Pecker J.-C. Understanding the Heavens: Thirty Centuries of Astronomical Ideas from Ancient Thinking to Modern Cosmology

Springer-Verlag. Berlin Heidelberg, 2001.
Language: EnglishAstronomy is the oldest and most fundamental of the natural sciences. From the early beginnings of civilization astronomers have attempted to explain not only what the Universe is and how it works, but also how it started, how it evolved to the present day, and how it will develop in the future. The author, a well-known astronomer himself, describes the evolution of astronomical ideas, briefly discussing most of the instrumental developments. Using numerous figures to elucidate the mechanisms involved, the book starts with the astronomical ideas of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian philosophers, moves on to the Greek period, and then to the golden age of astronomy, i.e. to Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton, and ends with modern theories of cosmology. Written with undergraduate students in mind, this book gives a fascinating survey of astronomical thinking.Introduction and Perspectives
Before the Classical Greek Period
Classical Greek Astronomy
Ptolemy’s Astronomy Questioned
The Period of the Renaissance
Dynamics Enters Astronomy: From Galileo to Newton
From Pre-Galilean Astronomy to the Hubble Space Telescope and Beyond
Towards Modern Cosmology
Cosmologies of Today and Tomorrow