Other editions of book Great Astronomers

The author says “It has been my object in these pages of astronomer biography to present the life of each astronomer in such detail as to enable the reader to realise in some degree the man's character and surroundings; and I have endeavoured to indicate as clearly as circumstances would permit the main features of the discoveries by which he has become known.” This edition features all the original illustrations, carefully restored for modern printing methods to really bring these amazing scientists alive.

The positions of the stars indicated the time to plough, and the time to sow. To the mariner who was seeking a way across the trackless ocean, the heavenly bodies offered the only reliable marks by which his path could be guided. There was, accordingly, a stimulus both from intellectual curiosity and from practical necessity to follow the movements of the stars. In the ensuing chapters we have endeavoured to sketch the lives and the work of the great philosophers, by whose labours the science of astronomy has been created. We shall commence with Ptolemy, who, after the foundations of the science had been laid by Hipparchus, gave to astronomy the form in which it was taught throughout the Middle Ages. We shall next see Copernicus. We then pass to the genius of Galileo and Newton, and afterwards we shall trace the careers of other more recent discoverers.

Great Astronomers is a classic astronomer biography collection by R.S. Ball that includes biographical sketches of the following: Ptolemy -- Copernicus -- Tycho Brahe -- Galileo -- Kepler -- Isaac Newton -- Flamsteed -- Halley -- Bradley -- William Herschel -- Laplace -- Brinkley -- John Herschel -- The Earl of Rosse -- Airy -- Hamilton -- Le Verrier -- Adams. It has been my object in these pages of astronomer biography to present the life of each astronomer in such detail as to enable the reader to realise in some degree the man's character and surroundings; and I have endeavoured to indicate as clearly as circumstances would permit the main features of the discoveries by which he has become known.

An excellent introduction to the greatest astronomers, the ones who pushed the consciousness of the human race up and out and into the heavens, exploring space and stretching the collective mind of the human race. It is by the work of these astronomers that our true place in the universe was better understood, and they helped to usher in a period of wonder and technological development that would take us out to the stars.Contents include:INTRODUCTION.PTOLEMY.COPERNICUS.TYCHO BRAHE.GALILEO.KEPLER.ISAAC NEWTON.HALLEY.BRADLEY.WILLIAM HERSCHEL.LAPLACE.BRINKLEY.JOHN HERSCHEL.THE EARL OF ROSSE.AIRY.HAMILTON.LE VERRIER.ADAMS.

Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1805–1865) was an Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician who made important contributions to mechanics, optics, and algebra. As a teenager, he mastered parts of Newton's Principia and studied Laplace's celestial mechanics treatise. When barely 22, Hamilton became a professor of astronomy at University of Dublin, however he was more interested in theoretical rather than practical astronomy.His studies of mechanical and optical systems led him to discover new mathematical concepts and techniques. His greatest contribution is perhaps the reformulation of Newtonian mechanics, now called Hamiltonian mechanics. This work has proven central to the modern study of classical field theories such as electromagnetism, and to the development of quantum mechanics.In mathematics, he is perhaps best known as the inventor of the quaternion, which is a mathematical concept that find uses in both theoretical and applied mathematics, in particular for calculations involving three-dimensional rotations such as in three-dimensional computer graphics, computer vision, and the attitude-control systems of spacecraft.Hamilton is said to have shown immense talent at a very early age. He had a remarkable aptitude for languages as a youth. As a young man, his talents turned to mathematics of astronomy and physics. Astronomer John Brinkley remarked of the 18-year-old Hamilton, "This young man, I do not say will be, but is, the first mathematician of his age."

There are many types of astronomers—from the stargazer who merely watches the heavens, to the abstract mathematician who merely works at his desk; it has, consequently, been necessary in the case of some lives to adopt a very different treatment from that which seemed suitable for others. The Great Astronomers are as follows: Claudius Ptolemy, Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, John Flamsteed Edmond Halley, James Bradley, William Herschel, Pierre-Simon Laplace, John Brinkley, John Herschel 3rd Earl of Rosse (William Parsons), George Biddell Airy, William Rowan Hamilton, Urbain Le Verrier, John Couch Adams.

William Parsons, the 3rd Earl of Rosse, (1800–1867) was an Anglo-Irish astronomer who made several large telescopes. His 72-inch telescope, the "Leviathan", built in 1845, was the world's largest telescope until the early 20th century. The 72-inch (1.8 m) telescope replaced a 36-inch (910 mm) telescope that he had built previously. He had to invent many of the techniques he used for constructing the Leviathan, both because its size was without precedent and because earlier telescope builders had guarded their secrets or had simply failed to publish their methods. Rosse's telescope was considered a marvelous astronomical and engineering achievement. Lord Rosse performed astronomical studies and discovered the spiral nature of some nebulas. He named the Crab Nebula. A main component of Rosse's nebular research was attempting to resolve the nebular hypothesis, which posited that planets and stars were formed by gravity acting on gaseous nebulae. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Parsons,_3rd_Earl_of_Rosse)

Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1805 1865) was an Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician who made important contributions to mechanics, optics, and algebra. As a teenager, he mastered parts of Newton's Principia and studied Laplace's celestial mechanics treatise. When barely 22, Hamilton became a professor of astronomy at University of Dublin, however he was more interested in theoretical rather than practical astronomy. His studies of mechanical and optical systems led him to discover new mathematical concepts and techniques. His greatest contribution is perhaps the reformulation of Newtonian mechanics, now called Hamiltonian mechanics. This work has proven central to the modern study of classical field theories such as electromagnetism, and to the development of quantum mechanics. In mathematics, he is perhaps best known as the inventor of the quaternion, which is a mathematical concept that find uses in both theoretical and applied mathematics, in particular for calculations involving three-dimensional rotations such as in three-dimensional computer graphics, computer vision, and the attitude-control systems of spacecraft. Hamilton is said to have shown immense talent at a very early age. He had a remarkable aptitude for languages as a youth. As a young man, his talents turned to mathematics of astronomy and physics. Astronomer John Brinkley remarked of the 18-year-old Hamilton, "This young man, I do not say will be, but is, the first mathematician of his age."

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