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Jakten På Venus (2012)

by Andrea Wulf(Favorite Author)

3.76 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

9173434280 (ISBN13: 9789173434287)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

E-Leopard förlag

review 1: This was an interesting but not overly engrossing chronicle of international efforts to observe and and record the two transits of the sun by the planet Venus, twice in the decade of the 1760s. The basis of the work is that the learned societies of the world agreed that observations needed to be made from various locations throughout the world. thus the birth of international scientific research. In fact there were international and individual conflicts that made the work interesting. The plan was that the measurements would allow the scientific community to determine the distance from earth to the sun. Not as interesting as I expected, but a well documented piece that dealt with a project I had not heard of until I picked the piece up.
review 2: Wulf tells the... more fascinating story of the race to measure the distance between the Earth and the sun in the mid 1700s. The story begins with Halley's 1716 call to astronomers to use the two transits of Venus in 1761 and 1769 to calculate the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Venus transits (comes between the Sun and the Earth) twice in eight years and then does not do so again for over a century. Halley knew he would not be alive to see the transit in 1761 but wanted the scientific community to come together to get accurate measurements. The scientific community took up the call and sent astronomers all over the world in 1761 and 1769 to view the transits. Despite the Seven Year's War, bad weather, illness, financial deficits, etc. these scientists worked together in unprecedented collaboration to calculate the distance to the Sun with incredible accuracy. I did not enjoy this book as much as her others (Brother Gardeners and Founding Gardeners) but it was very well done and enjoyable and informative. less

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