Miscellanea from the history of celestial mechanics

H.M. Harrison, Voyager in Time and Space: The life of John Couch Adams, Cambridge Astronomer . The Book Guild Ltd, Sussex, 1994. Pp. 282, £15.00 (Hardbound ISBN 0-86332-918-7). John Couch Adams (1819-1892), Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry at Cambridge (1858-1892) and Director of the Cambridge Observatory (1861-1892), is unfortunately remembered more for what he did not do than for what he did. Adams did not win the celestial mechanics race that led to the discovery of the planet Neptune. He was pipped at the post by the Frenchman Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier. It is one of the consistent features of history, and the history of astronomy is no exception, that those who come second generally sink into obscurity. The reviewer of Voyager in Time and Space is thus confronted with two questions. Should Adams be rescued from obscurity, and does Harrison’s biography help towards the accomplishment of this task? Let me now explain why I answer ‘no’ to both questions.

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Earth And Heaven, 1750-1800: Enlightenment Ideas About The Relevance To Geology Of Extraterrestrial Operations And Events

Earth Sciences History ◽

10.17704/eshi.17.2.14010xt74738ut13 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 84-91 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kenneth Taylor

Keyword(s):

Natural History ◽

Celestial Mechanics ◽

Empirical Investigation ◽

Earth Science ◽

Geological Investigation ◽

The Earth ◽

History Of ◽

Geological Science ◽

The Ideal

A conceptual and methodological tension can be discerned among Enlightenment advocates of earth science, as regards extraterrestrial events and processes. True to the fundamental traditions of Theories of the Earth, many scientific thinkers exhibited clear recognition of the Earth's planetary status, as a member of a celestial family. To some this legitimated integration of a geological perspective into that of cosmology and astronomy. In extreme instances it even entailed an ideal of establishing earth science by deduction from principles of celestial mechanics. However, this integrative aspect of Theories of the Earth ran counter to another important element in the geological thinking of this era, one which asserted the overriding value of empirical investigation. In the minds of many empirical-minded champions of a natural history of the Earth, a true geology could only be built up through inductive discovery focussed exclusively on accessible terrestrial phenomena. Sometimes explicitly, often by merely tacit exclusion of extraterrestrial considerations, much geological investigation before 1800 tended to identify the integrity of the emerging science with the distinctively Earth-bound nature of the objects of study. The ideal of an autonomous geological science thus tended to be intertwined with a concept of terrestrial autonomy.

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Cartesian Physics

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199696253.013.4 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

John A. Schuster

Keyword(s):

Celestial Mechanics ◽

Natural Philosophy ◽

Explanatory Style ◽

Rene Descartes ◽

Classical Mechanics ◽

History Of Physics ◽

Developmental Anatomy ◽

René Descartes ◽

History Of

This article examines the physics of René Descartes. Descartes’ natural philosophy marks a significant moment in the larger history of physics. His system of natural philosophy was a novel, daring, and intricate construction in that field, with two main sets of historical significances for later physics. Before discussing these two significant consequences of Descartes’ natural philosophy for physics, the article provides an overview of the developmental anatomy of Cartesian physics during the period 1618–1644. In particular, it considers the successes, failures, and fate of Descartes’ early physico-mathematics programme, his work on physico-mathematical optics and corpuscular dynamics, and his career inflection between 1628 and 1633. It also explores Descartes’ ideas on vortex celestial mechanics, the explanatory style of mature Cartesian physics, and his work on classical mechanics. Finally, it looks at Descartes’ concerns with realist Copernicanism.

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