1882 Transit of Venus : Observations from Wellington, South Africa
http://www.saao.ac.za/~wpk/tov1882/tovwell.html
The 1882 Transit of Venus and its observation are described by Willie Koorts, South African Astronomical Observatory. The notes include the construction of the Williston Observatory, Mount Holyoke (USA) in 1881, the studies of Professor Simon Newcomb of the US Naval Observatory, and South African observations. A reference list is included. Links are provided to two full-text papers by Willie Koorts (PDF format, 900 kb and 2.2mb, Adobe Reader required). The site is also available in Afrikaans.
More details
2004 transit of Venus
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/transit04.html
Fred Espenak provides information on the 2004 transit of Venus, and on the history and frequency of such transits.
More details
20th century exploration : journey through the galaxy
http://filer.case.edu/~sjr16/advanced/20th.html
In this series of pages, the authors describe space exploration in the 20th Century; the site contains a discussion of three key figures (Hubble, Hawking and Einstein), and describes missions to many bodies in the Solar system. It is divided into four key areas: people, Earth and Moon missions and satellites, missions to other planets, and Soviet craft. This educational resource forms part of a larger site entitled Journey Through the Galaxy created by students at Case Western Reserve University.
More details
6th International conference on public communication of science and technology
http://visits.web.cern.ch/visits/pcst2001/
Website of the 6th International conference on public communication of science and technology entitled Trends in science communication today: bridging the gap between theory and practice which took place at Cern in Geneva between 1-3 February 2001. The conference was arranged by the International Network on Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST Network). Themes chosen for the conference reflected the need for more cross-fertilization between theory and practice in science communication and the use of novel methods of communicating science to the public. The conference also examined the role of scientists in the public sphere. The website gives full conference programme details with the proceedings, some are available only as abstracts. Some of the proceedings are not in English.
More details
Ancient astronomers : journey through the galaxy
http://filer.case.edu/~sjr16/advanced/pre20th_ancients.html
A guide to space exploration and discovery by the ancients; the groups covered are the Babylonians, Greeks, Egyptians and others. There is also a section on ancient calendars. This educational resource forms part of a larger site entitled Journey Through the Galaxy created by students at Case Western Reserve University.
More details
Ancient Cosmology : Lecture 1 : Galaxies and the Expanding Universe : Astronomy 123
http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/ast123/lectures/lec01.html
Lecture one of a course on galaxies and the expanding Universe by James Schombert of the University of Oregon, USA, gives an illustrated introduction to the history of the study of cosmology. It includes: Neolithic cosmology; Egyptian and Mesopotamian cosmology; Greek cosmology; and the anthropocentric Universe.
More details
Annotated Timeline : From Stargazers to Starships
http://www.phy6.org/stargaze/Stimelin.htm
A timeline of events and figures in astronomy, from 13,000 BC to present. The author includes comments, and also non-astronomy events which put the main timeline into context. This page forms part of the larger 'From Stargazers to Starships' educational resource, written by David P Stern and aimed at pre-University students. The site is also available in Spanish, French and Italian.
More details
Archaeoastronomy in Denmark
http://www.rundetaarn.dk/engelsk/observatorium/archaeoas.htm
A brief summary of the astronomical nature of prehistoric monuments in Denmark is provided. The lack of an early written language in Northern Europe means that this knowledge of the past must be based on archaeological evidence as well as on the few existing accounts of journeys written by literary people. This resource by Erling Poulsen is part of the website of the Rundetaarn (Round Tower) observatory in Copenhagen, Denmark.
More details
Aristarchus : Is Earth Revolving around the Sun?
http://www.phy6.org/stargaze/Sarist.htm
Aristarchus was one of the first people to suggest that the Earth moved round the Sun. This page provides a brief introduction to his observations, and critiques his methodology. This page forms part of the larger 'From Stargazers to Starships' educational resource, written by David P Stern and aimed at pre-University students. The site is also available in Spanish, French and Italian.
More details
Art of Renaissance Science : Galileo and Perspective
http://www.mcm.edu/academic/galileo/ars/arshtml/arstitle.html
This is a resource about the history of science, which covers the Renaissance period. Particularly, it reflects upon Galileo Galilei and his theories. At that time many significant discoveries were made, which were the cornerstones of the modern science, including the development of heliocentric theory, and relative motion. Invention of the telescope made the observations more precise. 'The Art of Renaissance Science' hypermedia programme is an article for a hypermedia scholarly journal being developed in cooperation with the Science and Engineering Television Network Inc. Its author is Professor Joseph W Dauben, Professor of History and the History of Science, Lehman College, City University of New York.
More details
Astrolabe : an online resource
http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/astrolabe/
This online exhibit from the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, was prepared to accompany an exhibition on astrolabes held in 2005-6. It includes an introduction to the exhibition, and a catalogue of the astrolabes in the museum which can be browsed or searched.
More details
Astrolabes
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/tops/astlabe.html
This exercise was developed to be used at the TOPS 1995 workshop in Kamuela (by O. Hainaut and K. Meech). It provides instructions on how to build an astrolabe with downloadable location specific templates. The history of the astrolabe is also given.
