The History of Astronomy, Michael Hoskin
The History of Astronomy, Michael Hoskin
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The History of Astronomy
A Very Short Introduction

Author: Michael Hoskin

Narrator: Michael Hoskin

Unabridged: 3 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/08/2021


Synopsis

This is a fascinating introduction to the history of Western astronomy, from prehistoric times to the origins of astrophysics in the mid-nineteenth century. Historical records are first found in Babylon and Egypt, and after two millennia the arithmetical astronomy of the Babylonians merged with the Greek geometrical approach to culminate in the Almagest of Ptolemy. This legacy was transmitted to the Latin West via Islam, and led to Copernicus's claim that the Earth is in motion. In justifying this Kepler converted astronomy into a branch of dynamics, leading to Newton's universal law of gravity. The book concludes with eighteenth- and nineteenth-century applications of Newton's law, and the first explorations of the universe of stars.

About Michael Hoskin

Michael Hoskin is fellow of Churchill College at the University of Cambridge, where he lectured in the history of astronomy from 1959 until his retirement in 1988, and founding editor of the Journal for the History of Astronomy. His books include The Herschel Partnership as Viewed by Caroline and The Cambridge Illustrated History of Astronomy.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Fabio on January 14, 2018

Breve historia de la astronomía La astronomía es, quizás, una de las prácticas más antiguas desarrolladas por el hombre, que con el paso de los milenios se convirtió en una ciencia que nos ha enseñado mucho sobre nuestro planeta, nuestro hogar, y sobre nuestro vecindario estelar. Breve historia de la......more

Goodreads review by Michael on August 31, 2022

More physics rather than history, but an insightful read nonetheless.......more

Goodreads review by Bruce on November 08, 2021

Nice introduction. I wish it had proceeded just a little further, historically, than it did, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.......more

Goodreads review by Vance on July 15, 2016

Things to remember: Astronomers were not studying the objects in the sky, they were studying the light that they could see. Astronomy ceased to exist as such when mathematics and physics came into play to study light. The ancient, classic, middle age, renaissance, and modern astronomers used ingeniou......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on May 19, 2021

Chapter 1: The sky in prehistory Chapter 2: Astronomy in antiquity Chapter 3: Astronomy in the Middle Ages Chapter 4: Astronomy transformed Chapter 5: Astronomy in the age of Newton Chapter 6: Exploring the universe of stars......more