The Transits of Venus

by William Sheehan, John Westfall

Overview

Sheehan and Westfall paint a picture of the history of this rare phenomenon through this year's transit as well as that of June 5-6, 2012. They interweave a discussion of its scientific significance with the stories of the people who went to great lengths to be a part of its legacy, such as Jeremiah Horrocks, the first known viewer of the transit, who began his observations a whole day early in case of inaccurate calculations; Captain James Cook, who sailed halfway around the world just to take a viewing party to an advantageous point on the globe, keeping his crew healthy on the long voyage by tricking them into eating sauerkraut; and Jean Chappe d'Auteroche, who paid the ultimate price to see Venus's tiny silhouette. A background in the history of astronomy is also provided, from the experiments of the ancients through the Copernican revolution to using radar to determine astronomical distances.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633889491
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	01/15/2024
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 8.79(h) x 0.89(d)

About the Author

William Sheehan is the author or coauthor of a number of widely acclaimed books on astronomy, including Mars: The Lure of the Red Planet (with Stephen James O'Meara), The Immortal Fire Within (a biography of Edward Emerson Barnard), The Planet Mars, and Epic Moon (with Thomas Dobbins). The author of over a hundred popular articles on astronomy, he is a contributing editor to Sky & Telescope, a frequent contributor to Mercury, and a 2001 fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for the "structure and evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy."

John Westfall is a professor of geography at San Francisco State University, the recipient of the Walter Haas Observing Award from the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, and the author of the Atlas of the Lunar Terminator.

Table of Contents

	Preface	13
	Acknowledgments	17
1.	Of Time and Number	21
	The Chinese Emperor's Son	21
	The Parallax Principle	23
	A Classic Problem: The Size of the Earth	25
	How Far to the Moon?	27
	The Distances to the Planets	28
2.	Planet Watchers	31
	The Wandering Stars	31
	Celestial Alignments	35
	Some Special Astronomical Alignments	36
3.	Venusian Preludes	41
	Venus in Antiquity	42
	Venus in the New World	45
	Astronomic Models in History	47
4.	A Missed Opportunity	49
	Planetary Systems	49
	A Realization: The Inferior Planets Can Transit the Sun	56
	Searching the Pretelescopic Archive	57
	Keplerian Calculations	59
	Standing Watch from an Attic in Prague	63
	An Unexpected Disclosure: Sunspots	66
	Kepler's Preview of the Transit of Mercury	67
	The Great Gassendi's Spot-on Observation	70
	Gassendi's Vain Vigil for Venus	72
5.	Homage to Horrocks	75
	The Winds of War	76
	"Nothing More Noble"	77
	Horrocks and William Crabtree	80
	Enmeshed in a Net of Calculations	81
	Venus Observed	84
	The Curtain Falls	87
6.	A Celestial Monarchy	93
	The New Astronomy and Newton	93
	Turbulent Times	95
	Annus Mirabilis, or What Newton Knew When	96
	Newton Plays Hooky until Hooke Comes Along	97
	A Glimpse at Venus in the Telescope	100
	Solar Parallaxes	102
	Longitude	104
	Enter Halley	106
	A Transit at St. Helena	108
	The Principia	111
	The Clockwork Universe	118
	How the Transits Figure	123
7.	"This Famed Phenomenon"	125
	Halley's Grand Proposal	125
	Halleyan and Cishalleyan Poles	130
	The Man of Vision Lives Not to See	135
	Delisle Takes Over	136
	Bianchini Observes Venus	138
	Anticipation Mounts	141
	Instrumental Interlude	147
	Globetrotters	148
	Day of Fame--or Infamy	152
	Unexpected Phenomena	154
	Back to the Drawing Board	159
8.	Cook's Tour	161
	Paradise Found	161
	Planning for the Great Event	162
	Endeavoring to See the Transit from Tahiti	170
	Tahiti Looms	173
	Point Venus	175
	What Is So Fair as a Transit Day in June?	180
9.	Pursuing a Planet	185
	Chasing Results	185
	What the Hell?	187
	The "Barbarous Region" Comes into Its Own	188
	Astronomer Faints during Venus Transit!	191
	Chappe's Tragic Success	195
	More Fortunate in Love than in Astronomy	197
10.	A Noble Triumph--Surpassed	201
	Astronomy by Numbers	201
	Another World Observed	205
	The Grand March of Technology	217
	Eliminating the "Personality of the Eye"	220
11.	From Enlightenment to Precision	223
	A Parallax Challenged	223
	Laying Plans	225
	The Transit Parties	235
	The "Compleat" Transit Station	249
12.	Upon the Flame-Cased Sun	253
	A Century's Wait Ends	253
	The Aftermath of the Transit	263
13.	1882: The Last Hurrah	267
	Eight Eventful Years: 1874-1882	267
	Building on the 1874 Experience	270
	The Last Great Attempt	277
	David Peck Todd and Lick Observatory	287
	The Closing Act of the Transits	293
14.	A "Compleat" Guide to Our Transits: 2004 and 2012	297
	The Grail Achieved	297
	Distances to Stars and Galaxies	300
	Venus Revealed	301
	The 2004 Transit Approaches	304
	Observing the Transits	308
	Specialized Equipment	313
	What to Look For	317
	2012 Is Not That Far Away!	320
	Epilogue	327
	Appendices	333
A.	Transits of Venus, -2970 to +7464	333
B.	Data on Observed Transits, 1639-2012	335
C.	Local Circumstances for the Transit of Venus, June 8, 2004	339
D.	Local Circumstances for the Transit of Venus, June 5-6, 2012	345
E.	June and December Sunshine Probability Maps	351

Editorial Reviews

"I could not put the book down! With the rare passages of Venus across the sun's face as their theme, Sheehan and Westfall transport the reader through centuries of exciting historical drama. This book provides an enthralling trip through the history of astronomy." –Clark R. Chapman, Institute Scientist, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado

"A masterful work– full of mystery, intrigue, passion, and danger. A wild and enchanting romp through time, as eminent scientists, disillusioned egoists, impassioned mathematicians, and preeminent explorers chase the shadow of Venus around the globe on a grail-like quest for the 'perfect number.'" –Steve O'Meara, Contributing Editor, Sky & Telescope

"A page-turning account of the circumstances and history of one of nature's rarest phenomena. Passion, obsession, frustration, adventure, rivalry, and disaster–above all, the triumph of intellect to fathom the depths of space– are all exemplified in this fascinating tale of scientific endeavor." –Richard Baum, Director Emeritus, Mercury and Venus Section of the British Astronomical Association

"An exciting, colorful, and definitive account of the history of an extremely rare astronomical phenomenon. Using the detailed instructions provided, the book will inspire readers to view Venus as it transits the sun for the first time since 1882." –Steven J. Dick, NASA Chief Historian

"What a heroic human quest to catch a glimpse of Venus in Silhouette in front of the sun! The scientific payoff was nothing less than the confirmation of Copernican theory. Incredibly, transits of Venus portend the discover of dozens of earthlike planets as they transit their host suns, causing them to wink in the night sky." –Geoff Marcy, Discoverer of Extrasolar Planets, University of California, Berkeley

"Sheehan and Westfall capture the human spirit that drove a scientific collaboration spanning five centuries. This continuum of humanity painted over the petty egos of individual scientists, the setbacks of war, bad weather, and human mortality to finally take measure of the rare transits of Venus and thereby reveal the size of Venus and the earth-sun distance. Just in time for the next silhouetting of Venus in June 2004, this book shoes us why the tiny transit of Venus is a big deal!" –Debra Fischer, Professor of Astronomy, San Francisco State University

From the Publisher