scholarly journals The Universe in Images: an Art-Historical Approach to the Plurality of Worlds

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (1 and 2) ◽  
pp. 283-303
Author(s):  
Lucia Ayala
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Extrasolar Planets ◽  
History Of Astronomy ◽  
Modern Cosmology ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
William Herschel ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Special Relevance

The idea of a plurality of worlds, consolidated in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, is one of the most inspiring and exciting chapters in the history of astronomy. Nevertheless, one crucial aspect has yet to be written. In this paper I propose to recompose the fascinating visual mosaic around the subject, in order to establish the basis for a largely forgotten iconography. It represents a key period in the evolution of the notions around the large-scale structure of the universe, one of the milestones in Early Modern cosmology. This tradition continued until the nineteenth century, when astronomers such as William Herschel still considered the existence of multiple similar inhabited systems. Today, when extrasolar planets and the cosmic web are in the forefront of the astrophysical vocabulary and its images are so popular, reflecting on the visual genealogy of this field acquires special relevance. This paper invites the reader to look at the sky through a telescope provided with art historical lenses.

From Dust to Life

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Chambers ◽  
Jacqueline Mitton
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Extrasolar Planets ◽  
Planetary Systems ◽  
History Of Astronomy ◽  
Human Origins ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Emergence Of Life

The birth and evolution of our solar system is a tantalizing mystery that may one day provide answers to the question of human origins. This book tells the remarkable story of how the celestial objects that make up the solar system arose from common beginnings billions of years ago, and how scientists and philosophers have sought to unravel this mystery down through the centuries, piecing together the clues that enabled them to deduce the solar system's layout, its age, and the most likely way it formed. Drawing on the history of astronomy and the latest findings in astrophysics and the planetary sciences, the book offers the most up-to-date and authoritative treatment of the subject available. It examines how the evolving universe set the stage for the appearance of our Sun, and how the nebulous cloud of gas and dust that accompanied the young Sun eventually became the planets, comets, moons, and asteroids that exist today. It explores how each of the planets acquired its unique characteristics, why some are rocky and others gaseous, and why one planet in particular—our Earth—provided an almost perfect haven for the emergence of life. The book takes readers to the very frontiers of modern research, engaging with the latest controversies and debates. It reveals how ongoing discoveries of far-distant extrasolar planets and planetary systems are transforming our understanding of our own solar system's astonishing history and its possible fate.

General Relativity and Cosmology

2020 ◽  
pp. 227-360
Author(s):  
P. J. E. Peebles
Keyword(s):  
Constant Velocity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
Physical Sciences ◽  
Inertial Frames ◽  
Moving Body ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Freely Moving ◽  
The Universe

This chapter discusses the development of physical sciences in seemingly chaotic ways, by paths that are at best dimly seen at the time. It refers to the history of ideas as an important part of any science, and particularly worth examining in cosmology, where the subject has evolved over several generations. It also examines the puzzle of inertia, which traces the connection to Albert Einstein's bold idea that the universe is homogeneous in the large-scale average called “cosmological principle.” The chapter cites Newtonian mechanics that defines a set of preferred motions in space, the inertial reference frames, by the condition that a freely moving body has a constant velocity. It talks about Ernst Mach, who argued that inertial frames are determined relative to the motion of the rest of the matter in the universe.

The Large-Scale Structure of the Universe

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. E. Peebles
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Large Scale Structure ◽  
Expanding Universe ◽  
Statistical Measures ◽  
Cosmic Evolution ◽  
Modern Cosmology ◽  
The Subject ◽  
New Generation ◽  
The Universe

An instant landmark on its publication, this book remains the essential introduction to this vital area of research. Written by one of the world's most esteemed theoretical cosmologists, it provides an invaluable historical introduction to the subject, and an enduring overview of key methods, statistical measures, and techniques for dealing with cosmic evolution. With characteristic clarity and insight, the author focuses on the largest known structures — galaxy clusters — weighing the empirical evidence of the nature of clustering and the theories of how it evolves in an expanding universe. A must-have reference for students and researchers alike, this edition introduces a new generation of readers to a classic text in modern cosmology.

Discovery of the Universe: An Outline of the History of Astronomy from the Origins to 1956

Physics Today ◽  
1957 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 38-40
Author(s):  
Gérard de Vaucouleurs ◽  
C. C. Kiess
Keyword(s):  
History Of Astronomy ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Universe

Glorious Apollo: Poetic and Political Themes in the First Opera

1979 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Russano Hanning
Keyword(s):  
Art Form ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Early Opera

Historians of early opera have occasionally noted the appropriateness of Orpheus’ appearance as artistic spokesman for the new art form. Poet-singer par excellence of antiquity, whose music shook the very depths of the universe as he retrieved Eurydice from the Underworld, Orpheus surely appealed to the early opera composers and their humanist program—to recreate the moving power of an entirely sung drama by forging a new union of poetry, music, and gesture.In the history of opera, however, primacy of place must be given to the god Apollo, for the legend of Apollo and Daphne was the subject of the first favola per musica, La Dafne, written by Ottavio Rinuccini, with music composed by Jacopo Corsi and Jacopo Peri, and first performed in 1598 at Corsi's home in Florence.

My small Newtonian sweeper—where is it now ?

1988 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-148 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
History Of Astronomy ◽  
Fanny Burney ◽  
History Of ◽  
William Herschel ◽  
New Discovery

Caroline Lucretia Herschel, apart from being the amanuensis of her brother, Sir William Herschel, F.R.S., was herself a remarkable observer. In contrast to her brother, who was never the first to see a comet, she was not only the first woman to discover a comet, but found eight. Her success was due to an amazing familiarity with the sky. As can be read in a manuscript recently discovered in Hanover, she expected even an amateur to be able to recognize any star up to the 4th magnitude of brightness on sight, and to find any nebula in the ‘ Connaissance des Temps’ within a minute. What did the instruments that she used look like? This new discovery in Hanover makes it clear that Michael Hoskin and Brian Warner, in their article in the Journal for the Journal for the History of Astronomy (12 (1981), no. 1) did not identify correctly the instruments of which they published sketches (figures 1—3). In brief, Hoskin and Warner argued that figure 1 was a sketch of Caroline’s small comet sweeper, that figure 2 showed Caroline’s 5 ft sweeper, and that W. H. Smyth’s captions were simply wrong. The evidence from Hanover shows that figures 2 and 3 are Caroline’s ‘small Newtonian Sweeper’, which she was using in 1785 as Smyth says, and with which Caroline Herschel must have found what Fanny Burney called ‘the first lady’s comet’ on 2 August 1786(1).*

scholarly journals Chaos and Order: Contemporary Cosmology and Myth

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Milan Tomašević
Keyword(s):  
Modern Science ◽  
Cultural Dimension ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Stephen Hawking ◽  
Modern Cosmology ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Concise Definition

The paper offers a definition of cosmology and its connections with mythology, and presents contemporary theories as a secular mythical narrative suitable for anthropological analysis. The paper is dedicated to emphasizing the folklore characteristics of modern cosmology and points to the importance of popular cosmological narratives as reading that contains culturally, philosophically and even religiously relevant elements. Special attention is paid to cosmogonic myths that describe the state of the universe before the creation of space and time. A parallel has been drawn between modern cosmology and conventional cosmogonic myths. In the end, the paper offers a concise definition of popular cosmology and recalls the most important authors and popularizers of modern theories. The main task of the paper is to present the basic concepts that can contribute to a complete understanding of the anthropological character of the presentation of contemporary cosmology that we encounter in popular narratives. The aim of such an analysis is to observe the depth of the significance of modern science for creating a philosophical picture of the world that inherits secular worldviews. By treating popular cosmology as a modern myth, the paper presents a new dimension of the significance of scientific theories for today's civilization. Such an approach unravels the strictly positivist halo of cosmology and points to its anthropological character. The concepts highlighted in the paper serve as an illustration of the significance that the image of the universe and the position of the Earth has for the history of civilization. By presenting the cultural dimension of cosmology, it opens a space for dialogue between different branches of scientific research, i.e. it contributes to the communication of philosophy and science. Equally important, by illuminating the folklore character of the narrative of the origin and history of the universe, a training ground is created for philosophers and theologians who, in their own ways, interpret the creation of everything around us. By drawing attention to authors such as Neil deGrasse Tyson, Lawrence Kraus, Stephen Hawking, Michio Kaku and others, as contemporary bards and narrators, the paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of popular cosmology as an expression of modern man's need for great stories, for narratives that transcend the spatial and temporal frames of one generation, and that is exactly what myths do.

scholarly journals Large Scale Structure of the Universe: Theoretical Problems

1990 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 159
Author(s):  
E Saar
Keyword(s):  
Early Universe ◽  
Present Status ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Large Scale Structure ◽  
Short Review ◽  
Fractal Model ◽  
Scale Structure ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Universe

Implications of the observed large scale structure on the physics of the early universe are described. A short review of Soviet work on the subject is given, and the present status of the fractal model of the large scale structure is discussed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document