Secondary Sources, Context, and Background

Astronomy: Chronologies, Dictionaries, Directories, Encyclopedias, Handbooks

Hetherington, B. 1996. A Chronicle of Pre-telescopic Astronomy. NY: John Wiley & Sons, 273 pp.

Lankford, J., ed. 1997. History of Astronomy: An Encyclopedia. NY: Garland Pub., 594 pp.

Mitton, J. 2001. Cambridge Dictionary of Astronomy. Cambridge; NY: Cambridge University Press, 443 pp.

Room, A. 1988. Dictionary of Astronomical Names. London; NY: Routledge, 282 pp.

Derivations. Appendix 1 (pp. 169-231). Names of craters on the moon; appendix 2 (pp. 233-280), Names of minor planets [asteroids].

Biographical Sources

Abbott, D. 1984. The Biographical Dictionary of Scientists. Astronomers. NY: Peter Bedrick, 204 pp.

Andrews, A. D. 1992-97. Cyclopaedia of telescope makers. Irish Astronomical Journal, v. 20-24. [Biographical notes, approx. 1600-1970]

  • Part 1 (A-F) 1992. v. 20, no. 3, pp. 102-183
  • Part 2 (G-J) 1993 v. 21, no. 1, pp. 1-82
  • Part 3 (K-N) 1994 v. 21, no. 3/4, pp. 167-249
  • Part 4 (O-R) 1995, v. 22, no. 1, pp. 43-96
  • Part 5 (Sae-Sim) 1996, v. 23, no. 1, pp. 57-117
  • Part 6 (Sin-Syk) 1996, v. 23, no. 2, pp. 215-242
  • Part 7 (T-Z) 1997, v. 24, no. 2, pp. 125-192

Bhathal, R. S. 1996. Australian Astronomers: Achievements at the Frontiers of Astronomy. Canberra: National Library of Australia, 236 pp.

Interviews with 18 astronomers; chronology of Australian astronomy, 1770-1993, pp. 212-220.

Brüggenthies, Wilhelm and Wolfgang R. Dick. 2005. Biographischer Index der Astronomie. Frankfurt am Main: Deutsch (Acta historica astronomiae, vol. 26), 481 p.

Ancient-20th century. Includes date/place of birth and death, and citations of biographical articles. Abbreviations refer to list in front. See next entry.

Duerbeck, Hilmar W. and Beatrix Ott, with contributions by Wolfgang R. Dick. 2000. A Finding List of Obituary Notes of Astronomers (1900 - 1997)

Overlaps with Biographischer Index der Astronomie, above, but each contains unique information.

De Simone, A. and G. Monaco. 1996- . La corrispondenza degli astronomi. 2 v. Rome: Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Archivio del Museo Astronomico e Copernicano.

Catalog of correspondence in the Archives of the Museo astronomico e Copernicano, Rome. V. 1. Ignazio Porro (1801-1875) ; Angelo Secchi (1818-1878), Lorenzo Respighi (1824-1889), Alessandro Dorna (1825-1886); v. 2. G.B. Donati, P. Tacchini, A. Wolynski, A. Di Legge, E. Millosevich.

[Galileo] International Galilean Bibliography (1965 - )

Includes primary and secondary works worldwide, covering books, periodical articles, articles in edited volumes, and reviews.

Hoffleit, D. 1993. Women in the History of Variable Star Astronomy. Cambridge, MA: American Association of Variable Star Observers.

Kapur, J. N., ed. 1989-91. Some Eminent Indian Mathematicians of the Twentieth Century. 4 v. New Delhi: Mathematical Sciences Trust Society.

36 mathematicians covered in 3-12 page articles, some with their subject's bibliography.

Kolchinskii, I. G., A. A. Korsun' & M. G. Rodriges. 1986. Astronomy: biograficheskii spravochnik. Izd. 2-e, dop. i perer. Kiev: Nauk. dumka, 509 pp.

Pedersen, O. 1993. Biographical appendix. Pp. 297-404 in his Early Physics and Astronomy: A Historical Introduction. Rev. ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Ancient Greece through Copernicus; brief biographical data on about 200 individuals with references]

Primary Sources

Periodical Indexes

Bibliographie mensuelle de l'astronomie (1933-43) is a subject-classified, annotated bibliography, with author index.
Paris: Societe Astronomique de France.
LOCATION: Cabot Science: Astr 5.14 (1933-43)
LOCATION: Wolbach Obs (HCO): Journal (1933-39)

International Catalogue of Scientific Literature E. Astronomy (1901-14). 14 v.

Jahrbuch der Astronomie und Geophysik (1890-1912)

Meteorological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts (1974- ) offers worldwide coverage of meteorology, climatology, atmospheric chemistry and physics, physical oceanography, hydrology, glaciology, etc. Includes journal articles, conference papers, books, reports.

Astronomy: Instruments, Observatories

Dekker, E., ed. 1998. Globes at Greenwich: A Catalogue of the Globes and Armillary Spheres in the National Maritime Museum. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 592 pp.

Howse, D. 1986. The Greenwich list of observatories: A world list of astronomical observatories, instruments, and clocks, 1670-1850. Journal for the History of Astronomy, v. 17, no. 4, pp. 1-100. Amendment list no. 1, Journal for the History of Astronomy, v. 25, pp. 207-218, 1994.

Krisciunas, K. 1988. Astronomical Centers of the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 320 pp.

Webster, R. S. and M. Webster. 1998. Western Astrolabes. (Historic Scientific Instruments of the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, v. 1). Chicago, IL: Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, 179 pp.

Zinner, E. 1967. Deutsche und niederländische astronomische Instrumente des 11.-18. Jahrhunderts. 2nd ed. München: C. H. Beck, 688 pp. [Pp. 229-601 is a biographical dictionary]

Astronomy: Ephemerides, Historical Eclipses and Comets

Armitage, G. 1997. The Shadow of the Moon: British Solar Eclipse Mapping in the Eighteenth Century. Tring, Herts: Map Collector Publications, 46 pp.

Appendix 1: Provisional list of British 18th century published solar eclipse maps.

Gingerich, O. and B. Welther. 1983. Planetary, Lunar, and Solar Positions: New and Full Moons, A.D. 1650-1805. Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, v. 59S, 97 pp.

Bibliography of tables,p. xxii (1622-1772); bibliography of ephemerides, pp. xxiii-xxiv (1621-1826). Fig. 1 offers timelines for ephemerides and table publication, 1620-1790.

Schove, D. J. 1984. Chronology of Eclipses and Comets, AD 1-1000. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press, 356 pp.

Gives citations for sources and information on dating and characteristics of the eclipses.

Stephenson, F. R. 1986. Atlas of Historical Eclipse Maps: East Asia 1500 BC--AD 1900. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 431 pp.

Gives map and calculated data for each eclipse.

Tuckerman, B. 1962. Planetary, Lunar, and Solar Positions, 601 B.C. to A.D. 1 at Five-day and Ten-day Intervals. Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, v. 56, 333 pp.

Tuckerman, B. 1964. Planetary, Lunar, and Solar Positions, A.D. 2 to A.D. 1649 at Five-day and Ten-day Intervals. Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, v. 59, 842 pp.

Positions for Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury.

Houlden, M. A. and R. Stephenson. 1986. A Supplement to the Tuckerman Tables. Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, v. 170, 564 pp.

Gives corrected positions of Mars and apparent magnitudes of the planets, 601 BC -AD 1649.