Ileana Chinnici – författare

Angelo Secchi was a key figure in 19th century science. An Italian Jesuit and scientist, he helped lead the transition from astronomy to astrophysics and left a lasting legacy in the field. Secchi’s spectral classification of stars was a milestone that paved the way for modern astronomical research. He was also a founder of modern meteorology and an innovator in the design and development of new instruments and methods across disciplines.This contributed volume collects together reviews from an international group of historians, scientists and scholars representing the multiple disciplines where Secchi made significant contributions during his remarkable career. It analyzes both his famous and lesser known pioneering efforts with equal vigor, providing a well-rounded narrative of his life’s work. Beyond his scientific and technological work, his role as a Jesuit priest in Rome during the turbulent years of the mid 19th century is also described and placed in the context of his scientific and civic activities.

Angelo Secchi was a key figure in 19th century science. An Italian Jesuit and scientist, he helped lead the transition from astronomy to astrophysics and left a lasting legacy in the field. Secchi’s spectral classification of stars was a milestone that paved the way for modern astronomical research. He was also a founder of modern meteorology and an innovator in the design and development of new instruments and methods across disciplines.This contributed volume collects together reviews from an international group of historians, scientists and scholars representing the multiple disciplines where Secchi made significant contributions during his remarkable career. It analyzes both his famous and lesser known pioneering efforts with equal vigor, providing a well-rounded narrative of his life’s work. Beyond his scientific and technological work, his role as a Jesuit priest in Rome during the turbulent years of the mid 19th century is also described and placed in the context of his scientific and civic activities.

Angelo Secchi was a key figure in 19th century science. An Italian Jesuit and scientist, he helped lead the transition from astronomy to astrophysics and left a lasting legacy in the field. Secchi’s spectral classification of stars was a milestone that paved the way for modern astronomical research. He was also a founder of modern meteorology and an innovator in the design and development of new instruments and methods across disciplines.This contributed volume collects together reviews from an international group of historians, scientists and scholars representing the multiple disciplines where Secchi made significant contributions during his remarkable career. It analyzes both his famous and lesser known pioneering efforts with equal vigor, providing a well-rounded narrative of his life’s work. Beyond his scientific and technological work, his role as a Jesuit priest in Rome during the turbulent years of the mid 19th century is also described and placed in the context of his scientific and civic activities.

This book describes the most important contributions of Italian astronomers to the development of planetary astronomy during the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century. This journey through what may be regarded as the golden era of Italian astronomy commences with the discovery of Ceres, the first asteroid, now classified as a dwarf planet, and culminates in the role played by the Padua Observatory in calculating Pluto’s orbit in the 1930s. Along the way, a wealth of information is provided on the discovery of many comets and asteroids, early spectroscopic observations, drawings of planets and comets, calculations of orbits and ephemerides, and much more. The contributions of such famous figures as Giovanni Schiaparelli, Giovanni Battista Donati, Angelo Secchi, and Annibale De Gasparis are fully explained. Many of the described results are still of interest for modern astronomy, and the book appeals to a wide readership, including scholars, historians, astronomers, and the general public.

This book describes the most important contributions of Italian astronomers to the development of planetary astronomy during the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century. This journey through what may be regarded as the golden era of Italian astronomy commences with the discovery of Ceres, the first asteroid, now classified as a dwarf planet, and culminates in the role played by the Padua Observatory in calculating Pluto’s orbit in the 1930s. Along the way, a wealth of information is provided on the discovery of many comets and asteroids, early spectroscopic observations, drawings of planets and comets, calculations of orbits and ephemerides, and much more. The contributions of such famous figures as Giovanni Schiaparelli, Giovanni Battista Donati, Angelo Secchi, and Annibale De Gasparis are fully explained. Many of the described results are still of interest for modern astronomy, and the book appeals to a wide readership, including scholars, historians, astronomers, and the general public.

