A compact account of how ideas about the heavens changed, organised into four periods: the geometrical astronomy of the ancients, the dynamical age of Kepler and Newton, the great observers and their instruments, and the physical astronomy of spectroscopy and photography. Forbes, a Scottish astronomer and engineer, is generous to the Greeks and attentive to the practical side, such as Tycho Brahe’s metal instruments.
A short, clear introduction to the progress of astronomical thought, ideal for readers who want the big story without equations. Download the free EPUB.