This page is not quite blank. A new view of the Universe IX Fred Watson, AAO April 2005 A new view...
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Transcript of This page is not quite blank. A new view of the Universe IX Fred Watson, AAO April 2005 A new view...
This page is not quite blank
A new view of the Universe IX
Fred Watson, AAO
April 2005
A new view of the Universe IX
Fred Watson, AAO
April 2005
Scientific controversy: Large and small—from the earliest times until todayHigh-spirits:
e.g. Professor GCENSOREDe in Feb 1982
CENSORED
Scientific controversy: Large and small—from the earliest times until todayHigh-spirits:
e.g. Professor GCENSOREDe in Feb 1982 Unintentional bad behaviour:e.g. GRACE gravity map (2001)
Scientific controversy: Large and small—from the earliest times until todayHigh-spirits:
e.g. Professor GCENSOREDe in Feb 1982 Unintentional bad behaviour:e.g. GRACE gravity map (2001)Genuine stupidity: e.g. Andrew Barclay’s planet observations…
Andrew Barclay and the ‘Unrevealed Wonders of the
Heavens’
Andrew Barclay and the ‘Unrevealed Wonders of the
Heavens’
Andrew Barclay (1814-1900)Andrew Barclay (1814-1900)Locomotive builder from Kilmarnock Became hooked on building telescopes on the side.
While they were beautifully engineered, his telescopes were small and old-fashioned by the standards of the day.
Optically, they were absolutely hopeless.
But Barclay refused to believe they were…
Barclay also described a ‘blue, spherical-looking mountain’ in Mars’ southern hemisphere (1893)
Andrew Barclay’s Mars…Andrew Barclay’s Mars…
Barclay’s ‘egg-shaped protruberances’ were later reported to have brown smoke issuing from them.
His version of Jupiter…His version of Jupiter…
And Saturn…And Saturn…
Barclay’s results appeared in the English Mechanic and were received with utter derision:
‘I can only say that if I had a telescope that exhibited the great planet as depicted in Mr B’s Fig.1, I would dispose of the optical part for what it would fetch, and convert the tube into a chimney cowl straightway’. (And that’s one of the kind ones).Barclay protested he had spent £10,000 learning how to make telescope mirrors. How could there be anything wrong with them?He was clearly not only obstinate, but also stupid.
The response to Barclay’s work…The response to Barclay’s work…
Tycho Brahe
December 1566
Tycho Brahe
December 1566
Tycho Brahe’s world on Hven, 1576–1597
Tycho Brahe’s world on Hven,
1576–1597
Tycho was easily the most accomplished astronomer of the pre-telescopic era.E.g. his notes on the total lunar eclipse of 2 Mar 1588.
Tycho had observed a similar lunar eclipse on 28 October 1566, as a 19-year-old student.It had proved to be a fateful event…
It led him to develop prosthetic noses…And perhaps explains his bad behaviour towards the locals
Tobias Gemperle’s sketch of Tycho at the age of 40 (1587) clearly shows the result of Tycho’s dispute with Manderup Parsberg
The Invention of the Telescope
October 1608
The Invention of the Telescope
October 1608
The origins of the telescope…
Seat of government of the States General of the Northern Provinces of The Netherlands.At war with Spain, 1568–1648
Binnenhof
The Hague
Hans Lipperhey
On the request of Hans Lipperhey, born in Wesel, living in Middelberg, spectacle-maker, having discovered a certain instrument for seeing far, as has been shown to the Gentlemen of the States, requesting that, since the instrument ought not to be made generally known, he be granted a patent for thirty years…
Thurs. 2nd October, 1608
Jacob Adriaenszoon Metius
To Jacob Adriaenszoon Metius, son of Mr Adriaen Anthonissen, ex-burgomaster of the city of Alkmaar, who requests a patent on his invention to stretch out sight in such a manner that, with it, things could be seen very clearly, which otherwise, because of the distance, could not be seen at all…
Friday 17th October, 1608
The Third Claimant
Sacharias Janssen, another spectacle-maker from Middelburg, was interviewed there by the Committee of Councillors of Zeeland on 14th October 1608.Their letter to the States General would have arrived the following week.Modern research shows Janssen to have had a spectacular criminal record (debt, assault, forgery); he went to ground to escape the death penalty in 1619.His son, Johannes Sachariassen, seems to have been similarly afflicted, with scant regard for truthfulness…
Telescopes with lenses…
Della Porta’s sketch of 1609 shows the
principle. But it was Galileo
who turned it into an engine of discovery
in the same year
Sir James South (1785–1866) v.
