From the Publisher
Dividing the Circle examines the history of angular measuring instruments and their central role in astronomy from 1500-1850. During this period the principle intellectual interests in astronomy lay in the ability of astronomers to measure angles with increasing precision, to investigate phenomena such as Earth's motion in space, its oblate shape and the Newtonian laws of gravitation. Emphasis is placed on the important link that existed between astronomical theory and the need to develop progressively improved technologies whereby the theory could be tested and validated. The second edition is fully revised and updated and contains additional plates, an extended bibliography with new scholarship, and two new appendices.
