Sky and Ocean Joined
The US Naval Observatory 1830–2000

A colourful history of 170 years of scientific discovery at the United States Naval Observatory.

Steven J. Dick (Author)

9780521037501, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 July 2007

624 pages, 223 b/w illus. 31 tables
24.3 x 16.9 x 3 cm, 0.986 kg

'Dick has produced a text which is also extremely readable, with many relevant and interesting illustrations and a very thorough index. The entire production is of the highest standard, and both author and publisher are to be congratulated on the care which has gone into the design and content of the book. In the opinion of the reviewer this book is an outstanding example of the genre, quite the most important contribution to the literature of the history of astronomy to appear for many years.' The Antiquarian Astronomer

As one of the oldest scientific institutions in the United States, the US Naval Observatory has a rich and colourful history. This volume is, first and foremost, a story of the relations between space, time and navigation, from the rise of the chronometer in the United States to the Global Positioning System of satellites, for which the Naval Observatory provides the time to a billionth of a second per day. It is a story of the history of technology, in the form of telescopes, lenses, detectors, calculators, clocks and computers over 170 years. It describes how one scientific institution under government and military patronage has contributed, through all the vagaries of history, to almost two centuries of unparalleled progress in astronomy. Sky and Ocean Joined will appeal to historians of science, technology, scientific institutions and American science, as well as astronomers, meteorologists and physicists.

Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
Prelude: perspectives and problems: the nation, the navy, the stars
Part I. The Founding Era, 1830–65: 1. From depot to national observatory, 1830–46
2. A choice of roles: the Maury years, 1844–61
3. Foundations of the American Nautical Almanac Office, 1849–65
4. Gilliss and the Civil War years
Part II. The Golden Era, 1866–93: 5. Scientific life and work
6. Asaph Hall, the great refractor and the moons of Mars
7. William Harkness and the transits of Venus of 1874 and 1882
8. Simon Newcomb and his work
Part III. The Twentieth Century: 9. Observatory circle: a new site and administrative challenges for the twentieth century
10. Space: the astronomy of position and its uses
11. Time: a service for the world
12. Navigation: from stars to satellites
Summary
Select bibliographical essay
Appendices
Index.

Subject Areas: Astronomical observation: observatories, equipment & methods [PGG], History of science [PDX]