No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the author.
SUSTAINED CARTOGRAPHIC INNOVATIONS IN NASCENT FRENCH CANADA: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JEAN DESHAYES
... Those for whom all of this is novel will get a flavor of the way that science moves forward, more organically than we would think, but also, adhering to a set of rules that none of us are in charge of. Professor Richard de Grijs is well-known to this reviewer through our association in Division C of the IAU and the succession of papers that he has recently submitted for publication in this journal (see de Grijs, 2020a;2020b;2020c;2020d). Although he has built a distinguished career in astrophysics and academia, this is his first book in the history of astronomy field. ...
Between 1768 and 1778 England's premier maritime explorer, James Cook, made three much-published and very successful expeditions to the Pacific. Astronomy played a vital role in navigation and coastal cartography, and consequently there were astronomers on all three Pacific expeditions. On the final voyage Cook would lose his life in Hawaii, but not before exploring the northwestern coast of the American continent and visiting Nootka Sound on the western shores of Vancouver Island. In this paper we review the challenge of accurately determining latitude and longitude in the eighteenth century; provide biographical information about the three astronomers on Cook's Third Voyage (Cook, King and Bayly); examine the range of astronomical instruments used during the Voyage, and the associated instrument-makers; describe the various types of astronomical observations made for latitude and longitude determinations; and review the observations that were made at Nootka Sound during the 3-week stopover of the Resolution and Discovery in April 1778.
On 18 February 1679 Paris Observatory astronomer Jean Dominique Cassini presented a new map of the Moon to the Academy of Sciences in Paris, and this then became the standard reference work for French astronomers who carried out selenographical observations. Among these was a contingent of Jesuit missionary-astronomers who sailed from Brest on 3 March 1685, bound for China. En route they were forced to spend some months in Siam (present-day Thailand) and used the map when they observed the lunar eclipse of 11 December 1685. In this paper we examine the creation of the 1679 Moon map and its use by the French Jesuit missionary-astronomers in Siam in 1685.
The first great ruler to encourage the adoption of Western culture and technology throughout Siam (present-day Thailand) was King Narai, who also had a passion for astronomy. He showed this by encouraging French and other Jesuit missionaries, some with astronomical interests and training, to settle in Siam from the early 1660s. One of these was Father Antoine Thomas, and he was the first European known to have carried out scientific astronomical observations from Siam when he determined the latitude of Ayutthaya in 1681 and the following year observed the total lunar eclipse of 22 February. A later lunar eclipse also has an important place in the history of Thai astronomy. In 1685 a delegation of French missionary-astronomers settled in Ayutthaya, and on 10 –11 December 1685 they joined King Narai and his court astrologers and observed a lunar eclipse from the King's ‗country retreat' near Lop Buri. This event so impressed the King that he approved the erection of a large modern well-equipped astronomical observatory at Lop Buri. Construction of Wat San Paulo Observatory—as it was known—began in 1686 and was completed in 1687. In this paper we examine these two lunar eclipses and their association with the development of scientific astronomy in Siam.
The 1769 transit of Venus was seen by astronomers as an important opportunity to pin down a figure for the solar parallax (P), and thus establish the Astronomical Unit and the size of the Solar System. Britain therefore mounted a number of expeditions, the most important of which was led by Lieutenant James Cook in the Endeavour, with Tahiti as the intended observing location. In this paper we trace the planning that preceded this expedition; provide biographical accounts of the Endeavour's two astronomers and others who also carried out astronomical observations; describe the astronomical instruments taken on the voyage; document the various transit observations; and track the post-transit path of the Endeavour as it returned to England. We then discuss the values of P that derived from this expedition and others, and end the paper by examining a number of research issues relating to the astronomical aspects of Cook's voyage that have yet to be resolved.