More details
Astrolabes of Africa
http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/africa/
This website from the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, prepared to accompany a display in 2005 for the Africa 05 festival, provides images of and notes on ten African astrolabes.
More details
Astronomiae historia / History of astronomy
http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~pbrosche/
The site provides information for historians of astronomy and related fields. Resources are organised into categories, and there are more than 400 files and about 8000 links to external documents. Astronomiae Historia / History of Astronomy was created in January 1995 on behalf of the Working Group for the History of Astronomy in the Astronomische Gesellschaft. Since March 1998 this site is also maintained on behalf of Commission 41 (History of Astronomy) of the International Astronomical Union. The site is also available in German, although with fewer links.
More details
Astronomy and the scientific revolution
http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/dbanach/ph31b.htm
This collection of links to courses and other websites was prepared by David Banach to accompany a course in the philosophy of science at the Philosophy Department, St Anselm College, Manchester, NH, USA. It includes the following topics: Ptolemy and Greek astronomy, different explanations of planetary motion, Johannes Kepler, Copernicus, Aristotle, Galileo, and Newton.
More details
Astronomy Enters the Twentieth Century : Lesson 3 : Astronomy 101
http://space.about.com/cs/astronomy101/a/astro101d.htm
An introduction to important figures in modern astronomy, from Edmund Halley to Thomas Gold. The astronomers discussed include: Halley; William Herschel; Albert Einstein; Willem de Sitter Born; Georges-Henri Lemaitre; Edwin Hubble; and Gold. A short description of each astronomer's most significant contributions is provided. This page is taken from an introductory astronomy course hosted by about.com, and aimed at general readers/high school students. Links are provided for further reading, other general astronomy articles, and other educational materials.
More details
Auroral frequency map by Elias Loomis
http://www.phy6.org/Education/wloomis.html
A copy of Elias Loomis' 1860 map of the frequency of auroras in various polar regions is provided. This page forms part of the larger "Exploration of the Earth's Magnetosphere" educational resource, written by David P. Stern and Mauricio Peredo and aimed at pre-University students. The site is also available in Spanish and French (incomplete).
More details
Auroral frequency map by Hermann Fritz
http://www.phy6.org/Education/wfritz.html
A copy of Hermann Fritz's 1881 auroral frequency map is provided. This page forms part of the larger "Exploration of the Earth's Magnetosphere" educational resource, written by David P Stern and Mauricio Peredo and aimed at pre-University students. The site is also available in Spanish and French (incomplete).
More details
Brief History of Astronomy : Chapter Four : Nature of the Universe
http://www.physics.hku.hk/~nature/CD/regular_e/lectures/chap04.html
The authors have compiled a brief astronomy history, starting with the ancient Greeks, and continuing through the observations and discoveries of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton and Einstein. For each scientist, the authors describe his major achievements, and reinforce the text with diagrams and illustrations where applicable. This page forms part of a course in introductory astronomy from the Department of Physics of the University of Hong Kong.
More details
Brief history of cosmology
http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Cosmology.html
This site describes the history of cosmology from the Babylonians and Ancient Greeks through to the early 1980s. Links are provided to biographies of some of the key astronomers involved. A short bibliography is included. The site is part of the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland.
More details
Carrington's Flare
http://www.phy6.org/Education/whcarr.html
An extract from "Description of a Singular Appearance seen in the Sun on September 1, 1859" by Richard C Carrington, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol 20, 13-15, 1860, reporting his discovery of Solar flares. This page forms part of the larger 'Exploration of the Earth's Magnetosphere' educational resource, written by David P. Stern and Mauricio Peredo and aimed at pre-University students. The site is also available in Spanish and French (incomplete).
More details
Charles Messier's Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters
http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/xtra/history/m-cat.html
This resource from SEDS (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space) provides the text of Charles Messier's Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters together with a brief history of the catalogue and a biography of Charles Messier. Links are provided to the SEDS Messier Objects database and to additional data and resources.
More details
Chronology of discoveries about the Sun
http://www.mreclipse.com/Totality/TotalityApH.html
The resource "Chronology of Discoveries about the Sun" is adapted from Appendix H of "Totality: Eclipses of the Sun" by Mark Littmann, Ken Willcox and Fred Espenak, published in 1999. It lists discoveries about the Sun made during Solar eclipses from 2159 BC to 1998 AD.
More details
Cometography
http://cometography.com/
Cometography is written by Gary W Kronk, and sponsored by the SpaceWeather.com. It contains data, history, observer notes, and charts for current and selected historical comets. Biographies of comet discoverers and observers, and links to other comet sites are provided.
More details
Copernicus, Galileo, and the Discovery of the Solar System
http://www.phy6.org/stargaze/Ssolsys.htm
A description of the early discovery of the Solar System and planets, including the observations of Galileo and Copernicus. This page forms part of the larger 'From Stargazers to Starships' educational resource, written by David P Stern and aimed at pre-University students. The site is also available in Spanish, French and Italian.
More details
