Star Maps (eBook)

History, Artistry, and Cartography

Nick Kanas (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2007 | 2007
XXXII, 382 Seiten
Springer New York (Verlag)
978-0-387-71669-5 (ISBN)

Infos

The beauty and awe generated by the celestial void captures our imagination and delights our aesthetic sense. Antiquarian map societies are prospering, and celestial maps are now viewed as a specialty of map collecting. This book traces the history of celestial cartography and relates this history to the changing ideas of man's place in the universe and to advances in map-making. Photographs from actual antiquarian celestial atlases and prints, many previously unpublished, enrich the text. The book describes the development and relationships between different sky maps and atlases as well as demonstrating contemporary cosmological ideas, constellation representations, and cartographic advances.

Nick Kanas, M.D., is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. He has been a member of the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers since 1978 and has collected and researched antiquarian celestial books, atlases, and prints for nearly 25 years. He is a member of several map collector societies and has lectured on the history of celestial cartography at scientific and non-scientific meetings of organizations such as the Sydney (Australia) Observatory, the 20^th International Conference on the History of Cartography, and the California Map Society. He also has written articles on this subject for a number of journals and magazines, including Sky & Telescope, Mercury, Imago Mundi, Mercator's World, and the Journal of the International Map Collectors' Society. Professor Kanas has written over 160 professional articles and 3 books, including, with D. Manzey, Space Psychology and Psychiatry (Kluwer/Springer, 2003), which won the 2004 International Academy of Astronautics Life Science Book Award. He also won Honorable Mention in the 2006 Boeing/Griffith Observer Science Writing Contest for his astronomy article on 'Sacrobosco's De Sphaera' (which was published in the astronomy magazine Griffith Observer, sponsored by the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles).

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From 1600 to 1800 a number of beautiful star atlases depicting the constellations according to ancient myths and tales were printed. In Europe, where the quality of celestial atlases was unmatched, classical Greek traditions prevailed and the constellations were given allegorical visual representations of heroes and heroines, real and imaginary animals, scientific instruments and artistic tools. These images were placed in celestial latitude and longitude coordinate systems that allowed the positions of the stars to be mapped in the sky and formed the backdrop for predictions of the location of the planets and other heavenly bodies throughout the year. These celestial atlases also contained diagrams of the solar system that reflected both contemporary and ancient cosmological systems, thus tracing the development of man's view of his place in the universe.With the construction of the International Space Station, and with new plans for manned missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond, there is renewed interest in the heavens. An ever-increasing number of people are fascinated with the science of space and are becoming amateur astronomers. Antiquarian map societies are prospering, and celestial maps are now viewed as a specialty of map collecting. At the same time, the beauty and awe generated by the celestial void captures our imagination and delights our aesthetic sense.This book traces the history of celestial cartography and relates this history to the changing ideas of man's place in the universe and to advances in map-making. Photographs from actual antiquarian celestial atlases and prints, many previously unpublished, enrich the text, and a legend accompanies each illustration to explain its astronomical and cartographic features. Also included in the book are discussions of non-European celestial maps and chapters on early American influences and celestial map-collecting.

Inhalt

Contents 5
Foreword 14
Preface 16
Figures 23
Color sections 28
Tables 29
Abbreviations and acronyms 30
1 What is a star map? 31
2 Non-European cosmology and constellation development 47
3 European cosmology 78
4 European constellation development 135
5 Early European star maps 160
6 The "Big Four" of the Golden Age of pictorial star maps 177
7 Other important star maps of the Golden Age 217
8 Special topics 250
9 Mapping the stars early in America 295
10 The transition to non-pictorial star maps 315
Appendix A: Collecting celestial maps and prints 345
Appendix B: Supplementary reference catalog 352
Appendix C: Indices of major constellation atlases 377
Appendix D: The British Library "King's" edition 386
Appendix E: Glossary 387
Index 394

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 5.10.2007
• Reihe/Serie: Popular Astronomy
• Reihe/Serie: Popular Astronomy
• Reihe/Serie: Springer Praxis Books
• Reihe/Serie: Springer Praxis Books
• Zusatzinfo: XXXII, 382 p. 207 illus., 76 illus. in color.
• Verlagsort: New York
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Natur / Technik ► Weltraum / Astronomie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Astronomie / Astrophysik
• Themenwelt: Technik
• Schlagworte: Beasts • Cartography • Celestial cartography • Cosmology • instruments • Kanas • Star maps explained • Universe
• ISBN-10: 0-387-71669-6 / 0387716696
• ISBN-13: 978-0-387-71669-5 / 9780387716695