SOME RELEVANT BOOKS IN PRINT
(with links to Amazon.co.uk, other on-line
bookstores or publishers)
General Histories of Astronomy
Pannekoek, Anton "A History of Astronomy"
Hoskin, Michael (Editor) "The Cambridge Illustrated History of Astronomy"
Ancient Astronomy
Heath, Sir Thomas "Greek Astronomy"
Heath, Sir Thomas "Aristarchus of Samos: The Ancient Copernicus" Apparently unavailable at the moment, but well-worth reading. It contains a translation of Aristarchus’ famous thesis on the distances of the Sun and Moon.
Evans, James “The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy" For those who want to know exactly how the ancient (and medieval) astronomers made the observations and measurements, which gave them a remarkable knowledge of the apparent movements of the sky and its contents.
Toomer,G (translator) "Ptolemy's Almagest"
Apparently unavailable at the moment, but for 1400 years this was the
‘state of the art’ handbook for all self-respecting
astronomers.
Renaissance Astronomy
Copernicus, Nicolas "On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres" Obviously a seminal work. Lots of archaic terminology, but much of it is more accessible than you might think.
Kepler, Johannes "The Epitome of Copernican Astronomy / Harmonies of the World" Ditto.
Koyré, Alexandre "The Astronomical Revolution: Copernicus, Kepler, Borelli" A detailed account of the development of the ideas of these key astronomers.
Caspar, Max "Kepler" The standard biography of Johannes Kepler.
Koestler, Arthur "The Sleepwalkers: A History of Man's Changing Vision of the Universe" A very readable account of the lives and discoveries of Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler.
Drake, Stillman (editor) "The Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo" An excellent compilation of many of the key writings of Galileo – including his account of the discover of the moons of Jupiter, the phases of Venus, sunspots, etc.
Gingerich, Owen "The Great Copernicus Chase" Mostly historical articles from ‘Sky and Telescope’ magazine. Includes pertinent items on the first observation of a transit of Mercury and material relating to the discoveries of Galileo.
17th and 18th
Century Astronomy
Chapman, Allan "William Crabtree 1610-1644: Manchester's First Mathematician" A brief, but comprehensive account of the achievements of Horrox’s friend and collaborator.
Cook, Alan "Edmond Halley: Charting the Heavens
and the Seas" The authoritative, but very readable, biography
of Edmond Halley. Includes accounts of Halley’s observation of a transit
of Mercury from
Sizing the Solar System and
Universe
Van Helden, Albert "Measuring the Universe: Cosmic Dimensions from Aristarchus to Halley" A very thorough account, including fascinating accounts of the observations of Gassendi and Horrox.
Webb, Stephen "Measuring the Universe: The
Cosmological Distance Ladder" How the size of the Earth and
the Distance of the Sun have become the yardsticks with which the Universe
itself is measured.
The Celestial Sphere and Theory of
Transits
Kaler, James "The Ever-Changing Sky: A Guide to the Celestial Sphere" An excellent, non-mathematical, introduction to the detailed motion of celestial bodies.
Green, Robin "Spherical Astronomy" Only for the mathematically inclined.
Meeus, Jean "Transits" The standard reference for algorithms for calculations regarding the timing of transits of Mercury and Venus
Smart, WM "Textbook on Spherical Astronomy" Only for the mathematically inclined.
Popular Accounts of Transits of
Venus
Sellers, David "The Transit of Venus: The Quest to Find the True Distance of the Sun" Tells the fascinating story of attempts to measure the distance of the Sun - from earliest times to the age of radar. The crucial role of the transit of Venus in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is described in detail. Woven into the story is an explanation of each of the key pieces of evidence, which allows us to say that we truly know the distance of the Sun. This book contains the only English translation in print of Halley’s 1716 admonition explaining how future transits could be used to determine the distance of the Sun.
Maor, Eli "June 8, 2004 - Venus in Transit" A very readable account of historical transits of Venus and a look forward to the 2004 transit.
Maunder, Michael and Moore, Patrick "Transits: When Planets Cross the Sun" Mainly aimed at the practicalities of observing and photographing transits, but it does include a substantial account of past transits.
Fernie, Donald "Setting Sail for the Universe: Astronomers and Their
Discoveries" A number of enjoyable articles on astronomical
topics reproduced from the author’s ‘Marginalia’ series in
‘American Scientist’. It includes chapters on the observations of Horrox and several on the eighteenth century transit of
Venus expeditions. The author also wrote ‘Whisper and the Vision: Voyages of the Astronomers’, which also
dealt with some of the same material, but this is now out of print.
Chauvin, Michael "Hokuloa: the
British 1874 Transit of Venus
Expedition to Hawai’i" A full account of the fortunes of the
astronomers involved in this expedition. The only accessible source of much of
the biographical/anecdotal material contained.
Aughton, Peter "The Transit of Venus: The Brief, Brilliant Life of Jeremiah Horrocks, Father of British Astronomy" Exclusively dealing with the life and achievements of Horrocks. Contains some hard-to-find extracts from Horrocks’ writings.
Sheehan, William; Westfall, John "The Transits of Venus" A very comprehensive account of historical transit expeditions. Useful information about the circumstances of future transits.
Novels and Plays
Hunter, Maureen "Transit of Venus: a Play" A Canadian dramatisation of the life of Le Gentil.
Banville, John "Kepler" The life of Johannes Kepler in novel form.
Foreign Language Works
Simaan, Arkan (Ed.) "Vénus devant le Soleil" A very comprehensive book, covering the nature of Venus, the history of transits, observing methods and calculations. It includes extensive extracts from the 18th century accounts of Le Gentil, Chappe d’Auteroche and Pingré. The book is aimed at high school students, but will also appeal to amateur astronomers and other transit enthusiasts. The authors are: Arkan Simaan, Jacques Blamont, Guillaume Cannat, Yves Delaye, Michel Laudon, Jean-Pierre Luminet, David Sellers and Steven M Van Roode. [FRENCH]
Marlot, Christophe "Les Passages de Vénus" The enthralling story of transits from the 17th century until today. An excellent account, very rich in extracts from first-hand reports. [FRENCH]
Arlot, Jean-Eudes (Ed.) "Le passage de Vénus" Probably the most detailed explanation of the orbital features that cause transits and the calculations involved in using transits to work out the solar parallax. This book includes the first French translation of Halley’s 1716 paper on transits. [FRENCH]
Crato, Nuno; Reis, Fernando; Tirapicos, Luis "Transitos de Vénus: A Procura da Escala Exacta do Sistema Solar" An excellent introduction to the history of transits how how they enable the scale of the solar system to be calculated. [PORTUGUESE]
Pingré, Alexandre-Gui "Voyage à Rodrigue" Edited by Sophie Hoarau, Marie-Paule Janiçon and Jean-Michel Racault, this ‘print-on-demand’ edition of Pingré’s 1761 journal describes his turbulent voyage to observe the Venus transit from the Isle of Rodrigue. A fascinating glimpse of sea-faring life in the 18th century, as well as a report of key observations. [FRENCH]