Chasing Venus The Race to Measure the Heavens
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. Hardcover.
The author of the highly acclaimedFounding Gardenersnow gives us an enlightening chronicle of the first truly international scientific endeavor—the eighteenth-century quest to observe the transit of Venus and measure the solar system.
On June 6, 1761, the world paused to observe a momentous occasion: the first transit of Venus between the earth and the sun in more than a century. Through that observation, astronomers could calculate the size of the solar system—but only if they could compile data from many different points of the globe, all recorded during the short period of the transit. Overcoming incredible odds and political strife, astronomers from Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Sweden, and the American colonies set up observatories in remote corners of the world, only to have their efforts thwarted by unpredictable weather and warring armies. Fortunately, transits of Venus occur in pairs: eight years later, the scientists would have another opportunity to succeed.
Chasing Venusbrings to life the personalities of the eighteenth-century astronomers who embarked upon this complex and essential scientific venture, painting a vivid portrait of the collaborations, the rivalries, and the volatile international politics that hindered them at every turn. In the end, what they accomplished would change our conception of the universe and would forever alter the nature of scientific research.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE — SCIENCE BECOMES INTERNATIONAL—MEASURING THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
The eighteenth-century transits of Venus provided astronomers with an extraordinary opportunity: observations made simultaneously from widely separated locations could be compared to calculate the astronomical unit—the distance between Earth and the Sun—and thereby establish the dimensions of the known solar system.
THE FIRST GLOBAL RACE FOR THE HEAVENS.
The project was equally important for the way science was conducted. Astronomers from competing European powers undertook coordinated observations across the globe despite war, hazardous travel, and formidable logistical obstacles. The transit campaigns became an early demonstration of large-scale international scientific collaboration, linking astronomy with navigation, cartography, exploration, and increasingly precise measurement.
THE FIRST GLOBAL RACE FOR THE HEAVENS.
Wulf's account is particularly appealing because it restores the human dimension to the enterprise—the scientists who traveled enormous distances for an astronomical event lasting only hours, sometimes reaching their destinations only to have weather or circumstance defeat years of preparation.
SUBJECTS: Transit of Venus, Astronomy, Eighteenth-Century Science, Scientific Expeditions, Edmond Halley, Charles Mason, Jeremiah Dixon, Guillaume Le Gentil, Nevil Maskelyne, Maximilian Hell, Astronomical Unit, Geodetic Astronomy, Scientific Collaboration, Seven Years' War, History of Science, Astronomy, Exploration, Scientific Biography, Popular Science.
Item #22408
ISBN: 9780307700179
Price: $24.00
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