Comets, Cosmology and the Big Bang

Dr Allan Chapman is a historian of science at Oxford University, with special interests in the history of astronomy and of medicine and the relationship between science and Christianity. As well as University teaching, he lectures widely, has written a dozen books and numerous academic articles, and written and presented two TV series, Gods in the Sky and Great Scientists, besides taking part in many other history of science TV documentaries and in The Sky at Night with Sir Patrick Moore. He has received honorary doctorates and awards from the Universities of Central Lancashire, Salford, and Lancaster, and in 2015 was presented with the Jackson-Gwilt Medal by the Royal Astronomical Society. Among his books are Slaying the Dragons. Destroying Myths in the History of Science and Faith (Lion Hudson, 2013), Stargazers: Copernicus, Galileo, the Telescope, and the Church. The Astronomical Renaissance, 1500-1700 (Lion, 2014), and Physicians, Plagues, and Progress. The History of Western Medicine from Antiquity to Antibiotics (Lion, 2016). He is also the author of the scientific biographies England's Leonardo. Robert Hooke and the Seventeenth-Century Scientific Revolution (Institute of Physics, 2005), Mary Somerville and the World of Science (Canopus, 2004; Springer, 2015), and The Victorian Amateur Astronomer. Independent Astronomical Research in Britain, 1820-1920 (Wiley-Praxis, 1998; revised edn. Gracewing, 2017).

"Allan Chapman writes with clarity and energy in a manner designed to both inform the general reader and stimulate thought. Engagingly written, and with great authority, he combines a manageable level of detail regarding this vast subject, with his own personal insights and experiences. His work enables the reader to both grapple with the complex historical 'big picture' of unfolding ideas over the centuries, while also appreciating the significant impact and discoveries of individual pioneers in the field. Allan is not afraid to offer challenging personal insights and raises important questions for the reader to consider. This is an engaging, detailed, informative and thought-provoking book." Martyn Whittock, historian, teacher, and writer

• COntentsAcknowledgments 18Preface 211 From the Beginning to 1700: The Origins of AstronomyThe origins of astronomy 26The earliest astronomers 27What made the “Greek experience” 29central to Western thought?Medieval consolidation 32Europe’s astronomical Renaissance 352 Cosmology Begins at Home: Captain Edmond Halley, 41FRS, RN, Astronomer, Geophysicist, and AdventurerThe schoolboy scientist 42Early adventures: St Helena, Danzig, and across 44Europe: the making of a physical scientistEdmond Halley, the father of meteorology 47and geophysicsLater adventures: Captain Halley RN takes 50HMS Paramore among the icebergsProfessor Halley and the Great Aurora Borealis 51of 1716Halley studies the nebulae and ponders 53cosmological vastness3 Could a Comet Have Caused Noah’s Flood?Changing views about comets, 1580–1720 57Dr Robert Hooke takes comets into the chemical 59laboratory in 1677Comets tamed at last: 1680–1705 61Noah’s Flood, the ancient earth, comets, 62and the saltiness of the seaEdmond Halley: the Astronomer Royal 64and the longitude, 1720–42Religion and politics, a merry life and a 69sudden death4 “Let there be more light.” How Telescope TechnologyBecame the Arbiter in Cosmological ResearchLong telescopes on tall poles 73All done with mirrors: the early reflecting telescope 77John Hadley and his Newtonian 79reflecting telescopeA golden guinea an inch: James Short turns the 81reflecting telescope into big businessJohn Dollond “perfects” the refracting telescope 84c. 1760“Every gentleman must have one!” 86Benjamin Martin, lecturer, and entrepreneur,makes scientific instruments fashionable5 The Rector and the Organist: Gravity, Star Clusters,and the Origins of the Milky WayThomas Wright of Durham and eighteenth-century 89speculative cosmologiesThe Revd John Michell: the Pleiades Cluster, “dark 91stars”, and gravitational “black holes” in 1783Charles Messier: comet hunter and nebula 93cataloguer of the Ancien Régime in ParisThe enterprising oboist: Herschel comes 94to EnglandHerschel the fashionable church organist 97and musical impresario of BathFrom organ pipes to telescopes, from acoustics 98to optics, and on to cosmologyBath, 13 March 1781: William Herschel 100discovers a “comet”6 William and Caroline Herschel Fathom the 104“Construction of the Heavens” from an EnglishCountry GardenWilliam Herschel’s telescope technology 106Observing with a Herschel telescope 107Stars, the Milky Way, and the “Construction of 109the Heavens” after 1784“Oh Herschel! Oh Herschel! Where do you fly? 112To sweep the cobwebs out of the sky”“Shining fluids”, glowing rings of light, star 113clusters, and gravity: the Herschelian universeObservatory House, 1784: an account by a 116visiting French savantSir William Herschel, Knight Guelph 118A Herschel telescope