Ashbrook, 1984

Joseph Ashbrook: The Astronomical Scrapbook (1984)

(glossary entry)

Description

A collection of reprints (some with light editing) of columns by a former Sky and Telescope editor in chief.
 
 

Additional Information

• The following description is from Google Books (unfortunately, no preview is available there):
  • "This collection of 83 articles on the history of astronomy is the harvest of a quarter of a century spent in seeking out intriguing, unusual and half-forgotten events. Joe Ashbrook wrote a column regularly for the monthly magazine Sky and Telescope. Professor Owen Gingerich, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, has helped in the selection of the very best of these timeless vignettes, and he has contributed a foreword to the collection. Each article has been edited, and in some cases modified, to take account of any subsequent discoveries. Articles are grouped into themes covering biography, telescopes, the solar systems, stars and galaxies, and star atlases. Much of the material cannot be found in standard references in the history of astronomy."
• Although covering a wide range of topics of interest to students of astronomy, one entire section of eight articles is devoted to "Studies and students of the Moon", and many astronomers associated in one way or another with lunar studies are mentioned in other chapters. The list of those mentioned in these delightful and carefully-researched articles is too long to give here; but among those discussed in some depth are Nasmyth, Boscovich, Lohrmann, Schmidt, Krieger, Fauth, and the brothers Henry; as are countless other astronomers for whom lunar features are named.
• Citations to the original Sky and Telescope columns, usually reprinted without alteration, can be found in the Notes and references at the end.

LPOD Articles

Bibliography

• Ashbrook, Joseph, and Leif J. Robinson. 1984. The astronomical scrapbook skywatchers, pioneers, and seekers in astronomy. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press.

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