Project Gutenberg 2012-07-15 Public domain in the USA. 67 Olmsted, Denison 1791 1859 Olmstead, Denison Letters on Astronomy in which the Elements of the Science are Familiarly Explained in Connection with Biographical Sketches of the Most Eminent Astronomers Reading ease score: 46.6 (College-level). Difficult to read. Preface -- Introductory observations -- Doctrine of the sphere -- Astronomical instruments; telescope -- Observatories -- Time and the calendar -- Figure of the earth -- Diurnal revolution -- Parallax and refraction -- The sun -- Annual revolution; seasons -- Laws of motion -- Terrestrial gravity -- Sir Isaac Newton; unversal gravitation; figure of the earth's orbit; precession of the equinoxes -- The moon -- The moon; phases; harvest moon; librations -- Moon's orbit; her irregularities -- Eclipses -- Longitude; tides -- Planets; Mercury and Venus -- Superior planets: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus -- Copernicus; Galileo -- Saturn; Uranus; asteroids -- The planetary motions; Kepler's laws; Kepler -- Comets -- Meteoric showers -- Fixed stars -- System of the world -- Natural theology -- Recent discoveries. Produced by David Starner, Mark Young and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Letters on Astronomy" by Denison Olmsted is a scientific publication written in the early 19th century. The work aims to make the complex subject of astronomy accessible to a general audience, especially through its friendly letters format infused with biographical sketches of notable astronomers. It is likely intended for both educational purposes and personal enlightenment, appealing to those curious about the universe and its wonders. The opening of "Letters on Astronomy" sets a conversational tone, as the author addresses a friend who expressed a desire to learn more about the subject but felt intimidated by its technical jargon. Olmsted reveals that he aims to compose a work that is clear yet comprehensive, weaving in fascinating historical anecdotes about significant figures in astronomy, from ancient civilizations to contemporaries like Copernicus and Newton. He emphasizes that while astronomy can be complex, the foundational principles are straightforward and can offer great intellectual stimulation and beauty to those willing to explore them. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Astronomy QB Text Browsing: Science - Astronomy Browsing: Science - General 963399 963353 2024-11-17T04:59:27.554423 2023-09-17T13:14:52.516719 text/html text/html 952449 2012-08-31T10:09:08 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 1786237 2012-08-31T10:09:44 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 1723138 2024-11-17T04:59:41.525336 application/epub+zip 1735582 2024-11-17T04:59:30.906360 application/epub+zip 417929 2024-11-17T04:59:29.022362 application/epub+zip 2050505 2024-11-17T04:59:49.503264 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1967576 2024-11-17T04:59:39.972447 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 673467 2022-09-18T12:15:44.822884 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 851693 851596 2024-10-17T05:10:13.108264 2023-09-17T13:14:50.691703 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 851636 2012-08-31T10:08:08 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 292897 2012-08-31T10:09:44 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 851701 2012-08-31T10:08:24 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 292806 2012-08-31T10:09:44 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 22169 2024-11-17T04:59:49.657274 application/rdf+xml 12930 2024-11-17T04:59:29.623405 image/jpeg 3358 2024-11-17T04:59:29.321378 image/jpeg 1940737 2024-11-17T04:59:27.780394 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia