Books in the General History of Astronomy series

The history of astronomy has never been tackled on this scale and depth and this major synthesis breaks wholly new ground. The individual chapters of each volume have been prepared by leading experts in every field of the history of astronomy.

Volume 4 of The General History of Astronomy, originally published in 1984, concerns the birth of modern astrophysics in the nineteenth century, the growth of astronomical institutions to around 1920, and the development of instrumentation. Intended for general readership, this book formed part of an in-depth synthesis of the development of astronomy from the earliest times.

Part B covers the history of planetary astronomy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It provides a synoptic view of the main developments and at the same time furnishes much detail about the lives, ideas, mathematical techniques and interactions of the various astronomers involved.