Abstract
Johannes Hevelius (1611–1687) is well known and rightfully praised for his outstanding maps of the moon, published in his Selenographia (1647), as well as his star catalogue of 1690. It was the last star catalogue assembled without the use of telescopic sights. Besides his own achievements, Hevelius’ second wife Elisabeth Koopmann (1647–1693) is known for being one of the earliest female astronomers recognized for her scientific work.
In this Hamburg dissertation, Irena Kampa aims to retrace why and how Hevelius became famous in his own time and how his work might still be useful for modern astronomers. She also gives a thorough description of his observatory with its instruments. The book is divided into three parts: life and works, descriptions of sites and instruments, and historical context.
Like the whole book, the biographical section draws heavily on Hevelius’ own writings, especially the letters. Kampa portrays not only his life but also explains what life was like in seventeenth-century Gdansk and depicts the various people living in Hevelius’ household in an effort to make more visible the assistants, printers, clockmakers, and his two wives. Hevelius’ written works are also surveyed, including each of his 11 books (two published post-mortem by Koopmann), the publishing process, distribution, and contemporary reactions. The biographical section concludes with a summary of his achievements for astronomy. Not especially known for developing theoretical ideas, he was a most exact observer, always striving to develop better instruments. This resulted in his outstanding quadrants, octants, and sextants (all without telescopic sights).
The aforementioned instruments along with the auxiliary equipment, clocks, and optical instruments of the observatory are patiently explained in the second part of the dissertation. The 1679 fire in Hevelius’ houses is covered here as well, because the observatory had to be rebuilt after the event and most instruments were lost to the flames. Hevelius quickly replaced these losses, although he was then 68 years old and would retire from observing in 1684. The illustrations accompanying the descriptions are taken from a coloured copy of Hevelius’ Machina Coelestis Pars Prior (1673) in possession of the Polska Akademia Nauk in Gdansk. Many were previously unpublished. Kampa spared no effort in editing these illustrations, which make details of Hevelius’ instruments more visible than in previous publications.
The third part consists mainly of comparisons of Hevelius’ observatory and instruments with other well-known astronomers’ apparatus. Wilhelm IV of Hesse-Kassel is mentioned briefly; Tycho Brahe’s observatories, Uraniborg and Stellaeburgum, are described in more detail, as well as the seventeenth-century observatories in Nuremberg. Kampa provides a well-grounded explanation of the equipment at similar observatories in Hevelius’ times. Finally, she considers Hevelius’ stance, much discussed by previous scholarship, on the development of telescopes and telescopic sights for positional instruments, offering extensive citations from his writings.
Die astronomischen Instrumente von Johannes Hevelius is a useful read for everyone studying the life and work of Johannes Hevelius, as well as seventeenth-century astronomy and its social networks. The book is written concisely, without getting bogged down in too much detail. Its most outstanding feature, however, is the presentation of the detailed illustrations that highlight not only Hevelius’ prowess as an instrument maker but also the artistic beauty of the apparatus.