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  • Galileo's Planet: Observing Jupiter Before Photography

    Galileo's Planet by Hockey, Thomas A;

    Observing Jupiter Before Photography

      • GET 20% OFF

      • The discount is only available for 'Alert of Favourite Topics' newsletter recipients.
      • Publisher's listprice GBP 160.00
      • The price is estimated because at the time of ordering we do not know what conversion rates will apply to HUF / product currency when the book arrives. In case HUF is weaker, the price increases slightly, in case HUF is stronger, the price goes lower slightly.

        80 976 Ft (77 120 Ft + 5% VAT)
      • Discount 20% (cc. 16 195 Ft off)
      • Discounted price 64 781 Ft (61 696 Ft + 5% VAT)

    80 976 Ft

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    Availability

    Estimated delivery time: In stock at the publisher, but not at Prospero's office. Delivery time approx. 3-5 weeks.
    Not in stock at Prospero.

    Why don't you give exact delivery time?

    Delivery time is estimated on our previous experiences. We give estimations only, because we order from outside Hungary, and the delivery time mainly depends on how quickly the publisher supplies the book. Faster or slower deliveries both happen, but we do our best to supply as quickly as possible.

    Short description:

    Galileo's Planet: Observing Jupiter before Photography presents the history of humankind's quest to understand the giant planet in the era before photography, a time when the only way to observe the universe was with the human eye. The book provides a comprehensive and fascinating account of the people involved in this quest, their observations, and the results of their findings. Many of the planetary features studied in detail by today's space probes were once glimpsed by keen-eyed, amateur astronomers. The book recounts their story from the earliest times right up until the invention of the camera.

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    Long description:

    Since the earliest times one of the brightest lights in the heavens has been that of Jupiter, mythical king of the gods and the largest planet in the solar system. It was only natural that peoples from the dawn of history would be interested in such a planet and, indeed, Jupiter was one of the first objects to be observed with the telescope. Even today Jupiter captures the public interest like no other planet: a vast gaseous world, home to violent storms (larger than the Earth) that have raged for centuries.

    Galileo's Planet: Observing Jupiter before Photography presents the history of humankind's quest to understand the giant planet in the era before photography, a time when the only way to observe the universe was with the human eye. The book provides a comprehensive and fascinating account of the people involved in this quest, their observations, and the results of their findings.

    Many of the planetary features studied in detail by today's space probes were once glimpsed by keen-eyed, amateur astronomers. These Earth-bound explorers made up for their modest instruments and viewing conditions with their patience, perseverance, and passion for the night sky. Their greatest challenge was the fifth planet from the Sun and the search for its imagined surface-a revelation of the "real Jupiter." In the process, these part-time observers redefined the meaning of the word "planet." The book recounts their story from the earliest times right up until the invention of the camera.

    "Hockey, an astronomer with well-developed historical sensitivities, surveys in this volume observational investigations of Jupiter from antiquity until the time, around 1880, when photography fundamentally altered how astronomers viewed the planets. He has a story very worth telling. His account should simultaneously satisfy astronomers seeking information on telescopic reports of changes on Jupiter and also historians of science searching for an accessible narration that does justice to the broad context of such observations."
    -Journal for the History of Astronomy, Vol. 31 (2000)

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    Table of Contents:

    Introduction. The planetary observers. Instruments and observatories. Observing Jupiter before the telescope. The Seventeenth Century. The Eighteenth Century. The Nineteenth Century: prior to 1850. 1850 - 1878. The discovery of the Great Red Spot. 1882-1900. Theories of Jupiter. The satellites of Jupiter. Conclusion. Glossary. Conclusion.

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