This book describes the most important contributions of Italian astronomers to the development of planetary astronomy during the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century. This journey through what may be regarded as the golden era of Italian astronomy commences with the discovery of Ceres, the first asteroid, now classified as a dwarf planet, and culminates in the role played by the Padua Observatory in calculating Pluto’s orbit in the 1930s. Along the way, a wealth of information is provided on the discovery of many comets and asteroids, early spectroscopic observations, drawings of planets and comets, calculations of orbits and ephemerides, and much more. The contributions of such famous figures as Giovanni Schiaparelli, Giovanni Battista Donati, Angelo Secchi, and Annibale De Gasparis are fully explained. Many of the described results are still of interest for modern astronomy, and the book appeals to a wide readership, including scholars, historians, astronomers, and the general public.

This book presents research perspectives and open questions on the intersections between astronomy and chronometry. Their study is of crucial importance to the new historiography of observatories. On the one hand, pendulums were fundamental tools for astronomical observation, as measuring time was essential to record the transit of stars and organize astrographic charts. On the other hand, astronomical observation was the method employed for time determination before the introduction of atomic clocks in the mid-20th century. Chapters of this book cohere around 5 sections: starting from the 18th century, and going through the 19th and 20th, the relations between observatories and chronometry (and more generally between practices and materiality) are analyzed from the standpoint of the quest for precision, the certification of timepieces, the acquisition and use of specific apparatus, as well as the circulation of knowledge and of instruments on a global scale.

This book presents research perspectives and open questions on the intersections between astronomy and chronometry. Their study is of crucial importance to the new historiography of observatories. On the one hand, pendulums were fundamental tools for astronomical observation, as measuring time was essential to record the transit of stars and organize astrographic charts. On the other hand, astronomical observation was the method employed for time determination before the introduction of atomic clocks in the mid-20th century. Chapters of this book cohere around 5 sections: starting from the 18th century, and going through the 19th and 20th, the relations between observatories and chronometry (and more generally between practices and materiality) are analyzed from the standpoint of the quest for precision, the certification of timepieces, the acquisition and use of specific apparatus, as well as the circulation of knowledge and of instruments on a global scale.

This book comprises a fascinating collection of contributions on the Merz telescopes in Italy that collectively offer the first survey on historical large refracting telescopes in the country, drawing on original documents and photographs. It opens with a general introduction on the importance of Merz telescopes in the history of astronomy and analyses of the local and international contexts in which the telescopes were made. After examination of an example of the interaction between the maker and the astronomer in the construction and maintenance of these refractors, the history of the Merz telescopes at the main Italian observatories in the nineteenth century is described in detail. Expert testimony is also provided on how these telescopes were successfully used until the second half of the twentieth century for research purposes, thus proving their excellent optical qualities.

This book comprises a fascinating collection of contributions on the Merz telescopes in Italy that collectively offer the first survey on historical large refracting telescopes in the country, drawing on original documents and photographs. It opens with a general introduction on the importance of Merz telescopes in the history of astronomy and analyses of the local and international contexts in which the telescopes were made. After examination of an example of the interaction between the maker and the astronomer in the construction and maintenance of these refractors, the history of the Merz telescopes at the main Italian observatories in the nineteenth century is described in detail. Expert testimony is also provided on how these telescopes were successfully used until the second half of the twentieth century for research purposes, thus proving their excellent optical qualities.

Winner of the 2021 Donald E. Osterbrock Book Prize for Historical AstronomyIn Decoding the Stars, Ileana Chinnici offers an account of the life of the Jesuit scientist Angelo Secchi (1818-1878). In addition to providing an invaluable account of Secchi’s life and work—something that has been sorely lacking in the English-language scholarship—this biography will be especially stimulating for those interested in the evolution of astrophysics as a discipline from the nineteenth century onward. Despite his eclecticism, reminiscent of the natural philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Secchi was in many ways a very modern scientist: open to innovation and cooperation, and a promoter of popularization and citizen science.Secchi also appears fully inserted in the cultural context of his time: he participated in philosophical and scientific debates, spread new theories and ideas, but also suffered the consequences of political events that marked those years and impacted on his life and activities.