The Dudley Observatory's collection of rare astronomical books and papers provides a perspective both on the evolution of astronomy, and on the way astronomical ideas have been communicated over the past five centuries.
The Earth-Centered Universe The emergence of the printing press in Europe in the 15th century coincided with the final blossoming of the ancient earth-centered view of the universe. Early books preserving and spreading this knowledge, based on ideas of the Greeks put forward more than 1000 years earlier, include the Alfonsine Tables, published in 1492, the oldest book in the Dudley Library collection. These books were mainly published in Latin, the common language of educated Europeans, but some in Arabic indicate the major role played by Islamic astronomers in the Middle Ages.
The Sun becomes the Center Beginning in 1543 with Copernicus, new generations of astronomers put the sun at the center of the planets' orbits. Most major works spreading this "new astronomy", such as those of Kepler and Newton, were still published in Latin. However, to reach a wider audience, Galileo published his Dialogue on the Two New Sciences, a powerful argument for the new astronomy, in Italian.
The Expanding Universe In modern times, first German, then English became the principal language of astronomy. Attention shifted from the planets to the stars, then to the immense expanding universe of galaxies, created billions of years ago in a "Big Bang." Modern scientists, unlike Copernicus or Newton, first use papers in journals to introduce new ideas to their fellow researchers, and then books to spread those ideas to a wider scientific community or the general public. Classic scientific papers and books illustrating this giant step to an expanding universe conclude the display.