The year 1618 in astronomy was a unique one in that it presented three bright cometary apparitions in quick succession. The comets created enough sensation and belong to the era when Galileo‘s telescopic observations had created a paradigm shift in our perception of the heavens and Johannes Kepler was introducing a fundamental change in mathematical astronomy by redefining the orbits around the Sun. This paper is an account of the observations of two of the three great comets of 1618 made from India. This turned into a unique occasion indeed when the same targets of opportunity were followed, independently, by astronomers of two different streams and observations recorded quantitatively. Jahāngīr, the fourth Mughal Emperor of India, recorded in the Tūzūk-i Jahāngīrī (Memoirs of Jahāngīr), appearance of two comets during the royal course from the town of Dohad in Gujarat to Agra, the capital city of the Empire, via Ujjain in the thirteenth year of his accession, i.e., 1027 A.H. From the recorded dates, Jahāngīr turns out to be an independent discoverer of two great comets appearing one after the other in November 1618. The Jesuit Venceslaus Kirwitzer, joined by brother Jesuits, observed these comets from Goa. Their first observations also correspond to the discovery dates of the comets. The same comets were followed by Father Antonius Rubinus from Cochin. Fr. Kirwitzer collated and published these observations in 1620 in a short treatise where he states that he viewed the comets with a tubo optico also. That makes it to be the first use of an optical device, a telescope, in an astronomical observation from India.
Although historians have long recognized the importance of long-range scientific expeditions in both the practice and culture of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century science, it is less well understood how this form of scientific organization emerged and became established in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. In the late seventeenth century new European scientific institutions tried to make use of globalized trade networks for their own ends, but to do so proved difficult. This paper offers a case history of one such expedition, the voyage sponsored by the French Académie royale des sciences to Gorée (in modern Senegal) and the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique in 1681-3. The voyage of Varin, Deshayes and de Glos reveals how the process of travel itself caused problems for instruments and observers alike.
Louis XIV during the fifty-five years of his personal reign (1661-1715) created the institutional foundations for the science and technology of France. These institutions were outwardly an attempt both to meet the needs of the French state for technical advice and to provide professional scientists with the necessary support for pure scientific research. In a less obvious sense, the origin and evolution of these institutions represented an attempt on the part of the monarchy to disentangle the pursuit of knowledge from the prevailing system of political patronage and from the political and religious speculation that fed the social conflicts of the period. By the end of the seventeenth century, Louis XIV and his ministers had attained these goals and set French science and technology on the high road of success for the duration of the eighteenth century.
Thinking with Objects offers a fresh view of the transformation that took place in mechanics during the 17th century. By giving center stage to objects-levers, inclined planes, beams, pendulums, springs, and falling and projected bodies-Domenico Bertoloni Meli provides a unique and comprehensive portrayal of mechanics as practitioners understood it at the time. Bertoloni Meli reexamines such major texts as Galileo's Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences, Descartes' Principles of Philosophy, and Newton's Principia, and in them finds a reliance on objects that has escaped proper understanding. From Pappus of Alexandria to Guidobaldo dal Monte, Bertoloni Meli sees significant developments in the history of mechanical experimentation, all of them crucial for understanding Galileo. Bertoloni Meli uses similarities and tensions between dal Monte and Galileo as a springboard for exploring the revolutionary nature of seventeenth-century mechanics. Examining objects helps us appreciate the shift from the study to the practice of mechanics and challenges artificial dichotomies among practical and conceptual pursuits, mathematics, and experiment. © 2006 The Johns Hopkins University Press. All rights reserved.
This book examines Newton's argument for universal gravity and his application of it to resolve the problem of deciding between geocentric and heliocentric world systems by measuring masses of the sun and planets. Newton's inferences from phenomena realize an ideal of empirical success that is richer than prediction. To achieve this rich sort of empirical success a theory needs, not only to accurately predict the phenomena it purports to explain, but also, to have those phenomena accurately measure the parameters which explain them. Newton's method aims to turn theoretical questions into ones which can be empirically answered by measurement from phenomena. Newton employs theory-mediated measurements to turn data into far more informative evidence than can be achieved by confirmation from prediction alone. Propositions inferred from phenomena are provisionally accepted as guides to further research. This methodology, guided by its rich ideal of empirical success, supports a conception of scientific progress that does not require construing it as progress toward Laplace's ideal limit of a final theory of everything and is not threatened by the classic argument against convergent realism. Newton's method endorses the radical theoretical transformation from his theory to Einstein's. It is strikingly realized in the development and application of testing frameworks for relativistic theories of gravity. In addition, it is very much at work in cosmology today.
