Discoverers of the Universe: William and Caroline Herschel, Michael Hoskin's 2011 biography from Princeton University Press, is written by a Cambridge historian of astronomy and founding editor of the Journal for the History of Astronomy, with specialist command of the primary notebooks and correspondence behind William Herschel's 1781 discovery of Uranus and his own proposed name for it, Georgium Sidus. Its strength is that specialist primary-source command. Its limit is that it covers the discovery and naming history specifically; it is not a source for Uranus's later assignment as a sign's modern astrological ruler, a separate and later development this atlas does not draw from this book.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
Michael Hoskin's Discoverers of the Universe, Princeton University Press, 2011, the top tier reflecting specialist primary-source command by a Cambridge historian of astronomy and founding editor of the Journal for the History of Astronomy. Its limit is that it covers the discovery and naming history specifically; it is not a source for Uranus's later assignment as a sign's modern astrological ruler, a separate development this atlas does not draw from this book. NotesMichael Hoskin, Cambridge historian of astronomy and founding editor of the Journal for the History of Astronomy, on William Herschel's 1781 discovery of Uranus, his own proposed name Georgium Sidus for King George III, and the planet's eventual mythological naming by international astronomical convention across the following decades. Use for the history of the discovery and naming of Uranus, not for its assignment as a sign's modern astrological ruler, which is a later and separate development this source does not cover.
Citation
AuthorMichael Hoskin
PublisherPrinceton University Press
Publication Year2011
URLhttps://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691148335/discoverers-of-the-universe
Source Typeacademic biography
Claims Backed By This Source (11 claims)
This source backs 11 claims across the atlas. As facts: 9 well-attested. Plus 2 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 8 claims: 8 well-attested.
- Articles, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Body Parts, 1 claims: 1 general references.
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