Observing by Hand : Sketching the Nebulae in the Nineteenth Century / Omar W. Nasim.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nasim, Omar W., Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nebulae--Observations--History--19th century.

Nebulae.

Astronomers--History--19th century.

Astronomers.

Astronomy--History--19th century.

Astronomy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (313 p.)

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, [2014]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Today we are all familiar with the iconic pictures of the nebulae produced by the Hubble Space Telescope's digital cameras. But there was a time, before the successful application of photography to the heavens, in which scientists had to rely on handmade drawings of these mysterious phenomena. Observing by Hand sheds entirely new light on the ways in which the production and reception of handdrawn images of the nebulae in the nineteenth century contributed to astronomical observation. Omar W. Nasim investigates hundreds of unpublished observing books and paper records from six nineteenth-century observers of the nebulae: Sir John Herschel; William Parsons, the third Earl of Rosse; William Lassell; Ebenezer Porter Mason; Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel; and George Phillips Bond. Nasim focuses on the ways in which these observers created and employed their drawings in data-driven procedures, from their choices of artistic materials and techniques to their practices and scientific observation. He examines the ways in which the act of drawing complemented the acts of seeing and knowing, as well as the ways that making pictures was connected to the production of scientific knowledge. An impeccably researched, carefully crafted, and beautifully illustrated piece of historical work, Observing by Hand will delight historians of science, art, and the book, as well as astronomers and philosophers.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction

Prologue

1. Consolidation and Coordination: Lord Rosse and His Assistants

2. Use and Reception: Biography of Two Images

3. Conception and Perception: E. P. Mason and Sir John F. W. Herschel

4. Skill and Instrumentation: William Lassell and Wilhelm Tempel

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780226084404

022608440X

OCLC:

967264105