Our Celestial Clockwork: From Ancient Origins To Modern Astronomy Of The Solar System

503 Pages·2021·66.222 MB·English

by  Richard Kerner

1111667744__99778899881111221144559922__TTPP..iinndddd 11 1133//88//2211 11::1111 PPMM
Other Related Titles from World Scientific
A Cabinet of Curiosities: The Myth, Magic and Measure of Meteorites
by Martin Beech
ISBN: 978-981-122-491-1
The Invisible Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Origin and
End of the Universe
by Antonino Del Popolo
ISBN: 978-981-122-943-5
Chinese Astrology and Astronomy: An Outside History
by Xiaoyuan Jiang
translated by Wenan Chen
ISBN: 978-981-122-345-7
Cosmic Pinwheels: Spiral Galaxies and the Universe
by Ronald James Buta
ISBN: 978-981-121-668-8
ISBN: 978-981-121-747-0 (pbk)
KKaahhFFeeee -- 1111667744 -- OOuurr CCeelleessttiiaall CClloocckkwwoorrkk..iinndddd 11 1166//66//22002211 88::4444::2277 aamm
World Scientific
1111667744__99778899881111221144559922__TTPP..iinndddd 22 1133//88//2211 11::1111 PPMM
Published by
World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224
USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601
UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Kerner, R., author.
Title: Our celestial clockwork : from ancient origins to modern astronomy of the solar system /
Richard Kerner, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France.
Description: Hackensack, NJ : World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., [2022] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021017842 | ISBN 9789811214592 (hardcover) |
ISBN 9789811215315 (paperback) | ISBN 9789811214608 (ebook) |
ISBN 9789811214615 (ebook other)
Subjects: LCSH: Astronomy--History.
Classification: LCC QB15 .K42 2022 | DDC 520--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021017842
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copyright © 2022 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval
system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the publisher.
For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance
Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy
is not required from the publisher.
For any available supplementary material, please visit
https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/11674#t=suppl
Desk Editor: Ng Kah Fee
Typeset by Stallion Press
Email: [email protected]
Printed in Singapore
KKaahhFFeeee -- 1111667744 -- OOuurr CCeelleessttiiaall CClloocckkwwoorrkk..iinndddd 22 1166//66//22002211 88::4444::2277 aamm
August13,2021 17:24 OurCelestialClockwork 9inx6in b4285-fm pagev
To the memory of my father Dr. Samuel Kerner,
who taught me how to learn,
and from whom I learned how to teach.
v
B1948 Governing Asia
TTThhhiiisss pppaaagggeee iiinnnttteeennntttiiiooonnnaaallllllyyy llleeefffttt bbblllaaannnkkk
BB11994488__11--AAookkii..iinndddd 66 99//2222//22001144 44::2244::5577 PPMM
August13,2021 17:24 OurCelestialClockwork 9inx6in b4285-fm pagevii
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my deep gratitude to Prof. Pascal Richet of
the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris for his constant ecourage-
ments, for sharing his deep knowledge of the history of science, and
for a throughout reading of the manuscript. His constructive crit-
icisms and suggestions have seriously improved the text. Separate
thanks are due to Evelyne Richet for suggesting a better title.
I am greatly indebted to Prof. Jan-Willem van Holten of the Uni-
versity of Leiden for his extraordinary act of friendship, consisting in
the carefuland thoughtful reading of the draft versionof this book. His
invaluable remarks and suggestions concerning the scientific content
and the style alike enabled a substantial improvement of the book’s
final shape.
Thanks are due to Dr. Jerzy Karczmarczuk for helping me with
the computer programming and Latex compilation.
Last but not least, this book could not be written without my wife
Graz˙yna’s loving care, patience and support.
Paris, December 2020
vii
B1948 Governing Asia
TTThhhiiisss pppaaagggeee iiinnnttteeennntttiiiooonnnaaallllllyyy llleeefffttt bbblllaaannnkkk
BB11994488__11--AAookkii..iinndddd 66 99//2222//22001144 44::2244::5577 PPMM
August13,2021 17:24 OurCelestialClockwork 9inx6in b4285-fm pageix
Preface
Thepresent book is based on a series of lectures theauthor delivered
at the Parisian Universit´e Pierre et Marie Curie, which has been
since then given the new name Sorbonne-Universit´e. These lectures
were intended to help to compensate the lack of elementary astro-
nomical knowledge and history of its development among the young
people freshly out of high schools, and who were about to start Uni-
versity studies in science — mostly physics and mathematics.
The lectures on the astronomy of the Solar System and its his-
torical development since the earliest times were a part of a wider
educational project for the sophomore students, proposed under the
name“AbitofScientificCulture”.Fivesemester-longprogramswere
proposed,includinglecturesandtutorials:besidestheastronomy,ele-
mentaryparticles,cosmology, geophysicsandnuclearphysics.Simple
exercises were proposed, which our students highly appreciated solv-
ing them during the tutorials.
Thepresentbookfollows faithfully the structureof lectures deliv-
ered during those years, with substantial additions permitted by the
book format. On the other hand, we cannot reproduce here sev-
eral interesting animated pictures and schemes, like the accelerated
images of solar and lunar eclipses, the motion of lunar shadow on
the surface of the Earth, or the revolutions of planets and stars. Tra-
ditional illustrations are abundant though, and readers’ imagination
will fill the gap.
ix