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Sir Robert Stawell Ball was an Irish astronomer. He worked for Lord Rosse from 1865 to 1867. In 1867 he became Professor of Applied Mathematics at the Royal College of Science in Dublin. In 1874 Ball was appointed Royal Astronomer of Ireland and Andrews Professor of Astronomy in the University of Dublin at Dunsink Observatory.[1] In 1892 he was appointed Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry at Cambridge University. His lectures, articles and books (eg. Starland and The Story of the Heavens) were mostly popular and simple in style. However, he also published books on mathematical astronomy such as A Treatise on Spherical Astronomy. His main interest was mathematics and he devoted much of his spare time to his "Screw theory". He served for a time as President of the Quaternion Society. His work The Story of the Heavens is mentioned in the "Ithaca" chapter of James Joyce's Ulysses.
This book is recommended for those who are interested in space and astronomy .
great astronomers by Robert s.ball consists of 19 chapters one of them the introduction and then 18 chapters which each of them talks about a well known great astronomer , his life , discoveries & achievements
-ptloemy -copernicus -taycho brahe -Galilieo -kepler -Newton -flamsteed -Halley -bardley - william Herschel -laplace -Brinkley -john herschel -The earl of rosse -airy -Hamilton -Le verrier -Adams
Confieso que a ratos me aburrí con ciertos capítulos, pero el audiolibro que escuché se puede conseguir gratuitamente porque es de dominio público y gracias a eso pude conocer el trabajo de muchos astrónomos que no fueron las súper estrellas del equipo, pero sus contribuciones llevaron un paso adelante a la disciplina y permitieron que otras estrellas brillaran.
The work is intensely centered on European astronomers, particularly British Astronomers. I particularly would have liked more detailed bios on the earlier astronomers. Nonetheless, it is a good start for those who know little, and a good jumping off point for those who seek to do more detailed research.
"Great Astronomers" written by an astronomer is a homage to the great men in the past. It takes you right to the start from the skies of Ptolemy to Adams. Some known astronomers like Copernicus, Galileo to some unknowns like the sir of The Earl of Rosse. It was delight to read about their lives and makes you wonder really - how did they know what they know! I definitely recommend it !
Really good information on historical astronomers. The information here helped me when reading “A Brief History of Time” and other books on astronomy and even longitude.
Written 125 years ago, I cannot recommend it. The style of the writing vacillates between tendentious, flowery, pompous and gushing over the author's subjects. I did finish the book, however, so my rule is to give it 2 stars.
I will mention how I came to obtain the book by chance for those who use, or plan to use e-books. I happened upon a site called the Gutenberg Project which offers over 50,000 books, all free and with no expiration date. Worth investigating for good books in the public domain.