Babylon to Voyager and Beyond
A History of Planetary Astronomy

The story of planetary research from ancient astronomers to more recent spacecraft missions.

David Leverington (Author)

9780521004619, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 26 July 2007

572 pages, 111 b/w illus. 9 tables
24.4 x 16.5 x 3 cm, 0.899 kg

'Leverington has provided us with a book containing a vast amount of detail charting the progression of humanity's gradual discovery and understanding of the planetary bodies within our solar system.' Astronomy and Space

Babylon to Voyager and Beyond covers planetary research from the time of the Babylonians and Ancient Greeks through those of Kepler, Galileo and Newton to the modern era of space exploration. It outlines the key observational discoveries and theoretical developments in their historical context, covering not only the numerous successes but also the main failures. Planetary astronomy has come a long way since the Babylonians used their extensive numerical skills to predict the positions of the moon and planets. That progress is the story of this book, ending, as it does, with the considerable discoveries of the space age, and the discoveries of planets around other stars. This account will appeal to both amateur and professional astronomers, as well as those with an interest in the history of science.

Preface
Introduction
1. The ancients
2. Copernicus and the new cosmology
3. Kepler and Galileo - the fall of epicycles and the start of telescopic astronomy
4. The mid and late seventeenth century
5. Consolidation
6. The solar system expands
7. The inner solar system in the nineteenth century
8. The outer solar system in the nineteenth century
9. Quiet interlude - the twentieth century prior to the space age
10. The space age - terrestrial planets
11. The space age - the outer planets
Glossary
Bibliography
Units
Name index
Subject index.

Subject Areas: Solar system: the Sun & planets [PGS], History of science [PDX]