The Royal Observatory, Greenwich: A Glance at Its History and Work

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Maunder, E. Walter (Edward Walter), 1851-1928.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"The Royal Observatory, Greenwich: A Glance at Its History and Work" by E. Walter Maunder is a historical account written in the late 19th century. The work delves into the significance of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, focusing on its contributions to astronomy and navigation. The author traces the establishment of the Observatory, the pivotal figures who led it, and its lasting impacts on maritime navigation and scientific advances. The opening of the text introduces the history of the Royal Observatory, explaining its original purpose as a pivotal institution for practical navigation rather than a mere spectacle of celestial observation. Maunder discusses the general public's misconceptions about astronomers, illustrating how the work at the Observatory is often overshadowed by romanticized notions of astronomy. By emphasizing the Observatory's foundation and the historical need for accurate navigation, the text sets the stage for exploring the lives of key figures like John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer Royal, and his successors, contextualizing their contributions to the fields of astronomy and navigation. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Contents:

Introduction

Flamsteed

Halley and his successors

Airy

The observatory buildings

The time department

The transit and circle departments

The altazimuth department

The magnetic and meteorological departments

The heliographic department

The spectroscopic department

The astrographic department

The double-star department

Index.

Credits:

E-text prepared by sp1nd, Julia Neufeld, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org)

Notes:

Reading ease score: 51.3 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read.

Release date is 2013-11-12