- Hardcover: 458 pages
- Publisher: Springer/Sci-Tech/Trade (Oct 19 1999)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0883188635
- ISBN-13: 978-0883188637
- Product Dimensions: 2.4 x 1.6 x 0.4 cm
- Shipping Weight: 962 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #262,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
Book Description
In this collection Gingerich focuses on the transformation of astronomy from Ptolemy's geocentrisim to Kepler's remoulding of Copernican cosmology. Several of Gingerich's favourite themes are illuminated: the importance of historical context in the study of science, the careful examination of work habits as a key to understanding, and the role of creativity and artistry in science. The work includes Dr Gingerich's well-known and influential essay on crisis versus aesthetic in the Copernican revolution, a look at Newton's "Principia" as a work of art, and one of Gingerich's most popular pieces, "The Computer versus Kepler".
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Approach with Caution! Not for the Intellectually Lazy.,
By
This review is from: Eye of Heaven: Ptolemy,Copernicus,Kepler (Hardcover)
I would hate to discourage anyone from reading this book. I loved this book, but it is challenging. An undergraduate degree in a technical field and a fair amateur's knowledge of spherical astronomy is probably a minimum requirement for fully appreciating this book. This is not to say that Professor Gingerich is obscure, rather he writes with remarkable clarity but he aims at his peers, who are mostly Oxford dons. I would recommend borrowing it from your local library before investing in it.I am sure there are thousands of high school freshman who will digest this book without any problem, I wasn't one of them and I never met any such.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Required reading!,
By
This review is from: Eye of Heaven: Ptolemy,Copernicus,Kepler (Hardcover)
This book is essential for anybody who wants to understand what Ptolemy, Copernicus and Kepler really did. It's a bit more technical than "The Great Copernicus Chase", but if you're serious, you'll appreciate it.And if you're really serious, you'll get a copy of the paper by James Evans in Am. J. Phys 56 (Nov, 1988) 1009-1024. It answered tons of technical questions for me. Just do it, you'll thank me (and Jim Evans!).
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews) 11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Required reading!,
By Helmer Aslaksen - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Eye of Heaven: Ptolemy,Copernicus,Kepler (Hardcover)
This book is essential for anybody who wants to understand what Ptolemy, Copernicus and Kepler really did. It's a bit more technical than "The Great Copernicus Chase", but if you're serious, you'll appreciate it.And if you're really serious, you'll get a copy of the paper by James Evans in Am. J. Phys 56 (Nov, 1988) 1009-1024. It answered tons of technical questions for me. Just do it, you'll thank me (and Jim Evans!). 1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Why is Kindle Edition so expensive? (review applies only to Kindle Edition),
By C. Miller - Published on Amazon.com
I don't get it. The Kindle edition price is very high. No paper, no ink, no binding, no shipping costs incurred by Amazon. Yet their asking price is similar to the hard copy. Is anyone else bothered by this?
5 of 9 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Eye of Heaven: Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler,
By Stuart Godfrey "Stuart Godfrey" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Eye of Heaven: Ptolemy,Copernicus,Kepler (Hardcover)
I bought this book because I am hoping to write a book myself, giving a thumbnail sketch of history relevant to today's climate science (including Global Warming) from the Ancient Egyptians through Newton and Foucault and into the present. Real meteorology started 7 years after Foucault's work, as a direct result of what was learned from Foucault's pendulum.I am a climate scientist, not an historian, so I have a steep learning curve to write such a book.I had previously obtained Toomer's magnificent translation of Ptolemy's "Almagest" (it shows Ptolemy to have been the world's first full-on theoretical physicist, and a magnificent teacher). I knew Toomer valued Gingerich highly, so I bought Gingerich's book. It has not disappointed. It has helped me to understand Ptolemy's fairly opaque book much better, and has also given me a much better appreciation of Copernicus the man. I would have liked it if Gingerich had described Brahe in the same way -- we scientists value observations first, then theory -- and Ivar Peterson's "Newton's Clock" does a better job on Kepler. Nevertheless, I nearly gave this book five stars, not four. |
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
