HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY
BY
GEORGE FORBES,
M.A., F.R.S., M. INST. C. E.,
(FORMERLY PROFESSOR OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, ANDERSON’SCOLLEGE, GLASGOW)
AUTHOR OF “THE TRANSIT OF VENUS,” RENDU’S“THEORY OF THE GLACIERS OF SAVOY,” ETC., ETC.
CONTENTS
PREFACE
An attempt has been made in these pages to trace the evolution of intellectualthought in the progress of astronomical discovery, and, by recognising thedifferent points of view of the different ages, to give due credit even to theancients. No one can expect, in a history of astronomy of limited size, to finda treatise on “practical” or on “theoreticalastronomy,” nor a complete “descriptive astronomy,” and stillless a book on “speculative astronomy.” Something of each of theseis essential, however, for tracing the progress of thought and knowledge whichit is the object of this History to describe.
The progress of human knowledge is measured by the increased habit of lookingat facts from new points of view, as much as by the accumulation of facts. Themental capa