Description
Book SynopsisThe volume forms a part of the celebrations marking the anniversary of the invention of the telescope. From its Renaissance beginnings to yesterday’s Cold War, the essays contributed here throw a spotlight on a number of significant episodes in the continuing adventures of this well-loved instrument, which has played a crucial role in Man’s thinking about his position – literally and philosophically – in the universe. Drawn from various conferences held by the Scientific Instrument Commission of the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science between 2007 and 2009, these papers make a substantial contribution to our current knowledge about this fascinating optical instrument.
Trade Review"From Earth-Bound to Satellite is a superb and richly illustrated collection of essays on the history of the telescope [...] Perhaps the greatest strength of the book lies in its fifteen authors and editors eing such well-known scholars of the history of scientific instruments." – Alexi Baker, University of Cambridge, in: The British Journal for the History of Science 47, pp 181-182 "The many subjects in this volume and their span over space and time will attract a broad and appreciative audience of historians." – Patrick J. Boner, Johns Hopkins University, in: Renaissance Quarterly 65/4 (Winter 2012), pp. 1232-1233
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Notes on Contributors Foreword, Alison D. Morrison-Low Introduction: Writing the History of the Telescope: Makers, Markets and Mapping, Sven Dupré Galileo’s Shopping List: An Overlooked Document about Early Telescope Making, Giorgio Strano Johann Wiesel’s Telescopes and his Clientele, Inge Keil The ‘Invisible Technician’ Made Visible: Telescope Making in the Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth-century Dutch Republic, Huib J. Zuidervaart The Art of Polishing: Practice and Prose in Eighteenth-century Telescope Making, Jim A. Bennett Networks of Telescope Makers and the Evolution of Skill: Evidence from Observatory and Museum Collections, Gloria C. Clifton Scoping Longitude: Optical Designs for Navigation at Sea, Richard Dunn Following the Stars: Clockwork for Telescopes in the Nineteenth Century, James Caplan Telescopes Made in Berlin: From Carl Bamberg to Askania, Gudrun Wolfschmidt Wide-Field Photographic Telescopes: The Yale, Harvard and Harvard/Smithsonian Meteor and Satellite Camera Networks, Teasel Muir-Harmony, David H. DeVorkin, Peter Abrahams The Making of Space Astronomy: A Gift of the Cold War, Robert W. Smith Index
