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10 teosta 1,368 jäsentä 60 arvostelua

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Thomas Levenson is an award-winning television producer and the author of one previous book, Ice Time. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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A short but very interesting non-fiction book about the search for an unknown planet postulated to exist closer to the Sun than Mercury. Its existence was proposed in the mid 1800s to explain a very small discrepancy in the orbit of Mercury, specifically how that planet’s orbit precesses over time—that is, how a line drawn between its closest and furthest distance from the sun changes direction in space over centuries.

The discrepancy was first pointed out by the French astronomer Anton Le Verrier. Le Verrier was famous for his earlier prediction that an as-then unknown planet was slightly disturbing the orbit of Uranus. He calculated its position, and then was triumphantly vindicated by the discovery of the planet just where he had predicted it to be. It was later named Neptune.

The discrepancy in Mercury’s orbit was tiny indeed. But Newton’s laws of orbital motion were by then so well established, and the mathematics so clear, that the discrepancy needed explanation. Based on his triumphant discovery of Neptune, it is hardly surprising that Le Verrier proposed another as-yet unseen planet, this time closer to the Sun. The hunt was on! Every solar eclipse was an opportunity for observation, trying to see this world so close to the Sun’s bright disc.

Was the missing planet, dubbed Vulcan, ever discovered? Alas for Star Trek fans, Vulcan does not exist. The true explanation for the discrepancies in Mercury’s orbit was uncovered only with the aid of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity in 1914 and its revelation of curved space-time.

I love this kind of scientific history. Thomas Levenson makes a fascinating story out of it, and does a great job of explaining the scientific issues involved.
… (lisätietoja)
 
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davidrgrigg | 17 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Mar 23, 2024 |
I learned more than I thought I wanted to know about both Newton and counterfeiting. Do you know why there are ridges on the sides of coins? You will after reading this book.
 
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cspiwak | 36 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Mar 6, 2024 |
Short book about the quest for the object that was causing aberrations in the orbit of Mercury. Along the way, we learn about the founding of Neptune, purely through mat. very impressed with how these people, all before computers, were able to do such intricate measurements. the science was not too tough (thanks to the author for dumbing it down).
 
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bermandog | 17 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Dec 26, 2022 |
An interesting read on how science works. As Richard Feynmann said, "observation is the judge".
 
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bobunwired | 17 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Nov 19, 2022 |

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Teokset
10
Jäseniä
1,368
Suosituimmuussija
#18,796
Arvio (tähdet)
3.8
Kirja-arvosteluja
60
ISBN:t
43
Kielet
5

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