The transit of Venus enterprise in Victorian Britain
By: by Jessica Ratcliff
Series: Science and culture in the nineteenth century -- no. 3
Publisher: Pickering & Chatto
Published: 2008
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 220
ISBN-13: 9781851965410
Subjects: Observations; Science and civilization; Scientific expeditions; Transit; Astronomy; History
Description: In the second half of the nineteenth century, the British Government spent a vast amount of money measuring the distance between the earth and the sun using observations of the transit of Venus. Hundreds of expeditions were organized by countries across the globe to collect data on the transits of 1874 and 1882, using the most up-to-date astronomical instruments and new photographic methods. Ratcliff presents a clear and compelling narrative of the two Victorian transit programmes. She draws out their cultural significance and explores the nature of 'big science' in late-Victorian Britain.
Notes: Originally presented as the author's thesis.

Includes bibliographical references and index.