ASTR 240
Great Astronomers and Their Original Publications
Last Offered Fall 2018
Division III Writing Skills
Cross-listed LEAD 240 / HSCI 240 / STS 240
This course is not offered in the current catalog

Class Details

We study many of the greatest names in the history of astronomy, consider their biographies, assess their leadership roles in advancing science, and examine and handle the first editions of their books and other publications. Our study includes, in addition to a Shakespeare First Folio (with its astronomical mentions) and a page from the Gutenberg Bible, original books such as: 16th-century, Nicolaus Copernicus (heliocentric universe); Tycho Brahe (best pre-telescopic observations); 17th-century, Galileo (discoveries with his first astronomical telescope, 1610; sunspots, 1613; Dialogo, 1632); Johannes Kepler (laws of planetary motion, 1609, 1619); Johannes Hevelius and Elisabeth Hevelius (atlases of the Moon and of stars, 1647, and 1687); Isaac Newton (laws of universal gravitation and of motion, 1687); 18th-century, Edmond Halley (Miscellanea curiosa, eclipse maps, 1715, 1724); John Flamsteed and Margaret Flamsteed (Atlas Coelestis, 1729); William Herschel and Caroline Herschel (1781, 1798). In more recent centuries, the original works are articles: 20th–century: Albert Einstein (special relativity, 1905; general relativity, 1916); Marie Curie (radioactivity); Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (hydrogen dominating stars, 1929), Edwin Hubble (Hubble’s law, 1929); Vera Rubin (dark matter, 1970s); Jocelyn Bell Burnell (pulsar discovery, 1968); 21st-century: Wendy Freedman (Universe’s expansion rate, 2000s). We will also read biographies and recent novels dealing with some of the above astronomers. With the collaboration of the Chapin Librarian, we will meet regularly in the Chapin Library of Rare Books and also have a session at the library of the Clark Art Institute to see its rare books of astronomical interest. The course is a repeat of the successful course first given during the 2014-15 academic year’s Year of the Book, honoring the new Sawyer L ibrary and the expansion of the Chapin Library of Rare Books.
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 12
Expected: 12
Class#: 1099
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: class participation, two 5-page intermediate papers, and a final 15-page paper
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preferences: if overenrolled, preference by written paragraph of explanation of why student wants to take the course
Distributions: Division III Writing Skills
Notes: This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
LEAD 240 Division II HSCI 240 Division II STS 240 Division III ASTR 240 Division III
Attributes: LEAD Facets or Domains of Leadership
SCST Related Courses

Class Grid

Updated 3:55 pm

Course Catalog Search


(searches Title and Course Description only)
TERM




SUBJECT
DIVISION



DISTRIBUTION



ENROLLMENT LIMIT
COURSE TYPE
Start Time
End Time
Day(s)