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The Great Astronomers

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Sir Robert Stawell Ball, Fellow of The Royal Society, (1 July 1840, Dublin - 25 November 1913, Cambridge) was an Irish astronomer. And was appointed Royal Astronomer of Ireland and Andrews Professor of Astronomy in the University of Dublin at Dunsink Observatory. In 1892 he was appointed Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry at Cambridge University at the same time becoming director of the Cambridge Observatory. Great Astronomers, is a serie of short biographies of the greatest Astronomers of all time, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, Pierre-Simon Laplace, Edmond Halley, Tycho Brahe, William Herschel, William Rowan Hamilton, James Bradley, William Parsons

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1895

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About the author

Robert Stawell Ball

164 books7 followers
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.

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5 stars
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4 stars
42 (32%)
3 stars
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2 stars
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
Profile Image for Nada Mohamed.
67 reviews22 followers
December 25, 2014
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
Profile Image for Denise Nader.
133 reviews37 followers
July 5, 2019
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.
356 reviews2 followers
February 26, 2018
It's a good beginning.

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.
Profile Image for Dilek.
742 reviews
May 5, 2022
•Hiperkos, "Trigonometrinin, ekinoksun keşfi"
•Batlamyus, "Geometrik zekası ve dünyanın dönüşü üzerine düşünmesi",
•Kopernik, "Dünya'nın Güneşin ve kendi ekseninin etrafında dönmesi"
•Tycho, "Yıldızların arasındaki açısal uzaklıkların tespiti"
•Galileo, "Termometre icadı, teleskop icadı"
•Kepler, " Gezegenler ve onların Güneş etrafındaki dönüşlerini tamamlayabilme süreleriyle ilişkisi"
•Newton, "Renklerle ışığın yapısını ortaya çıkarması"
•Flamsteed, "Güneş tutulmasının keşfi"
•Halley, "Yıldızların konumu üzerine çalışmalar"
•Bradley "Güneş ile Dünya arasındaki mesafenin hesaplanması"
•William Herschel, "Uranüs'ün keşfi"
•Laplace, "Newton kanunlarını matematiğe uyarlama"
•Brinkley, "Büyük teleskobun icadı"
•Herschel, "Çift yıldızlar araştırması"
•Ross Kontu, "Trleskopla yaptığı gözlemler"
•Ellie, "Astigmatı önleyici mercekler"
•William Hamilton, "Optikteki çalışmaları"
•Leverrier, "Matematiksel hesapla gök cisimlerinin çekimi"
•Adams, "Dünya ve Ay'ın yörüngeleri"
Profile Image for Diba Kazi.
55 reviews1 follower
January 8, 2019
"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 !
Profile Image for Chetto.
17 reviews
June 12, 2017
Gökyüzü sevdalısı herkezin okuması gereken bir kitap.O dönemlere gidiyor ve bilim adamlarının ne zorluklar yaşadıklarını anlıyorsunuz.
Profile Image for Kate.
213 reviews2 followers
March 26, 2023
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.
Profile Image for Ross.
753 reviews33 followers
April 28, 2016
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.
Profile Image for Katrina .
51 reviews
January 23, 2016
This was a basic overview. It was a bit dry but it moved along quickly. I liked that several Astronomers were covered not just the mainstream names.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews

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