Democritus, the greatest of the Greek natural philosophers, had said: “According to convention there is a sweet and a bitter, and according to convention there is colour. In truth there are atoms and a void.” Democritus came near announcing the doctrines of the indestructibility of matter and the conservation of energy, yet the conventions which he assailed persisted for generations: colour, taste and other qualities of a substance being regarded as of its essence and as much realities as the substance itself. The theories of the Greeks in fact held the field for centuries, until, during the Renaissance, men’s minds attacked the secrets of nature in a more modern spirit. Yet, long as has been its history, physical science, as we know it to-day, is but a few years old, the result of the feverish activity which has been the obsession of the generation now passing (Vol. 24, p. 396).

There are many entertaining touches in the historical account of the development of the physical sciences with which this section of the Britannica is enriched, for every branch of the subject has been treated from the historical point of view. The articles, too, have been written by masters who can describe clearly because they see clearly, and no reader, desiring a sound knowledge of the general principles on which science rests, and of the conclusions to which the latest investigations have directed scientific thought, will go away empty handed.

The section of the Physical Sciences in the Britannica covers, of course, an enormous field which for general purposes may be conveniently divided into:—

(i) Matter and Motion (ii) Sound (iii) Light (iv) Heat (v) Electricity and Magnetism

As a preliminary to any one of these and to the whole subject the reader will be well advised to read the article Science (Vol. 24, p. 396), by W. C. D. Whetham of Trinity College, Cambridge, author of Recent Development of Physical Science; those on Units, Physical (Vol. 27, p. 738), and Units, Dimensions of (Vol. 27, p. 736), are also of fundamental importance; and those on Space and Time (Vol. 25, p. 525), and Time, Measurement of (Vol. 26, p. 983), may profitably be consulted.