postscript 1197 Measuring the Heavens and the Earth in Eighteenth-Century EuropePart 1: In Pursuit of Venus: Astronomy’s First GreatInternational AdventureIn pursuit of the solar parallax 122Venus in transit, June 1761 125Venus transits the sun in 1769 129Le Gentil and the 1769 transit 133Practical observation, Venus, and the longitude 1348 Measuring the Heavens and the Earth in Eighteenth-Century EuropePart 2: Pendulums, Planets, and Gravity: Creatingthe Science of GeodesyThe curious behaviour of M. Richer’s clock: 140Cayenne, Brazil, 1672Geophysics by degrees and the shape of the earth 142The Astronomer Royal, the mountain, and 147the village fiddlerGeophysics goes to the laboratory: 149Henry Cavendish and the torsion balanceexperiment, 1797–989 Cosmology and the Romantic Age 152From daffodil fields to starry fields: a universe of 152awe and wonderLaws of wonder: Herschel, Laplace, 153and the laws of gravitationMysteries beyond the spectrum: 156Sir William Herschel discovers the “darkspectrum” in 1800Science for Georgian ladies and gentlemen 157The London physician, the Bavarian orphan, 160and the wonders of lightProfessor Bessel and the distance of the stars 163Caroline the comet hunter 16610 Sir John Herschel: The Universal Philosopher of 168the AgeJohn Frederick William Herschel: a genius 168in the makingJohn Herschel inherits the cosmological 170“family business”Optics, chemistry, photography, and a gift 172for friendshipSlough, marriage, then the Cape of 174Good HopeThe Herschel cosmos of 1850 178The size of the stars and their absolute brightness 180Sir 11 There Must Be Somebody Out There! 184A fascination with “aliens” 184The Revd Dr Thomas Dick of Broughty 186Ferry, DundeeNew York, August 1835, and the 188“Great Lunar Hoax”Jules Verne: from the earth to the moon in 1865 191Pity the poor Martians dying of thirst: 1877 193The Martians turn nasty 195So is there really anybody out there? 19612 Mary Somerville: Mathematician, Astronomer, and 198Gifted Science CommunicatorMiss Mary Fairfax, the independent-minded 198admiral’s daughterTwo contrasting husbands 200Continental travel and international 201mathematical fameMary Somerville, astronomy, and the Herschels 202Early mathematical and physical works 205Mary Somerville, the physical sciences expositor 206On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences, 208Physical Geography, and On Molecular andMicroscopic ScienceNatural laws, religion, and her final voyage 21113 Sir George Biddell Airy of Greenwich: Astronomer 212Royal to the British EmpireSir George Biddell Airy (1801–92): 213early life and achievementsNew instruments, chronometers, time, 217and the electric telegraphAiry the scientific civil servant 222Airy and the discovery of Neptune, 1846 223The Astronomer Royal and his staff 225John Herschel, the universal philosopher 18214 Barristers, Brewers, Peers, and Engineers: Paying for 228Astronomical Research: the British “Grand Amateur”TraditionFunding astronomy in Great Britain: 228the roots of a traditionThe Grand Amateur astronomical world 231The Liverpool brewer and the Manchester 234steam-engine builderThe Irish nobleman who discovered the 240“whirlpools” of deep spaceThe Royal Astronomical Society: 246a Grand Amateur creationPostscript: Grand Amateur astronomy today 24715 The Camera Does Not Lie: The Birth ofAstronomical PhotographyMonsieur Louis Daguerre, Sir John Herschel, 249and Mr William Henry Fox TalbotDr John William Draper of New York: 252the first astronomical photographerThe “miracle” of the “wet collodion” 253photograph, 1851Warren De La Rue: the Guernsey-born paper 255manufacturer and pioneer ofastronomical photographyThe first “custom-designed” photographic 258telescopeJames Nasmyth’s The Moon (1874): 260photographing the moon at second handThe “dry gelatin” plate and new possibilities 262Isaac Roberts: photographer of the galaxies 26216 Unweaving the RainbowPart 1: Sunlight, Sunspot Cycles, and MagneticStorms 266Understanding the Sun, Our Nearest Star 266The great solar storm of 1859 268“Rice grains”, “granules”, and the solar surface 270Solar knowledge by 1860: a résumé 27117 Unweaving the RainbowPart 2: Cosmologists and Catholic Priest Pioneersof AstrophysicsAn afternoon walk in Heidelberg in 1859 275Sir William and Lady Margaret Huggins discover 277gaseous nebulae from a south London gardenFather Angelo Secchi of Rome: 281the Jesuit pioneer of astrophysicsThe Stonyhurst College Jesuit Observatory 282The sun and the spectroscope 284Our American cousins and our Irish friends 28718 The Revd Thomas William Webb and the Birth 291of “Popular Astronomy”The Revd Mr Webb of Hardwicke, 291astronomer and popularizerCelestial Objects for Common Telescopes and 293Webb’s telescopesThe “modest” amateur astronomer and the 295new reflecting telescopeVictorian clergymen-astronomer-engineers 297Astronomical societies and The English Mechanic 300magazinePopular astronomy in France 303John Jones of Brangwyn Bach and other 303working-men astronomers19 “Ladies of the Night”: The Astronomical Womenin Great Britain and America 310Scientific education for women 310Professional astronomy for women in the 312“Old World”Agnes Mary Clerke of Skibbereen, 316the Irish historian of astronomyWomen in the new amateur astronomical 319societies after 1881Florence Taylor: from Leeds to Minnesota 320Elizabeth Brown, the sun, and the eclipse-chasers 322The first women Fellows of the Royal 325Astronomical Society20 Astronomy for the Masses in the Victorian Ageand Early Twentieth CenturyThe age of self-improvement: Sunday schools, 327Mechanics’ Institutes, and the Victorian“knowledge industry”Lord Henry Brougham: pioneer of popular 329educationAstronomy shows, demonstrations, 331and lecturesRichard Anthony Proctor and Sir Robert 337Stawell Ball: stars of the astronomicallecture circuitSir Arthur Stanley Eddington and 341Sir James Hopwood Jeans: astronomy’s first“Knights of the airwaves”21 Under New World Skies: The Great AmericanObservatoriesNorth America’s first big observatories 345The Harvard astrophysicists 348The ladies of the Harvard Observatory 348Alvan Clark and Sons, opticians of Boston, Massachusetts 350American Liberal Arts Colleges and astronomy 352Percival Lowell, the “canals” of Mars, 353and Flagstaff, Arizona, in the westAmerica’s two giant refractors: the Lick and 355Yerkes ObservatoriesAmerica’s giant reflecting telescopes 358Conclusion 36022 On the Eve of the Watershed: Astronomy andCosmology c. 1890–1920The universe: a steady, stately place? 363The Michelson–Morley Experiment, 1887 364“Twinkle, twinkle, little star; now we know just 367what you are”: the birth, life, and death of starsThe Hertzsprung–Russell Diagram, 1910–13 371Henrietta Swan Leavitt and the “Cepheid” stars 373Harlow Shapley, the spiral galaxies, and the 375Milky WayThe Great Debate: Smithsonian Museum, 379Washington DC, 26 April 192023 It’s All Relative. The “Alice in Wonderland” World of 381Early Twentieth-Century PhysicsThe “physics quake” of the 1890s: X-rays, 382atoms, and radiationThe mighty atom 385Mercury, Vulcan, and the problems of gravity 387The patent clerk of Bern: Albert Einstein and 388relativitySir Arthur Stanley Eddington, Einstein, and the 392solar eclipse of 1919Albert Einstein the affable celebrity 394Postscript 39724 Crossing the Watershed: Edwin Hubble,the Celebrity Astronomer of the GalaxiesFrom small-town Missouri to self-created 398English gentlemanHubble, red shifts, and the “extra-galactic” universe 400Hubble’s Law and Constant 403The subsequent development of Hubble’s cosmos: 405Milton Humason, Walter Baade,and Allan SandageMilton Humason 406Walter Baade 407Allan Sandage 408Edwin Hubble and the stars of Hollywood 41025 The Belgian Priest–Cosmologist and the “Cosmic Egg” 412Father Georges Lemaître of Leuven 412Making sense of modern cosmology: 414the Royal Astronomical Society discussion meeting,Burlington House, Piccadilly, London,10 January 1930Father Lemaître and Sir Arthur Eddington 416“It’s all a ‘big bang’”: Sir Fred Hoyle and his 417steady state cosmology of 1948Return to the stars 420Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar and the 422white dwarfsLemaître, Pope Pius XII, and the big bang 426Stephen Hawking and the black hole 42626 Sir Bernard Lovell and the “Radio Universe” 428Karl Jansky’s “merry-go-round” and the birth of 429radio astronomyThe “radio window” and how the radio telescope 431worksGrote Reber of Wheaton, Illinois: an amateur leads 433the way – yet again!Sir Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell and 435Jodrell Bank, CheshireOther great radio telescopes 441The achievement of radio astronomy 443Sir Bernard Lovell: a recollection 44627 “Fly Me to the Moon”: The Birth of the Space Age 449Rockets into space 449The rocket men 451The first space flights 455Yuri Gagarin (1934–68), the first space man, 1961 457The Apollo missions 457Touchdown: the Sea of Tranquillity, 20 July 1969 459The Book of Genesis goes to the moon: 460Christmas 1968The end of manned missions 460The unmanned space probes 461The Hubble Space Telescope 463Exploring the surface of Mars 464Terra-forming Mars 46728 A Universe for the People: Sir Patrick Moore and the 468New Amateur AstronomyPopular astronomical fallacies 469Television and astronomy’s new popular audience 472Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore and 473The Sky at Night, 1957–2012Moonstruck: amateur astronomy and the moon 476after 1950Transient lunar phenomena, or “TLP”s 478Good telescopes for all 479The researches of modern amateur astronomers 481The post-1950 amateur astronomy movement 483Carl Edward Sagan and Cosmos, 1980 484Sir Patrick Moore: the man and the astronomer 48529 Postscript: Creation Revisited: Where Do We 489Stand Today?Life on other worlds and space travel, 490twenty-first-century styleCreation, cosmology, and the mind of God 493Appendix: The Cock Lane Ghost, or the 496“Ghost Catch”Notes 497List of In-text Illustrations 508Further Reading 513Index 545