Abstracts (listed alphabetically)
Achar, Narahari (Univ. of Memphis)
“On the Vedic Origin of Vedaanga Jyotisha”
Vedaanga Jyotisha refers to the earliest codified text of astronomy in India. It played a vital role in determining the proper times for Vedic rituals. A current view holds that much of the mathematical astronomy of the Vedas is derived from Mesopotamia. Although originally proposed as a mere hypothesis on a tentative basis, relying on hypothetical reconstruction, this view has assumed the status of a well established fact by the sheer force of repetition. In the present work, it is shown that the astronomical knowledge codified in Vedaanga Jyotisha is entirely traceable to Vedic sources. Furthermore, in view of the works on the ritual origin of geometry and some newly discovered astronomical code in the Vedas, it is argued that the origin of Vedaanga Jyotisha is in the Vedas and not in Mesopotamia.
Anderer, Michael
“Eccentric in His Orbit: Piazzi Smyth at Pulkova Observatory”
This paper provides a sketch of Piazza Smyth's journey to Russia in 1859 to visit Struve at Dorpat. Piazza Smyth's observations of Dorpat will be reviewed and examined as a unique contribution to the historical record of an era when Harvard College and Dorpat were at the cutting edge of astronomical innovation.
Barker, Peter (Univ. of Oklahoma)
“So Why Did Anyone Adopt the Copernican Hypothesis?”
The number of true Copernicans before 1610 was very small: there are around a dozen candidates. The most prominent group among these figures (Rheticus, Rothmann, Maestlin and Kepler; perhaps also Gemma Frisius) are Lutherans connected with universities reformed by Melanchthon. Although later members of this group offer arguments in favor of Copernicus based on astronomical novelties (especially comets), a consistent concern may be better described as methodological. Accepting the ideal account of scientific explanation offered by Melanchthon, all these figures present arguments that Copernican astronomy provides a priori proofs not available in the earlier astronomical tradition.
These claims were consistently rejected by contemporaries until Kepler's reformulation of Copernicanism made physics inseparable from his astronomy. I offer a number of lines of evidence pointing to the conclusion that 'Copernican' as an historical category must be understood in different terms before and after the work of Kepler.
Dowd, Matthew (Univ. of Notre Dame)
“Augustine and Astrology: Acceptance and Polemic”
In this paper, it is argued that Augustine had a long and complicated association with astrology. The typical view is that his anti-astrological stance was a Christian-based one. In this paper, it is argued that his rejection was actually based upon his reading of Hellenistic philosophy, as well as discussion with his companions; Christian doctrine was not the cause of his initial rejection. His mature formulation of the rejection of astrology, on the other hand, was based upon the needs he perceived as an ecclesiastic official within a Christian context.
Frank, Matthew (Univ. of Chicago)
“Gibbs's Vector Method for the Computation of Orbits”
Josiah Willard Gibbs was one of the principal inventors of the modern system of vector analysis; his first publication using this was an 1889 paper on “The Determination of Elliptic Orbits from Three Complete Observations.” Although astronomers quickly adopted the improvement that Gibbs made to the Gaussian method of orbit determination, they took much longer to adopt vectorial notation; the first significantly vectorial astronomical book was Paul Herget's 1945 The Computation of Orbits. This paper analyzes the reception of vectors among astronomers, with particular attention to Gibbs's paper and Gibbs's concerns.
Gonzalez, Elsa L. (Univ. of Chicago)
“Correspondence of Charles Messier, President De Saron, Roger Joseph Boscovich and Others to Jean Hyacinth de Magalhes”
The scientific correspondence addressed to Magalhes, living in London, was held at the library of the Universidade de Coimbra. These letters express the friendly relationship of Charles Messier, President de Saron and others to Magalhes. Messier-the comet wizard-acted as secretary to Saron, while the latter sat at the telescope. Saron had two personal observatories, one at Paris, at the Rue de l'Université, and another, at Saron sur Aube. Messier had access to both of them. Messier was a frequent house guest at Saron sur Aube. Messier had a close affection to Saron, who had helped him in his access at the Parc de Monceau. Up to a few hours before Saron was carried to his death at the guillotine, Messier supplied Saron with data from his latest data of the comets.
