Journal for the History of Astronomy

This essay looks at the roles in the history of the sciences of empathetic approaches to past authors. It focuses on the ways in which Arthur Koestler and other historians have engaged with Kepler and his works, and in particular with his Astronomia nova. I argue that here, as with many other historical sources, close attention to the process of composition and conventions of genre is crucial for adequate interpretation.

The paper discusses the origin of the commonly used Flamsteed star numbers, which are missing in John Flamsteed’s British Catalogue (1725) and accompanying Atlas coelestis (1729). Johann Elert Bode introduced these numbers in the Sammlung Astronomischer Tafeln (1776). Herschel independently created them in 1781 for his third star review. At that time he purchased Flamsteed’s Atlas coelestis and the question arises, which star chart did he use before, especially when Uranus was discovered. This leads to two star maps, linked to the Welsh astronomer Joseph Harris and based on stars whose positions were measured by Flamsteed and Halley.

This paper presents the results of a week-long Total Station survey undertaken by the authors during December 2006 whose principal aim was to clarify the basic data concerning the orientation of each side of the three large Giza pyramids and to determine, as accurately as possible, the orientations of as many as possible of the associated structures. The survey focused upon measurements of sequences of points along multiple straight and relatively well-preserved structural segments, with best-fit techniques being used to provide the best estimate of their orientation, as opposed to simple triangulation between directly identified or extrapolated corners.