$15.00 CAD
pp. 342, “This saga of astronomers afflicted with “aperture fever,” Watson’s diagnosis of the drive to construct ever-larger telescopes, is an avuncular amble through four centuries of the instrument’s development. Watson illuminates famous astronomers–Newton, Cassegrain, Schmidt–along with the more obscure. The telescope’s exact origin may never be known, but history tips its hat to Dutch optician Hans Lipperhey, unsuccessful applicant for a Dutch patent, and to Galileo, epochal maker of the first telescopic discoveries. The race for bigger and better telescopes was on; however, it was impeded by two fundamental technical problems: spherical and chromatic aberration. Discerning the correct shapes for lenses and mirrors was more easily done than eliminating spurious colors, and by the time William Herschel made his entrance on the astronomical stage in the 1780s, aperture fever assumed the size-matters symptoms it still exhibits today. Watson’s narrative of inevitable overreaching and brilliant success is often funny, occasionally poignant, and definitely accessible–a fine reflection of this Australian astronomer’s popularizing skills.”
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| ISBN | 0306814323 | |
|---|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9780306814327 | |
| Number of pages | 342 | |
| Original Title | Stargazer the Life and Times of the Telescope | |
| Published Date | 2005 | |
| Book Condition | Very Good | |
| Jacket Condition | Very Good | |
| Binding | Hardcover | |
| Size | 8vo | |
| Place of Publication | New York | |
| Edition | First Edition | |
| Category: | Science | |
| Author: | Fred Watson | |
| Publisher: | Da Capo Press |
pp. 342, “This saga of astronomers afflicted with “aperture fever,” Watson’s diagnosis of the drive to construct ever-larger telescopes, is an avuncular amble through four centuries of the instrument’s development. Watson illuminates famous astronomers–Newton, Cassegrain, Schmidt–along with the more obscure. The telescope’s exact origin may never be known, but history tips its hat to Dutch optician Hans Lipperhey, unsuccessful applicant for a Dutch patent, and to Galileo, epochal maker of the first telescopic discoveries. The race for bigger and better telescopes was on; however, it was impeded by two fundamental technical problems: spherical and chromatic aberration. Discerning the correct shapes for lenses and mirrors was more easily done than eliminating spurious colors, and by the time William Herschel made his entrance on the astronomical stage in the 1780s, aperture fever assumed the size-matters symptoms it still exhibits today. Watson’s narrative of inevitable overreaching and brilliant success is often funny, occasionally poignant, and definitely accessible–a fine reflection of this Australian astronomer’s popularizing skills.”
| Weight | 1 kg |
|---|
