Related papers: Gerberto e l'Astronomia
The purpose of this essay is to trace the historical development of geometry while focusing on how we acquired mathematical tools for describing the "shape of the universe." More specifically, our aim is to consider, without a claim to…
The traditional cultures of Aboriginal Australians include a significant astronomical component, perpetuated through oral tradition, ceremony, and art. This astronomical knowledge includes a deep understanding of the motion of objects in…
In 1953 I heard of an experiment in 1925 by Bengt Str\"omgren where he observed transit times with the meridian circle at the Copenhagen University Observatory measuring the current in a photocell behind slits when a star was crossing. In…
In a pioneering exposition of mathematical astronomy for the public, Sir John Herschel attributed the stability of the ring of Saturn to its being eccentric with respect to the planet and lopsided (asymmetric in mass) by a minute amount.…
In 1710, George Berkeley, philospher and scientist, discovered that the directions in which we see (sightlines) are tilted 45 degrees towards the past from the directions in which we look. Looking north from the 3-d present we see to the…
Johann Kepler (1571-1630) is sometimes considered as a precursor of science-fiction novels with the writing of "Somnium, sive opus posthumum of astronomia lunaris". In this work published posthumously in 1634 by his son Ludwig, Kepler…
Geometric algebra is a mathematical structure that is inherent in any metric vector space, and defined by the requirement that the metric tensor is given by the scalar part of the product of vectors. It provides a natural framework in which…
This paper describes the evolution of aspects of differential and algebraic gometry from the mid 17th century till the end of the 18th century.
We attempt to grasp the mathematics behind the planetary theories of the Syrian astronomer Ibn al-Shatir (1304-1375) in his treatise Nihayat al-Sul. Following the Maragha school of astronomers, by composing circular movements with constant…
Rather than offering chronologically ordered encyclopedic knowledge of a lifetime, only some of the most striking events of the existence of this well-known scientist are here pointed out. Sections: Life; Man of laws; Interest in…
The Magellanic Clouds were known before Magellan's voyage exactly 500 years ago, and were not given that name by Magellan himself or his chronicler Antonio Pigafetta. They were, of course, already known by local populations in South…
It is widely believed that the advance of science in the Islamic world after the mid-fifteenth century A.D. suffered a decline. For the purpose of examining this belief, a manuscript by Qasim ali al-Qayini (ca. A.D.1685) was chosen based on…
Some few hundred million years after the big bang the Universe was illuminated by the first stars and galaxies thereby bringing an end to the cosmological dark ages. Since the installation of WFC3 on the Hubble Space Telescope our ability…
The Copernican Principle (which says the Earth and sun are not unique) should have observational consequences and thus be testable. Galileo Galilei thought he could measure the true angular diameters of stars with his telescope; according…
(in english): Urbain-Jean-Joseph Le Verrier was born in Saint-L\^o on March 11, 1811. He entered the Ecole Polytechnique in 1831, from which he was to emerge 8th two years later. After first devoting himself to chemistry, in 1836 he…
Astrobiology, the study of life as a planetary phenomenon, aims to understand the fundamental nature of life on earth and the possibility of life elsewhere. To achieve this goal, astrobiologists have initiated unprecedented communication…
The classification of algebraic surfaces by the Italian School of algebraic geometry is universally recognized as a breakthrough in 20th-century mathematics. The methods by which it was achieved do not, however, meet the modern standard of…
This paper was prepared for Open-Access-only publication as a guide reporting on Education (all aspects of space science and technology), Teaching (remote sensing and GIS, satellite meteorology and global climate, satellite communication,…
If one wants to translate the heliocentric picture of planets moving uniformly on circular orbits about the sun to the perspective of a terrestrial observer, using classical (ancient) geometric means only, one is naturally led to the…
Galileo Galilei believed that stars were distant suns whose sizes, measured via his telescope, were a direct indication of distance -- fainter stars (appearing smaller in the telescope) were farther away than brighter ones. Galileo argued…