Parallax
by Alan W. Hirshfeld · first published 2001
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2020–2023first – last mentioned
100% recommend
"Parallax charts the historical path of observational astronomy's most daunting challenge: measuring the distance to a star." "The greatest scientific minds applied themselves in vain to the problem across the millennia, beginning with the ancient Greeks. Not until the nineteenth century would three astronomers, armed with the best telescopes of the age, race to conquer this astronomical Everest - their contest ending in a virtual dead heat.". "Against a backdrop filled with kidnappings, dramatic rescue, swordplay, madness, and bitter rivalry, Alan Hirshfeld brings to life the heroes of this
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I highly recommend these books by Alan Hirshfeld [1][2]. The first is about the discovery of parallax, and the instrument that was used to do this in 1838 was built by Fraunhofer. The precision of the instrument required to do this is incredible - the movement of a star due to parallax is, over the course…
on “Joseph Von Fraunhofer – The Glassmaker Who Sparked Astrophysics (2014)” ↗Parallax by Alan Hirshfeld is a good book which tracks various efforts to find the evidence for the rotation of earth culminating in evidence of parallax of nearest stars. Also of interest is Book that Nobody…
on “Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler all lacked proof” ↗