Rev. Richard Sheepshanks (1794–1853)
1829–56
Sir James South (1785–1866) v.
Rev. Richard Sheepshanks (1794–1853)
1829–56
Just watch it,South Oh, no,
they’reat it again
What are youlooking at,
Sheepshanks?
South, a gifted amateur of independent means (a surgeon by profession), knighted for his services to astronomy (double-star measurement), but outspoken in his criticism of the establishment. President of the RAS, 1829–31.Sheepshanks, forthright son of a Yorkshire mill-owner, a Cambridge-educated mathematician scornful of those less talented than himself. Secretary of the RAS, 1829–31.The Final Breakdown began with South’s procurement late in 1829 of a 12-in telescope lens, which he placed in the hands of his then-friend, Edward Troughton, asking him to construct Britain’s most powerful telescope…
Unbridled Animosity…
By 1832, Troughton & Simms’ telescope had failed to satisfy South.He accused them of building “a useless pile”.Troughton took legal action to recover his firm’s costs.Guess who he hired as his lawyer?Troughton & Simms won in 1838, enraging South.So, in 1839…
The scene at Sir James South’s, 8th July 1839…
“…the useless 20ft equatorial invented by Troughton and Simms, and cobbled by their assistants the Rev.
R. Sheepshanks and Mr. G. B. Airy…”
And, in 1842…South attempted to complete the humiliation of Troughton & Simms and their allies by addressing the humblest categories of tradesmen in the district…
South’s vitriol continued even after Sheepshanks’ death in 1853…The lens was never properly used by South.
Edwin Hubble&
Adriaan van Maanen
1924–35
Edwin Hubble&
Adriaan van Maanen
1924–35
Galaxies…
Edge-on view of a spiral galaxy
Controversy since Herschel’s time:Were they small and nearby or big and remote?Edwin Hubble’s great achievement:In 1924, he confirmed that the ‘spiral nebulae’ were in fact gigantic systems of stars at enormous distances…
But van Maanen thought he had evidence they were nearby…
We now know that Van Maanen’s earliest (1908) observations were flawed. Adjustments to the then-new 60-inch telescope had not been finally completed—but Van Maanen steadfastly believed all his results.Hubble’s contempt blossomed when he repeated the measurements of van Maanen’s plates, demonstrating that the galaxy rotations were completely spurious.Walter Adams, their Director, had to reconcile their views in his 1935 report, which glossed over the dispute. But in confidence, he wrote “This is not the first case in which Hubble has seriously injured himself in the opinion of scientific men by the intemperate and intolerant way in which he has expressed himself…”
Recipe for Dispute…
What the reviewers have said:
‘A rollicking good yarn’ (Sky & Space)
‘…real joy…’ (Sydney Morning Herald)
‘Brilliant!’ (Australian Country Style)
These and many other stories can be found in STARGAZER
‘Really fantastic… such an accessible text’(Allen Simpson, University of Edinburgh)
‘Lively, entertaining, can’t-put-it-down’(Australian Sky & Telescope)
‘As riveting as watching paint dry…’(Wayne Webb, xtramsn entertainment website)
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NOW!!
Clube & Napierv.
Alvarez et al.
1979–82
Clube & Napierv.
Alvarez et al.
1979–82