Kollerstrom, Nicholas (University College, London)
“A Computer Reconstruction of Newton's Lunar Theory”
Long-term disputes over the accuracy of the lunar theory articulated by Isaac Newton will be resolved by means of a computer model that replicates its instructions. Originally published in 1702, his lunar theory was re-expressed in the 1713 2nd edition of his Principia. The theory composed seven steps of equation to obtain geometric longitude of the lunar center. This paper will examine its roots in the model of Jeremiah Horrocks as developed by Flamsteed, and the general skepticism of French astronomers in the eighteenth century, as to whether the theory had any real connection to Newton's gravity theory. Finally, the extent to which the theory propagated across Europe in the first half of the eighteenth century will be examined.
Lindner, Rudi Paul (Univ. of Michigan)
“The Lamont-Hussey Observatory, or Why Men Go Mad in the Veldt”
As part of a larger project on the history of the University of Michigan Observatories, this is a study of W. J. Hussey's southern station, intended for the discovery and measurement of double stars. Hussey obtained the funds for the observatory from his classmate Robert P. Lamont, saw to the construction of a large refractor, recruited three Michigan graduates to help staff it, but died en route to South Africa. The project then fell to the senior assistant, Richard Rossiter, whose prior experience had been in observational spectroscopy. Rossiter's assistants, Henry F. Donner and M. K. Jessup, left after three highly contentious years, and Rossiter spent the rest of his life alone on Naval Hill, acquiring funds to keep the observatory open during an extended economic depression, establishing a record for new discoveries, and assisting the occasional visiting astronomer (E. C. Slipher's Mars photographs from the close oppositions of the 1950s were made at Lamont-Hussey).
This study includes considerations of the institutional development of astronomy at Michigan, which moved away from Hussey's program, a discussion of the conception and practice of “foreign station,” and some observations on the difficulties of bringing a scientific project to an end.
Marché II, Jordan D. (Indiana Univ.)
“The 'Committee of Ten' and U.S. Astronomy Education, 18931957: A Revised Perspective”
Jeanne E. Bishop's 1977 and 1979 attribution of the decline of U. S. astronomy education to the Committee of Ten's report of 1893 is reexamined. Leading factors not considered in Bishop's thesis include collapse of the “mental discipline” approach to pedagogy and withdrawal of the rationale for astronomy's retention in newer “progressive education” strategies. Furthermore, recommendations which had downgraded astronomy from a college prerequisite to an elective gained approval from Lick observatory director Edward S. Holden in 189788, yet awaited implementation from the N. E. A.'s Nightingale Committee in 1899. The latter's 'bottom line' approach culled astronomy from the secondary curriculum and intensified the decline which Bishop has propounded.
Margolis, Howard (Univ. of Chicago)
“Why a 'Solid Spheres' Interpretation of Tycho's System is Easy but Nevertheless Invisible”
A standard argument is that the Tychonic system necessarily implied abandonment of belief in the purportedly solid spheres of Ptolemaic astronomy. Tycho's innovation thus opened the door to Kepler's still more radical moves. But in fact the Tychonic system is not inconsistent with Ptolemaic belief in the solid spheres. I show how simply that would work, and then consider why Tycho himself and historians ever since have found the readily-available possibility of a solid spheres interpretation of the Tychonic system so hard to notice.
Marshall, James A.
“Prehistoric Earthworks and Circumpolar Stars”
This researcher has surveyed and mapped since 1965 more than 420 prehistoric geometric constructions of eastern North America: circles, squares, octagons, ellipses, rectangles, ovals, parallel walls. The works indicate no consistent orientation of openings or axial alignments to astronomical rising or setting points over 18° of latitude. However, the researcher has found a use of true north-south lines apparently determined by stellar observations and also true east-west lines at about 30 sites. These 90° angles were formed by construction of large 3,4,5 right triangles.
Ruskin, Steve (Univ. of Notre Dame)
“When London Viewed the Southern Skies: The Reception of Sir John Herschel's Cape Results”
The year 1997 marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Sir John Herschel's comprehensive astronomical survey of the Southern Hemisphere, results of Astronomical Observations Made During the Years 1834,5 ,6 7, 8, At the Cape of Good Hope; Being the Completion of a Telescopic Survey of the Whole Surface of the Visible Heavens, Commenced in 1825 (hereafter Cape Results). The book was published in London in 1847; the scientific communities of both Europe and America eagerly anticipated its appearance. It was reviewed by a number of leading scientists in some of the most prominent intellectual journals of the day. In light of this 150th anniversary, this paper will look at some of these reviews to reveal how the Cape Results was received by Herschel's fellow scientists, as well as how it may have been received by the literate public.
