Pioneer of galactic astronomy : a biography of Jacobus C. Kapteyn / Pieter C. van der Kruit.
2021
QB36.K3
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Details
Title
Pioneer of galactic astronomy : a biography of Jacobus C. Kapteyn / Pieter C. van der Kruit.
Uniform Title
Inrichting van de hemel. English
ISBN
3030554236 (electronic book)
9783030554231 (electronic bk.)
3030554228
9783030554224
9783030554231 (electronic bk.)
3030554228
9783030554224
Published
Cham, Switzerland : Springer, [2021]
Language
English
Language Note
In English; translated fromthe original Dutch by the author.
Description
1 online resource (xxi, 305 pages) : illustrations (some color)
Other Standard Identifiers
10.1007/978-3-030-55423-1 doi
Call Number
QB36.K3
Dewey Decimal Classification
520.92
Summary
This non-technical biography of Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn (1851-1922) presents to the general reader the scientific life of the astronomer who pioneered the studies of the structure of the Milky Way Galaxy. In telling Kapteyn's story the author weaves in astronomy basics and uses modern astronomical images to show the developments of astronomical research from Kapteyn's times to the present. In particular the study of the distribution of stars in space has now culminated with spectacular new insights coming from the astrometric satellite GAIA, which is receiving much public attention today. The biography shows how Kapteyn's ideas influenced prominent astronomers worldwide. He is prominent as designer of the Kapteyn Universe, the alternative to the large system found by Harlow Shapley. He is the discoverer of Kapteyn's Star, still the second fastest moving star in the sky, which is now one of the nearest stars with a planet in the habitable zone. This fascinating hybrid of astronomy history and popular astronomy tells the story of the astronomy professor without an observatory who founded the first astronomical laboratory specializing in measuring photographic plates exposed elsewhere. Kapteyn took astronomy out of cataloguing stars to measuring distances and velocities in order to study their spatial distribution, systematic motions (Kapteyn's Star Streams) and the equilibrium between their gravity and motions. His legacy includes, in addition to the first application of Galactic structure and dynamics, Jan Hendrik Oort, the famous astronomer from Leiden, who as a student was so impressed by Kapteyn's lectures that he decided to become an astronomer.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description
Online resource; title from PDF title page (SpringerLink, viewed February 26, 2021).
Series
Springer biographies, 2365-0613
Available in Other Form
Print version: 9783030554224
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Boarding School and University
Astronomy Around 1875
Astronomer and Professor
Almost Half a Million Stars
Laboratory and Statistical Astronomy
Star Streams
In the mean time in Groningen
Mount Wilson
Statistics and other matters
First Attempt: the Kapetyn Universe
Coda.
Boarding School and University
Astronomy Around 1875
Astronomer and Professor
Almost Half a Million Stars
Laboratory and Statistical Astronomy
Star Streams
In the mean time in Groningen
Mount Wilson
Statistics and other matters
First Attempt: the Kapetyn Universe
Coda.