Mathematics in Canada to 1980: An Historical Assessment
- T Archibald
- B Davison
- M Lysne
Archibald, T., Davison, B., and Lysne, M., 2009.
Mathematics in Canada to 1980: An Historical Assessment. Canada Museum of Science and
Technology;
Weighing the World: The Quest to Measure the Earth
- E Danson
Danson, E., 2006, Weighing the World: The Quest to
Measure the Earth. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Franquelin, mapmaker. Mid-America
- J Delanglez
Delanglez, J., 1943. Franquelin, mapmaker. Mid-America, 25, 36 -37.
Ou recueil de ce qui sert à la navigation particulière de cette rivière et de ce qui peut contribuer à la metode [sic] générale de lever et dresser les cartes marines, f. 17; transl
- J Deshayes
Deshayes, J., 1686. Carte marine de la Rivière de
Québec par le Sr. Deshayes, 1686. Ou recueil de
ce qui sert à la navigation particulière de cette
rivière et de ce qui peut contribuer à la metode [sic]
générale de lever et dresser les cartes marines, f.
17; transl.: Pritchard (1979: 131). See also
http://hdsquebec.org/cartes-maritimes.htm
[accessed 20 June 2018].
- E Gagnon
Gagnon, E., 1900 -1901. Louis Jolliet, Revue Canadienne, 37, 464 -465.
Encore le P. de Bonnécamps 1707-1790
- A Gosselin
Gosselin, A., 1897. Encore le P. de Bonnécamps
1707-1790. Transactions of the Royal Society of
Canada, 2nd series, XII(1), 98-117.
Significant Dates in Canadian Surveying Mapping and Charting
- A C Hamilton
- L M Sebert
Hamilton, A.C., and Sebert, L.M., 1996. Significant
Dates in Canadian Surveying Mapping and Charting. Ottawa, Geomatica Press.
La cartographie jusqu'en 1763
- C E Heidenreich
Heidenreich, C.E., 2006. La cartographie jusqu'en
1763. In Histoire de la cartographie au Canada;
1681. L'usage du Compas de Proportion. Paris, Chez l'Autheur, au bout du Pont-Neuf
- D Henrion
- J Deshayes
Henrion, D., and Deshayes, J., 1681. L'usage du
Compas de Proportion. Paris, Chez l'Autheur, au
bout du Pont-Neuf, proche le Bureau du Grenier à
Sel. et chez R.J.B. de la Caille, rue S. Jacques, aux
trois Cailles:
https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_HcNyW9KgkDsC
/page/n5.
The Growth and Development of Astronomy and Astrophysics in India and the Asia-Pacific Region: ICOA-9
- R C Kapoor
Kapoor, R.C., 2019. The first astronomical use of the
telescope in India. In Orchiston, W., Sule, A., and
Vahia, M. (eds.). The Growth and Development of
Astronomy and Astrophysics in India and the Asia-Pacific Region: ICOA-9, Pune, India, 15 -18 November 2016. New Delhi, Hindustan Book Agency
and Springer. Pp. 57-66.
A Historical Atlas of Canada
- D G G Kerr
Kerr, D.G.G., 1966. A Historical Atlas of Canada.
Second Edition. Toronto, Thomas Nelson.
The economic meaning of the invention of the compass. American Historical Review
- F C Lane
Lane, F.C., 1963. The economic meaning of the invention of the compass. American Historical Review, 68, 615 -617.
La Mesure d'un Continent: Atlas Historique de l'Amérique du Nord 1492 -1814
- R Litalien
- J.-F Palomino
- D Vaugeois
Litalien, R., Palomino, J.-F., and Vaugeois, D., 2007.