Saridakis, Voula (Virginia Tech)
“John Flamsteed at the Royal Greenwich Observatory: Dilemmas and Concerns of a Seventeenth-Century Astronomer”
John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer Royal of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, was challenged by high standards of observation and measurement. Besides concerns revolving around astronomical observations and measurement, his temperament and sensitivity, the trepidation of others, and high principles became his worst enemies. Based on recent research at the Royal Society and Royal Greenwich Observatory archives, the paper will propose how Flamsteed's dilemmas and main concerns as an astronomical practitioner depended just as much on his interaction with the community of astronomical observers and Royal Society members as on the quality of his observations and the accuracy of his measurements.
Snedegar, Keith (Utah Valley State College)
“Norman Pogson (18291891): A Neglected Victorian Astronomer”
Insofar as Norman Robert Pogson is ever mentioned in the history of astronomy it is in connection with his 1856 proposal for a stellar magnitude scale, which was universally adopted by the end of the nineteenth century and which remains the standard for twentieth-century photometry. With the exception of Hearnshaw's The Measurement of Starlight, histories have always reduced Pogson to this singular point. Copious unpublished records in the Royal Astronomical Society library, the British Library Oriental and India Office Collections, and the Royal Greenwich Observatory archives attest to a scientific character of broader interest, fully representative of Victorian astronomy and the imperial enterprise. Pogson's early career (18511860) illustrates the generally constructive interaction between professional astronomers and wealthy, if sometimes eccentric, amateurs. It concluded with his appointment as Government Astronomer at the Madras Observatory in India.
Pogson's thirty-year tenure at Madras witnessed two major processes in the history of science; the quickening Indian reception of Western science, and the transition from positional astronomy to astrophysics. He sponsored the application of Chintamanny Ragoonatha Chary, who became the first Indian F. R. A. S. The Indian eclipse expeditions of 1868 and 1871 led Pogson to advocate the creation of a dedicated solar physics observatory. Sadly, the foundation of Kodaikanal Observatory was laid in 1895, four years after Pogson's death
Teames, Sally (Fort Worth ISD)
“The Astronomical Origin of the Alphabet”
The Proto-Semitic alphabet is the ancestor of Greek, Etruscan, Roman, and all existing true alphabets in use today. It was the immediate predecessor of the early Semitic alphabets of the Hebrews, Phoenicians, Moabites, Edomites, Ammonites, Aramean, and South Arabians. Each of the twenty-two letters in the Proto-Semitic alphabet matches a constellation or asterism in or along the ecliptic. Not only do they match in shape and pattern, they also fall in the same general order, with only two constellations (Pisces and Aries) being out of sequence in the alphabetical order. The matching of certain letters is strengthened by the association of certain aspects of Mesopotamian sky lore and by the fact that most of the corresponding letters in the Ugaritic cuneiform alphabet (15001200 BC) also match the same constellations.
The implications of the findings of this research are threefold. First, the Proto-Semitic alphabet did not derive from the primitive Proto-Sinaitic alphabet at the turquoise mines at Serabit Al-Khadem and did not develop piecemeal, but was instead created as an organized unit of symbols designed after star patterns along the ecliptic. Second, the Proto-Semitic alphabet and the Ugaritic cuneiform alphabet may have originally been calendrical numbering systems (perhaps based on lunar stations). Third, similarities existing between the Proto-Semitic and the Ugaritic letter shapes, both being patterned after the same constellations and following the same general sequence, imply that the origin of the two may have been geographically close.
Warner, Deborah (Smithsonian Institution)
Panel: “VLBI, Relative GPS (Global Positioning System), and Astronomy in Post-War America”
Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) was introduced as an astronomical technique offering information about the position, size and structure of quasars and other radio sources, but it was quickly used to improve our understanding of the size and shape of the earth. This story raises questions about several important features of American astronomy in the post-war period.. The theory composed seven steps of equation to obtain geometric longitude of the lunar center. This paper will examine its roots in the model of Jeremiah Horrocks as developed by Flamsteed, and the general skepticism of French astronomers in the eighteenth century, as to whether the theory had any real connection to Newton's gravity theory. Finally, the extent to which the theory propagated across Europe in the first half of the eighteenth century will be examined.
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