The Transit of Venus by Peter Aughton
There is a missing chapter in the history of astronomy, between the work of Galileo and Newton, and it is a chapter that belongs to England. Most people would name Newton and Edmund Halley as the greatest British astronomers, but both men drew heavily on the works of Jeremiah Horrocks. Like John Harrison, the clockmaker who solved the problem of Longitude, Horrocks was a man ahead of his time. In 1639 he was the first person to see the image of Venus on the face of the Sun. He appreciated the true scale of the solar system, charted the positions of the planets more accurately than ever before, and formulated a valid theory for the wanderings of the moon. In the period before the English Civil War, he was considered the greatest astronomer in the kingdom. He died at a tragically early age but his legacy to science is remarkable.
Peter Aughton lives in Bristol. He lectures at the University of the West of England. He is the author of the highly praised ENDEAVOUR: THE STORY OF CAPTAIN COOK'S FIRST GREAT EPIC VOYAGE and NEWTON'S APPLE: ENGLAND'S SCIENTIFIC RENAISSANCE.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780753818756 |
| ISBN 10 | 0753818752 |
| Title | The Transit of Venus |
| Author | Peter Aughton |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Orion Publishing Co |
| Year published | 2005-05-12 |
| Number of pages | 224 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |