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The Milky Way from antiquity to modern times

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2017

Michael Hoskin
Michael Hoskin*
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge

Abstract

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The paper outlines the history of attempts to explain the Milky Way, from Antiquity to the early-twentieth century, with special reference to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Also discussed is the relationship of the Galaxy to other star systems, and particularly the question of whether there are other galaxies in the visible universe.

Type
PART I: HISTORY OF GALACTIC RESEARCH
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 106: The Milky Way Galaxy , 1985 , pp. 11 - 24
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1985 

References

Further Reading

As this is a survey article, I have not given the references appropriate to a research paper, but the reader who wishes to pursue the subject further will find detailed discussion in my “Stellar Astronomy: Historical Studies” (Science History Publications, Halfpenny Furze, Mill.Google Scholar
Lane, Chalfont St Giles, Bucks, U.K., 1982). The most complete study of the history of theories of the Milky Way is Jaki, S.L., “The Milky Way: An Elusive Road for Science” (Neale Watson Academic Publications, New York, 1972), of which the earlier chapters are conveniently summarised by Jaki in J. Hist. Astron. (1971, 2, 161–7, and 1972, 3, 199–204). The best available account of the modern period is in Smith, Robert W., “The Expanding Universe: Astronomy's ‘Great Debate’ 1900–1931” (Cambridge University Press, 1982).Google Scholar