The Universe Unveiled: Instruments and Images Through History
Published on 13. November 2000
Book
Hardback
152 pages
978-0-521-79143-4 (ISBN)
Description
The Universe Unveiled documents the human desire through history to explore and understand our world. Taking a unique approach, it focuses on the instruments, books, and maps people have created to decipher the Universe from the late fifteenth through to the nineteenth century. Throughout, the book is richly illustrated with over 270 full-color images, including those of rare and unusual artifacts from all over the world kept in the world-renowned collection at the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago. With clear and informative text, it covers our discovery of Space and Time, and our ever-expanding understanding of Earth and the Heavens, describing in particular the shift from an Earth-centered to a Sun-centered view of the Universe, and the mapping of the stars using telescopes. It also examines the technologies of navigation and of measuring and mapping the Earth, as well as the discovery of ways to keep time.
Reviews / Votes
'... a superb collection of astronomical instruments is celebrated in this lavishly illustrated book.' A. A. Mills, Bulletin of the Science Instrument Society 'The pictures are beautiful, the colour is stunning, the production quality is impressive, and each page of this delightful book reveals yet another group of historical astronomical instruments, book plates, and sky maps that I would love to have adorning my home and office. I enjoyed the book greatly and recommend it strongly.' David W. Hughes, The Observatory 'This is a fascinating, well-written and visually splendid book. ... its glossary, appendix and full descriptions of all of the artefacts, make it a useful work of reference as well as a pleasure to read.' Allan Chapman, Astronomy Now 'The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago has one of the world's largest collections of astronomy-related maps and instruments. This richly illustrated book describes many of the more beautiful and unusual examples, as well as how they were used to explore the Earth and sky. Readers are presented with details views of the exquisite craftsmanship of centuries ago.' Sky & Telescope 'This is an excellent, small coffee-table book for anyone even slightly interested in astronomy and the universe. It contains drawings, paintings, images, photographs, and even a few horoscopes, all from the historical collection of the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum in Chicago, excellently reproduced in colour on fine glossy paper ... The book is very well written, at the level of a layperson interested in (but not necessarily familiar with) the cosmos, and in the stars, planets, comets, satellites, nebulae and galaxies in it, as well as the instruments used to observe and understand them.' Astronomy & Geophysics '... gives a more unusual insight into the progress of astronomy and is all the more illuminating for this reason. Highly recommended.' Richard Taylor, Spaceflight 'Every amateur and professional astronomer interested in history of astronomy and geodesy will read and enjoy this recommendable book.' Orion 'Covering the period between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries, this book deals with attempts to codify and understand the cosmos, particularly as exemplified by instruments, maps and charts, and images from printed sources. The illustrations are well chosen and beautifully reproduced from the collections of the Alder Planetarium and Astronomy Museum. As a formula for dealing with instruments in the dual contexts of a history and a museum collection, it works very well.' Jim Bennett, The British Society for The History of ScienceMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Illustrations
270 Plates, color
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 238 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
889 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-79143-4 (9780521791434)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Bruce Stephenson is Curator and Director of the History of Astronomy Department at Chicago's Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum. He received his Ph.D. in History from the University of Chicago, where he holds a position of visiting scholar in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. He is the author of Kepler's Physical Astronomy and of The Music of the Heavens: Kepler's Harmonic Astronomy, both published by Princeton University Press. He belongs to numerous professional organizations relating to the history of science, astronomy and scientific instrumentation. He is currently studying the metallurgical characteristics of astrolabes in a high-energy X-ray beam at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. Marvin Bolt is Associate Curator of the History of Astronomy Department at Chicago's Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum. He has a Ph.D. in Intellectual History and History & Philosophy of Science from the University of Notre Dame, where he concurrently holds the position of visiting scholar. In addition to working on the Adler's catalogue of optical instruments and publishing his dissertation on Sir John Herschel, he continues to research the social context of 19th century astronomy. He is a member of the History of Science Society and the William Herschel Society. Anna Friedman is Assistant Curator of the History of Astronomy Department at Chicago's Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum. She has an M.A. in Art History, Theory, and Criticism, and a B.F.A. in Painting, from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has written Awestruck by the Majesty of the Heavens (Chicago: Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, 1997) and is currently writing the Adler's catalogue of star charts.
Content
1. Introduction; 2. Discovering space; 3. Discovering time; 4. Understanding the Earth; 5. Understanding the heavens; Conclusion; Glossary; List of images; Index.