Bøker i Cambridge Library Collection - Astronomy-serien

John Flamsteed (1646-1719), the first Astronomer Royal, complied a 'Catalogue of British Stars' but quarrelled with Newton and Halley over his failure to publish it. In 1835 Francis Baily (1774-1844) published Flamsteed's edited papers, with a revised version of the catalogue, rehabilitating his reputation and promoting observational astronomy.

Astronomer J. P. Nichol (1804-59), Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow, brings the discovery of Neptune, the first planet to be revealed by mathematical prediction rather than empirical observation, to a popular audience in this book, first published in 1855.

Touching on optics, gravity, trigonometry and a host of other astronomical ideas, this collection of ten lectures was originally written for the young women under the tutelage of the author. Although the practice of introducing girls to science was controversial, the work was published in 1797 to wide acclaim.

Including a biography and a wealth of previously unpublished material, this two-volume collection of papers by the astronomer William Herschel (1738-1822) first appeared in 1912. Volume 1 contains his earlier work, from the discovery of Uranus to observations relating to the likelihood of life on the Moon.

James Ferguson (1710-1776) was a Scottish self-taught astronomer, instrument-maker and artist. He was particularly famous for his clear explanation of scientific subjects. This autobiography, expanded by Ebenezer Henderson and published in 1867, contains details of many of his inventions and improvements of those of others.

Spherical astronomy is concerned with the location of objects on the celestial sphere. In this technical introduction to the subject, first published in 1908 and intended for advanced students, Sir Robert Stawell Ball (1840-1913) goes through the subject systematically, including exercises derived from contemporary Cambridge examinations.

In this entertaining and highly illustrated history of the Royal Observatory, first published in 1900, astronomer Edward Walter Maunder (1851-1928) explores the departments of the institution and the lives of its Astronomers Royal, illuminating the fabulous and often overlooked advances made there since its founding in the seventeenth century.

Irish mathematician and astronomer Sir Robert Stawell Ball (1840-1913) excelled in writing for a general readership. Including star charts, maps of the moon, and concise, non-technical explanations of basic terms, this highly illustrated introduction to astronomy was originally published in 1905.

In this 1874 monograph, James Nasmyth (1808-90) and James Carpenter (1840-99) look closely at the lunar surface, illustrating their work with photographs of accurate plaster models. Among the topics discussed are the possibility of a lunar atmosphere, life on the moon, and the probable causes of its craters.

Both an amateur astronomer and a strongly religious man, Thomas Wright (1711-86) is known for his description of the Milky Way as disc-shaped. The various claims he made, based on a combination of his observations and his religious beliefs, are given in this illustrated and influential work of 1750.

Joseph Harris (c.1704-64) was an astronomer and teacher of navigation who published a number of books on scientific subjects. Reissued in its first edition, this 1731 popular introduction to the solar system and the use of astronomical apparatus, such as globes and orreries, went through fourteen printings by 1793.

Admiral William Henry Smyth's Sidereal Chromatics (1864) represents a landmark achievement in nineteenth-century astronomy, offering the most precise observations of the colours of double stars yet recorded. An expansion upon his well-known Bedford Cycle of Celestial Objects, which garnered a gold medal from the Royal Astronomical Society, Sidereal Chromatics provides both a theory concerning the source of double-star colours and a method for determining their most exact description. Detailed charts compare Smyth's measurements of more than one hundred double stars with his own previously published observations and those of his fellow astronomer, Father Benedetto Sestini. This edition also includes Smyth's famous colour chart, an attempt to standardise the process of identifying double-star colours. Sidereal Chromatics ends with Smyth's plea to amateur astronomers to continue the effort of charting the heavens, aided by improved telescopes and works such as his, 'trustworthy treatises available to all men'.

Memoir and Correspondence of Caroline Herschel (1876) contains the letters and diaries of the celebrated astronomer Caroline Herschel (1750-1848), edited by her niece, Mary Herschel. Caroline was born in Hanover to a musician father and an illiterate mother who did not want her daughter to be educated. However Caroline's brother William, an organist employed in Bath, persuaded their mother to allow Caroline to join him there. She left for England in 1772 to live with William, to whom she remained devoted all of her life. In Bath, William turned towards telescope-making and astronomy, to such effect that in 1781 he discovered the planet Uranus. He was appointed 'the King's astronomer' in 1782, and Caroline, trained by William, continued to work at his side as a scientist in her own right. Between them, they discovered eight comets and raised the number of recorded nebulae from a hundred to 2500.

Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1792-1871) - astronomer, mathematician, chemist - was one of the most important English scientists of the nineteenth century. Son of the famous astronomer William Herschel and nephew of Caroline, he was persuaded by his father to pursue the astronomical investigations William could no longer undertake; John's subsequent career resulted in a knighthood and a lifetime of accolades. Outlines of Astronomy (1849), an updated and expanded version of his 1833 Treatise on Astronomy, went through eleven editions in two decades and was translated into several languages. Outlines examines terrestrial and celestial phenomena, providing the reader with a wide range of knowledge about the physical world as a whole. The work is an important textbook, the object of which 'is not to convince or refute opponents, nor to inquire ... for principles of which we are all the time in full possession - but simply to teach what is known'.

Jeremiah Horrox (1618-1641) was one of the most interesting astronomers Britain has ever produced, and his tragically early death deprived the field of one of its most brilliant talents. In his short life he achieved much, having mastered the current state of astronomy at Cambridge University and going on to make important new calculations about the diameter and position of known planets, moons and stars. In the 1660s and 70s several prominent scientists, including Huygens, Newton and Flamsteed, took an interest in Horrox's discoveries and published his surviving treatises. This memoir of 1859 was part of a Victorian revival of interest in Horrox. It includes translation of his major work, Venus in Sole Visa, a draft of a treatise on the transit of Venus, in which he describes the conjunction of Venus with the sun, which he correctly calculated and observed in 1639.