The Net Advance of Physics RETRO:
ASTRONOMY

ASTRONOMY in the Long Nineteenth Century.

Most material in Net Advance Retro is very old. It may be obsolete or incorrect. For more recent technical information, please consult the Astronomy page at the regular Net Advance site. For information about the history of astronomy in general or after 1920, please see the page History of Astronomy.

• General:
  • Exposition du système du monde (1796) by Pierre Simon Laplace [Brussels: De Vroom, 1827]
    • English translation: The System of the World: Volume I --- Volume II [Dublin: Longman, Rees, Orme, Browne, and Green, 1830]
  • Notes to Assist the Memory in Various Sciences by W. Hamilton [London: John Murray, 1827]
  • The Geography of the Heavens, and Class Book of Astronomy; Accompanied by a Celestial Atlas by Elijah H. Burritt [New York: F. J. Huntington, 1838]
  • Letters on Astronomy, Addressed to a Lady: in which the Elements of the Science are Familiarly Explained in Connection with its Literary History by Denison Olmsted [Boston: Marsh, Capen, Lyon, and Webb, 1841]
  • A Compendium of Astronomy; containing the Elements of the Science, Familiarly Explained and Illustrated, Adapted to the Use of High Schools and Academies, and of the General Reader by Denison Olmsted [New York: Collins, 1844]
  • The Sidereal Heaven and Other Subjects Connected with Astronomy, as Illustrative of the Character of the Deity, and of an Infinity of Worlds by Rev. Thomas Dick [New York: Harpers, 1844]
  • An Introduction to Astronomy; designed as a Text Book for the Students of Yale College by Denison Olmsted [New York: Collins, 1854]
  • Études et Lectures sur l'Astronomie by Camille Flammarion: Volume I: Astronomy in 1863 and '64, including a lecture about the Sun --- Volume II: Various topics --- Volume III: Latest Advances --- Volume V: Astronomy in 1871 and '72, including Meteorites, an Eclipse, and a Solar Explosion --- Volume VI: Stellar Astronomy --- Volume IX: Sun; Terrestrial Magnetism; Aurora --- [Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1867-75]
  • Lectures on Practical Astronomy and Astronomical Instruments by Rev. James Challis [Cambridge: Deighton and Bell, 1879]
  • Histoire du Ciel by Camille Flammarion [Paris: Hetzel, 1872]
  • Les Merveilles Célestes by Camille Flammarion [Paris: Hachette, 1881] English translation of an earlier edition: The Wonders of the Heavens [New York: Scribner and Armstrong, 1874]
  • Les Étoiles et les Curiosités du Ciel: Description Compléte du Visible à l'Oeil Nu et de tous les Objets Célestes Faciles à Observer by Camille Flammarion [Paris: Marpon & Flammarion, 1882]
  • Dans le Ciel et sur la Terre: Tableaux et Harmonies by Camille Flammarion [Paris: Marpon & Flammarion, 1886]
  • Popular Astronomy by Joel Dorman Steele, revised by Mabel Loomis Todd [New York: American Book Co., 1899]
  • Pleasures of the Telescope by Garrett P. Serviss [New York: Appleton, 1901]
  • Stars and Telescopes by David P. Todd [Boston: Little, Brown, 1901]
  • The Recent Development of Physical Science by W. C. D. Whetham [Philadelphia: Blakiston, 1904]
  • Popular Astronomy by Camille Flammarion [London: Chatto and Windus, 1907]
  • Astronomie des Dames: Précis d'Astronomie Descriptive by Camille Flammarion [Paris: Flammarion, n.d.] English translation (note the changed title): Astronomy for Amateurs [New York: Appleton, 1915]
  • Astronomy: The Science of the Heavenly Bodies by David P. Todd [New York: Harpers, 1922]

• General: Celestial Globes, Charts, Planetaria, planispheres, &c.:
  • Instruments for Natural Philosophy: Astronomy by Thomas B. Greenslade, Jr. [Modern photographs of antique objects.]
  • An Explanation of the Gnomonic Projection of the Sphere; and of Such Points of Astronomy as are Most Necessary in the Use of Astronomical Maps by Augustus De Morgan [London: Baldwin & Craddock, 1836]
  • The Geography of the Heavens, and Class Book of Astronomy; Accompanied by a Celestial Atlas by Elijah H. Burritt [New York: F. J. Huntington, 1838]
  • The Globes, Celestial and Terrestrial by Augustus De Morgan [London: Malby, 1845] "This work ... describes only the appearances of the heavens, without any reference to their producing causes: it is therefore independent of all systems , and might even be approved by believers in the stability of the earth, if there be any left."

