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From Eudoxus to Einstein A History of Mathematical Astronomy C. M. LINTON Department of Mathematical Sciences, Loughborough University
cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521827508 © C. M. Linton 2004 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2004 isbn-13 isbn-10
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Contents
Preface
page ix
1
Introduction
1
2
Spheres and circles
25
3
The Ptolemaic universe
51
4
Developments in geocentric astronomy
85
5
The heliocentric universe
119
6
Tycho Brahe, Kepler, and the ellipse
153
7
Galileo, the telescope, and Keplerian astronomy
201
8
The universal theory of gravitation
239
9
Celestial mechanics
291
10
The asteroids and the outer planets
355
11
New metho