The Net Advance of Physics RETRO:
THE PLANETS and SOLAR SYSTEM

SOLAR SYSTEM and PLANETARY SCIENCE in the Long Nineteenth Century, excluding geology.

Most material in Net Advance Retro is very old. It may be obsolete or incorrect. For more recent technical information, please consult the Planet page at the regular Net Advance site.

• General:
  • Celestial Scenery; or, The Wonders of the Planetary System Displayed, Illustrating the Perfections of Deity and a Plurality of Worlds by Rev. Thomas Dick [New York: Harpers, 1838]
  • The Solar System; with Moral and Religious Reflections in Reference to The Wonders therein Displayed by Rev. Thomas Dick [Philadelphia: Biddles, 1854]
  • Les Mondes Imaginaires et les Mondes Réels: Voyage Astronomique Pittoresque dans le Ciel by Camille Flammarion [Paris: Didier, 1865]
  • Les Terres du Ciel: Voyage Astronomique sur les Autres Mondes by Camille Flammarion [Paris: Marpon & Flammarion, 1884]

• General: Teaching Aids:
  • Instruments for Natural Philosophy: Astronomy by Thomas B. Greenslade, Jr. [Modern photographs of antique objects; also remarkable antique colour-slides of the planets, used in lectures.]

• SOLAR-SYSTEM OBJECTS: METEORITES;

• VENUS (see also TRANSIT OF VENUS):

• EARTH (see also GEOPHYSICS below):
  • Some Remarks upon the Equation of Time, and the True Manner of Computing It by Rev. Nevil Maskelyne [Phil. Trans. R. S. L. 54, 336 (1764)]
  • Introduction to [and original comments on] Two Papers of Mr. John Smeaton, F. R. S. by Rev. Nevil Maskelyne [Phil. Trans. R. S. L. 58, 154 (1768)] concerning measurement of the Earth's orbit around the Earth-Moon system's centre of gravity.
  • Mémoire sur la précession des équinoxes by Pierre Simon Laplace [Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences de Paris, (1777)]
  • Mémoire sur la figure de la terre by Pierre Simon Laplace [Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences de Paris, (1783)]
  • Les poussières de l'air by Gaston Tissandier [Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1877] About airborne dust, including the possibility that some is of extraterrestrial origin.

• MARS:
  • The Discovery of the Satellites of Mars by Asaph Hall [M. N. R. A. S. 38, 205 (1878)]
  • La Planète Mars et ses Conditions d'Habitabilité by Camille Flammarion Volume I --- Volume II [Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1892-1909]

• URANUS:
  • Uranus and its Satellites by Roswell Willson Haskins [Knickerbocker 12, No. 1, 1 (1838 July)]

• NEPTUNE:
  • Neptune-Discovery Correspondence Archive maintained by the e-journal Dio.
  • The discovery of Neptune revisited by G. Rodríguez-Moris and J. A. Docobo [2024/05]

• COMETS:
  • Advertisement of the Expected Return of the Comet of 1532 and 1661 in the Year 1788 by Rev. Nevil Maskelyne [Phil. Trans. R. S. L. 76, 426 (1786)]
  • Observations of the Comet of 1793 by Rev. Nevil Maskelyne [Phil. Trans. R. S. L. 83, 55 (1793)]
  • Examination of the Theory of a Resisting Medium, in which it is assumed that the Planets and Comets of our System are moved by Roswell Willson Haskins [American Journal of Science 33, 1 (1838)]
  • Donati's Comet: A Poem by Angeline Stickney Hall [1858]
  • Reports on Observations of Encke's Comet During its Return in 1871 by Asaph Hall and Wm. Harkness [Washington: Government Printing Office, 1872]

• Les poussières de l'air by Gaston Tissandier [Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1877] About airborne dust, including the possibility that some is of extraterrestrial origin.