• General: Constellations, &c.:
  • Star-Names and Their Meanings by Richard Hinckley Allen [New York: Stechert, 1899] Better known by the title of the 1963 Dover reprint Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning. The edition linked here is Bill Thayer's beautiful hypertext version.
  • Pleasures of the Telescope by Garrett P. Serviss [New York: Appleton, 1901]

• General: History:
  • Précis de l'histoire de l'astronomie by Pierre Simon Laplace [Paris: Courcier, 1821]

• General: Observational:
  • Concise Rules for Computing the Effects of Refraction and Parallax in Varying the Apparent Distance of the Moon from the Sun or a Star; Also an Easy Rule of Approximation for Computing the Distance of the Moon from a Star, the Longitudes and Latitudes of Both Being Given, with Demonstrations of the Same by Rev. Nevil Maskelyne [Phil. Trans. R. S. L. 54, 263 (1764)]
  • Astronomical Observations Made at the Island of St. Helena by Rev. Nevil Maskelyne [Phil. Trans. R. S. L. 54, 348 (1764)]
  • Astronomical Observations Made at the Island of Barbados; At Willoughby Fort; And at the Observatory on Constitution Hill, Both Adjoining to Bridge Town by Rev. Nevil Maskelyne [Phil. Trans. R. S. L. 54, 389 (1764)]

• General: Observational Apparatus:
  • Instruments for Natural Philosophy: Astronomy by Thomas B. Greenslade, Jr. [Modern photographs of antique instruments.]
  • Description of a Method of Measuring Differences of Right Ascension and Declination, with Dollond's Micrometer, together with Other New Applications of the Same by Rev. Nevil Maskelyne [Phil. Trans. R. S. L. 61, 536 (1771)]
  • Remarks on the Hadley's Quadrant, Tending Principally to Remove the Difficulties Which Have Hitherto Attended the Use of the Back-Observation, and to Obviate the Errors That Might Arise from a Want of Parallelism in the Two Surfaces of the Index-Glass by Rev. Nevil Maskelyne [Phil. Trans. R. S. L. 62, 99 (1772)]
  • Account of a New Instrument for Measuring Small Angles, Called the Prismatic Micrometer by Rev. Nevil Maskelyne [Phil. Trans. R. S. L. 67, 799 (1777)]
  • The Practical Astronomer by Rev. Thomas Dick [London: Seeley, Burnside, and Seeley, 1845]
  • The Telescope and Microscope by Rev. Thomas Dick [New York: Lane & Scott, 1852]
  • Lectures on Practical Astronomy and Astronomical Instruments by Rev. James Challis [Cambridge: Deighton and Bell, 1879]
  • Stars and Telescopes by David P. Todd [Boston: Little, Brown, 1901]

• General: Observatories:
  • L'Astronomie Pratique et les Observatoires en Europe et en Amérique, Depuis le Milieu du XVIIe Siècle Jusqu'a Nos Jours by C. André and G. Rayet Parts I & II: British Empire --- Parts III & IV: the Americas --- Part V: Italy [Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1874-78] Descriptions of observatories around the world and their discoveries.
  • Report to the Trustees of the James Lick Trust of Observations Made on Mt. Hamilton with Reference to the Location of Lick Observatory by Sherburne Wesley Burnham [Chicago: Knight & Leonard, 1880] With a romantic illustration of the mountain.
  • Stars and Telescopes by David P. Todd [Boston: Little, Brown, 1901]

• General: Teaching Aids:
  • Instruments for Natural Philosophy: Astronomy by Thomas B. Greenslade, Jr. [Modern photographs of antique objects.]

• Aspects: BIOASTRONOMY; CELESTIAL MECHANICS; LONGITUDE PROBLEM; MOON; PLANETS; STARS; SUN;

• Aspects: GALAXY:
  • The Milky Way and the Theory of Gases by Henri Poincaré [Popular Astronomy 14, 475 (1906)]