THE ELEMENTS OF ASTRONOMY, ACCORDING TO NEWTONIAN PRINCIPLES
Scarce first edition of this text introducing the basic concepts of astronomy to a young audience, specifically including girls, that used Newton's name as a selling point.
Very good plus.
Price: $1,800.00
THE ELEMENTS OF ASTRONOMY, ACCORDING TO NEWTONIAN PRINCIPLES
"Even young ladies, who constitute the promise of a new generation [...] have an appetite for intellectual food. The tyranny of fashion ceases to pursue them from banquet to the lecture, and [...] they satisfy their hunger in picking the bones of a diagram."
THE ELEMENTS OF ASTRONOMY is a delightful example of an educational scientific work meant specifically for young people. Its language was praised for its clarity: "Some of [his explanations] may serve as excellent models for our astronomical writers of higher flight," notes a reviewer in THE MONTHLY REVIEW, issued in March 1810 (320). Interestingly, this same review notes that the text has "very little connection with principles that are peculiarly Newtonian" (320) which, while not entirely accurate — there are several passages devoted to the nature of gravity — illuminates a fascinating phenomenon: the function of name recognition in scientific communication. Reynolds cites the work of William Herschel numerous times within THE ELEMENTS OF ASTRONOMY, yet it is Newton whose name features on the title page. Newton's long status as an English scientific icon lent, and continues to lend, his name a cache of intellectualism, which Reynolds capitalized on in the naming of his work.
Reynolds's highlighting of girls as members of the audience for THE ELEMENTS OF ASTRONOMY explicitly encourages what had been going on in the field for decades: women seriously studying astronomy. William was not the only Herschel who studied the stars and invented telescopes — his sister Caroline published her astronomical research under her own name in the 18th century, and even drew a salary working as an astronomer. Still, women were still barred from engaging in higher education on the topic in this period.
We locate few copies of THE ELEMENTS OF ASTRONOMY: OCLC finds five scattered institutional holdings, only two of which are in the US. Not in the Grace K. Babson Newton bibliography. A lovely snapshot in the development of scientific education in English.
Read more: The Monthly Review; or Literary Journal, March 1810.
The Object
London: E. Thomas, 1809. Full title: The Elements of Astronomy, According to the Newtonian Principles, Illustrated by Several New and Interesting Diagrams, and Adapted, as Far as Science Will Admit, to the Plainest Capacities. Intended Solely for the Instruction of Young Ladies and Gentlemen. 6.5'' x 4''. Contemporary red goatskin binding with gilt tooling and dentelles. All edges gilt. Brown endpapers. Lacking half title. Illustrated with four fold-out plates. xxiv, 144 pages. Binding with mild bumping to corners and spine ends, a bit of chipping at head; a couple tiny worm holes at joints. Page 141/142 with small closed tear to center. Sharp and clean.
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