Book contents
- Frontmatter
- EDITOR'S PREFACE
- PREFACE
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- CHAPTER I BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS RELATIVE TO COMETS
- SECTION I COMETS CONSIDERED AS PRESAGES
- SECTION II COMETS IN GREEK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITY
- SECTION III THE COMETS OF THE MIDDLE AGES
- SECTION IV COMETS FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO THE PRESENT DAY
- CHAPTER II COMETARY ASTRONOMY UP TO THE TIME OF NEWTON
- CHAPTER III THE MOTIONS AND ORBITS OF COMETS
- CHAPTER IV PERIODICAL COMETS
- CHAPTER V PERIODICAL COMETS
- CHAPTER VI THE WORLD OF COMETS AND COMETARY SYSTEMS
- CHAPTER VII PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CONSTITUTION OF COMETS
- CHAPTER VIII PHYSICAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF COMETS
- CHAPTER IX MASS AND DENSITY OF COMETS
- CHAPTER X THE LIGHT OF COMETS
- CHAPTER XI THEORY OF COMETARY PHENOMENA
- CHAPTER XII COMETS AND SHOOTING STARS
- CHAPTER XIII COMETS AND THE EARTH
- CHAPTER XIV PHYSICAL INFLUENCES OF COMETS
- CHAPTER XV SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT COMETS
- I ELLIPTIC ELEMENTS OF THE RECOGNISED PERIODICAL COMETS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
- II GENERAL CATALOGUE OF THE ORBITS OF COMETS
- Plate section
SECTION II - COMETS IN GREEK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITY
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2012
- Frontmatter
- EDITOR'S PREFACE
- PREFACE
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- CHAPTER I BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS RELATIVE TO COMETS
- SECTION I COMETS CONSIDERED AS PRESAGES
- SECTION II COMETS IN GREEK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITY
- SECTION III THE COMETS OF THE MIDDLE AGES
- SECTION IV COMETS FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO THE PRESENT DAY
- CHAPTER II COMETARY ASTRONOMY UP TO THE TIME OF NEWTON
- CHAPTER III THE MOTIONS AND ORBITS OF COMETS
- CHAPTER IV PERIODICAL COMETS
- CHAPTER V PERIODICAL COMETS
- CHAPTER VI THE WORLD OF COMETS AND COMETARY SYSTEMS
- CHAPTER VII PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CONSTITUTION OF COMETS
- CHAPTER VIII PHYSICAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF COMETS
- CHAPTER IX MASS AND DENSITY OF COMETS
- CHAPTER X THE LIGHT OF COMETS
- CHAPTER XI THEORY OF COMETARY PHENOMENA
- CHAPTER XII COMETS AND SHOOTING STARS
- CHAPTER XIII COMETS AND THE EARTH
- CHAPTER XIV PHYSICAL INFLUENCES OF COMETS
- CHAPTER XV SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT COMETS
- I ELLIPTIC ELEMENTS OF THE RECOGNISED PERIODICAL COMETS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
- II GENERAL CATALOGUE OF THE ORBITS OF COMETS
- Plate section
Summary
The apparition of a comet or a bolide is a warning from the gods: the Iliad' and the Ænid;neid–Supposed physical influences of comets; Earthquakes in Achaia; submersion of Helicèand Bura; comet of the year 371–Comets, presages of happy augury ; Cæsar transported to the heavens under the form of a comet; popular credulity turned to account; opinion of Bayle–Pliny, Virgil, Tacitus, Seneca–The comet of the year 79 and the Emperor espasian–Comet of the year 400 and the siege of Constantinople.
A comet is thought to have appeared in the last year of the siege of Troy. By Pingré and Lalande it is considered an apparition of the famous comet of 1680, and whilst the former cites in support of his opinion a passage from Homer, the latter draws attention to certain lines in the Æneid probably referring to the same comet.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The World of Comets , pp. 8 - 16Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010