This book provides a comprehensive overview of the history of ideas
about the sun and the stars, from antiquity to modern times. Two
theoretical astrophysicists who have been active in the field since the
early 1960s tell the story in fluent prose. About half of the book
covers most of the theoretical research done from 1940 to the close of
the twentieth century, a large body of work that has to date been little
explored by historians.
The first chapter, which outlines the period from about 3000 B.C. to
1700 A.D., shows that at every stage in history human beings have had a
particular understanding of the sun and stars, and that this has
continually evolved over the centuries. Next the authors systematically
address the immense mass of observations astronomy accumulated from the
early seventeenth century to the early twentieth. The remaining four
chapters examine the history of the field from the physicists
perspective, the emphasis being on theoretical work from the mid-1840s
to the late 1990s--from thermodynamics to quantum mechanics, from
nuclear physics and magnetohydrodynamics to the remarkable advances
through to the late 1960s, and finally, to more recent theoretical work.
Intended mainly for students and teachers of astronomy, this book will
also be a useful reference for practicing astronomers and scientifically
curious general readers.
