Decoding the Stars: A Biography of Angelo Secchi, Jesuit and Scientist Ileana Chinnici.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chinnici, Ileana.

Series:

Jesuit Studies 16.

Jesuit Studies ; v. 16

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Astronomers--Italy--Biography.

Astronomers.

Astronomy--History--19th century.

Astronomy.

Astrophysics--History--19th century.

Astrophysics.

Jesuits--Italy--Biography.

Jesuits.

Secchi, Angelo, 1818-1878.

Secchi, Angelo.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (387 pages)

Place of Publication:

Leiden, Boston : BRILL, 2019.

Summary:

In Decoding the Stars , Ileana Chinnici offers an account of the life of the Jesuit scientist Angelo Secchi (1818-1878). In addition to providing an invaluable account of Secchi’s life and work—something that has been sorely lacking in the English-language scholarship—this biography will be especially stimulating for those interested in the evolution of astrophysics as a discipline from the nineteenth century onward. Despite his eclecticism, reminiscent of the natural philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Secchi was in many ways a very modern scientist: open to innovation and cooperation, and a promoter of popularization and citizen science. Secchi also appears fully inserted in the cultural context of his time: he participated in philosophical and scientific debates, spread new theories and ideas, but also suffered the consequences of political events that marked those years and impacted on his life and activities.

Contents:

Front Matter

Copyright Page

Foreword

Foreword / Nichi D’Amico

Preface

Acknowledgments

Illustrations

Abbreviations

A Century in Ferment

Secchi’s Early Life and Education: From Childhood to the Priesthood

The Experience of Exile: A Tragic Opportunity

Establishing the New Collegio Romano Observatory: An Observatory for “Physical Astronomy”

Advisor to the Papal States: Science in the Service of the Public

A Rising International Career: Travels, Achievements, and Recognition

Contributions to Astrophysics and other Sciences

A Crucial Political Change: New Risks and Missed Opportunities

A Society for a New Astronomy: Building a Network for Spectroscopic Research

A Controversial Personality: Secchi and the Scientific Debates of His Time

Secchi’s Final Years: Uncertainty and Illness

Secchi’s Scientific Legacy

Back Matter

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

90-04-38733-1

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004387331 DOI