Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, 1820-1831
Subtitle: The Founding of a Colonial Observatory
Edition: 1 edition
Publisher: Springer
Published: December 31, 1899
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 256
ISBN-13: 9780792335276
Subjects: Astronomical observation: observatories, equipment & methods; Astrophysics; Data capture & analysis; c 1800 to c 1900; Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope; Astronomical Observatories; Science; Nature; Science/Mathematics; Republic of South Africa; Astronomy - General; History & Theory - General; Star Observation; Science / Astronomy; History; Royal Observatory, Cape of Goo
Description: This volume presents a comprehensive account of the origin, construction and use of the first major astronomical observatory in the southern hemisphere. Technical aspects, such as the instruments and their makers, the installation of the instruments and their initial problems, are described. In addition, the difficulties of founding a scientific institution in a remote colony are discussed in detail.

The book includes a biography of the Cambridge-trained mathematician Fearon Fallows, the Observatory's first Director. The architecture, building methods and construction techniques are analyzed. There is also a wealth of detail on social aspects of life in Cape Town in the 1820s, including slavery and ecclesiastical matters. The book is unusual in the emphasis it gives to the human side of the story.

. It will be of interest to historians of science, astronomers, and historians, particularly of early nineteenth-century South Africa.