Kia ora koutou
Linking in with a display in the Main Collection, the JC Beaglehole Room has mounted a display of material related to early astronomy in general and the Transit of Venus in particular. Because of other demands on our display space coming up, we are getting in a bit early on this one and will run it from now only until Sunday 27th May inclusive.
The earliest title on display is Thomas Burnet’s – delightfully understated, I think 🙂 – 1697 The theory of the earth : containing an account of the original of the earth, and of all the general changes which it hath already undergone, or is to undergo till the consummation of all things. Those old chaps certainly didn’t bother the pithy one liners today’s publishers go for! The most recent is Awa Science’s compilation of Radio NZ lectures from 2007: The transit of Venus : how a rare astronomical alignment changed the world. (OK still not quite pithy, but the format is very “now” don’t you think?)
In between we have the astronomical observations from Cook’s voyages on the Resolution and the Adventure, as compiled by Messrs Wales and Bayly, who devised a seriously good portable observatory; Ferguson’s Astronomy… where “…” = explained upon Sir Isaac Newton’s principles and made easy to those who have not studied mathematics : to which are added, a plain method of finding the distances of all the planets from the sun, by the transit of Venus over the sun’s disc, in the year 1761, an account of Mr. Horrox’s observation in the transit of Venus in the year 1639; and of the distances of all the planets from the sun … (and that’s just the title page!), and a few other goodies besides. Ferguson even includes a map of the path of the Transit of Venus in 1761.
Hope you are able to drop by and have a look.
Sue