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Alessandro Piccolomini’s Early Astronomical Works: II. An Examination of Their Scientific Content

This book presents the first detailed scientific examination of Alessandro Piccolomini’s two early astronomical works – De la Sfera del Mondo and De le Stelle Fisse. First published in Venice in 1540, the two treatises are amongst the earliest scientific texts written in the vernacular (Italian) and...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dekker, Elly (Author)
Corporate Author: SpringerLink (Online service)
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: Cham : Springer Nature Switzerland : Imprint: Springer, 2024.
Edition:1st ed. 2024.
Series:Historical & Cultural Astronomy,
Subjects:
Physics > History.
Astronomy > Observations.
Science > Study and teaching.
History of Physics and Astronomy.
Astronomy, Observations and Techniques.
Science Education.
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-56330-0
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Table of Contents:
  • 1. De la Sfera del Mondo: an exploration of Piccolomini’s universe
  • 1.1 Introduction
  • 1.2 Piccolomini and the motion of the solar apogee
  • 1.3 The sizes of the planets and their distances from the Earth
  • 1.4 Concluding remarks
  • 2. De le Stelle Fisse: teaching the constellations
  • 2.1 Historical notes
  • 2.2 Piccolomini’s method
  • 2.3 Piccolomini’s new invention
  • 2.4 Concluding remarks
  • 3. Manuscript notes made by readers of De le Stelle Fisse
  • 3.1 Cartographical uses: a 1553 edition of De le Stelle Fisse in the Museo Galileo, Florence
  • 3.1.1 The coordinate grids
  • 3.1.2 Use of the maps to chart the path of the comet of 1652-53
  • 3.2 Use of the maps to outline constellation figures: a 1570 edition from the Collegio Romano
  • 4. The maps in De le Stelle Fisse
  • 4.1 Introduction to the maps
  • 4.2 Construction of the maps
  • 4.3 The globe hypothesis
  • 4.4 Piccolomini’s system for indicating direction and orientation
  • 5. The Tables in De le Stelle Fisse
  • 5.1 An introduction to Piccolomini’s Tables
  • 5.2 The daily motion of a star: the relationship between altitude and azimuth
  • 5.3 Calculating zenith distance and azimuth
  • 5.4 Piccolomini’s Tables and the motion of the Sun
  • 5.5 Concluding remarks
  • 6. Simultaneous risings and settings in De le Stelle Fisse
  • Appendix I: The constellation guide
  • Appendix II: Map features in the different editions of De le Stelle Fisse
  • Appendix III: Explanations of the names and terms used
  • Bibliography
  • Index.

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