La Mesure d'un Continent: Atlas Historique de
l'Amérique du Nord 1492 -1814. Paris, Presses de
l'Université Paris-Sorbonnes.
The voyage of Jean Richer to Acadia in 1670: a study in the relations of science and navigation under Colbert
- J W Olmsted
Olmsted, J.W., 1960. The voyage of Jean Richer to
Acadia in 1670: a study in the relations of science
and navigation under Colbert. Proceedings of the
American Philosophical Society, 104, 612 -634.
Entre la recherche du vrai et l'amour de la patrie: cartographier la Nouvelle-France au XVIII e siècle
- J.-F Palomino
Palomino, J.-F., 2009 Entre la recherche du vrai et
l'amour de la patrie: cartographier la Nouvelle-France au XVIII e siècle. Revue de Bibliothèque et
Archives Nationales du Québec: Cartographie, 1,
84-99.
Deshayes, Jean, Dictionary of Canadian Biography
- J S Pritchard
Pritchard, J.S., 1969 (revised 1982). Deshayes, Jean,
Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 2, University of
Toronto/University Laval;
Early French hydrographic surveys in the Saint Lawrence River
- J S Pritchard
Pritchard, J.S., 1979. Early French hydrographic surveys in the Saint Lawrence River. International
Hydrographic Review, LVI, 125 -142.
Charting Northern Waters: Essays for the Centenary of the
- J S Pritchard
Pritchard, J.S., 2004. Hydrography in New France. In
Glover, W. (ed), Charting Northern Waters: Essays
for the Centenary of the Canadian Hydrographic
Service. Montreal, McGill-Queens University Press.
Pp. 10 -21.
La cartographie et l'Arpentage sous le régime Français
- J E Roy
Roy, J.E., 1895. La cartographie et l'Arpentage sous
le régime Français. Bulletin des Recherches Historiques, I, 33 -40.
Jean Deshayes, hydrographe du Roi
- P.-G Roy
Roy, P.-G., 1916. Jean Deshayes, hydrographe du
Roi. Bulletin des Recherches Historiques, XXII,
129 -138.
L'Histoire du Canada et Voyages que les Frères Mineurs Recollects y ont Faicts pour la Conversion des Infidelles
- G Sagard
Sagard, G., 1636. L'Histoire du Canada et Voyages
que les Frères Mineurs Recollects y ont Faicts pour
la Conversion des Infidelles. Paris, Claude Sonnius.
Captain James Cook as a hydrographer
- R A Skelton
Skelton, R.A., 1954. Captain James Cook as a hydrographer. Mariner's Mirror, 40, 92 -119.
Triangle of Education Training Experience
- A Sofroniou
Sofroniou, A., 2016. European influences. In Sofroniou, A., Triangle of Education Training Experience.
Lulu Press.
Voyage de Siam des Pères Jésuites Envoyés par le Roi aux Indes & à la Chine
- G Tachard
Tachard, G., 1686. Voyage de Siam des Pères Jésuites Envoyés par le Roi aux Indes & à la Chine.
Trouvailles: Un fleuve périlleux, Exploration de Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ)
- C Trudel
Trudel, C., 2008. Trouvailles: Un fleuve périlleux,
Exploration de Bibliothèque et Archives nationales
du Québec (BAnQ).
Observations Astronomiques Faites au Cap Verd, en Afrique, et aux Isles de l'Amerique
- Deshayes Varin
- J De Glos
Varin, Deshayes, J., and de Glos, G., 1682. Observations Astronomiques Faites au Cap Verd, en Afrique,
et aux Isles de l'Amerique. Reprinted in Mémoires
de l'Académie Royale des Sciences Depuis 1666
jusqu'a 1699 (Paris, 1729), VII, 431 -459.
The suppression of the Society of Jesus
- C Vogel
Vogel, C., 2010. The suppression of the Society of
Jesus, 1758 -1773. In European History Online
(EGO), published by the Institute of European
History (IEG), Mainz, Germany:
http://www.ieg-ego.eu/vogelc-2010-en [accessed 9
November 2018].