The Process and Impact of Technological and Methodological Advances in Telescopes on the Detection and Analysis of Earth's Nutation in the 18th Century
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23925/2178-2911.2025v32p90-117Keywords:
History of the Telescope, nutation, Astronomy in the 18th CenturyAbstract
This article examines research on the phenomena of nutation and precession during the first half of the 18th century. In this period, improvements in refracting telescopes allowed for more precise observational data, while the development of Leibnizian differential calculus applied to mechanics enabled the theoretical calculation of these motions. For the first time, nutation and precession became the subject of a systematic comparison between theoretical predictions and experimental data. The study is structured into three parts: the technological evolution of telescopes, the advancement of differential calculus in mechanics, and an analysis of the first theoretical results on these phenomena, obtained by D’Alembert in 1749 in his Recherches sur la précession des équinoxes, et sur la nutation de l’axe de la Terre, dans le système Newtonien.
References
Bennett, J. A Companion to the History of Science: Telescopes, First Edition. Edited by Bernard Lightman. Published 2016 by John Wiley Sons, Ltd.
Berry, A. A Short History of Astronomy. Nabu Press, 2010 (1899).
Bradley, J. A letter to the right honourable George Earl of macclesfield concerning an apparent motion observed in some of fixed stars, Phil. Trans. vol. 45, nº485 (janiver 1747-48), p. 1-43.
Chapront-Touzé, Michelle; Souchay, Jean. Traités et mémoires mathématiques, 1736-1756: Précession et nutation, 1749-1752. Paris: CNRS Editions, 2006.
Clairaut, Alexis Claude. Théorie de la figure de la terre, tirée des principes de l’hydrostatique. Paris: David l’aîné, 1743.
Cohen, I. Bernard. The Newtonian revolution: with illustrations of the transformation of scientific ideas. Edição ilustrada, revisada. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press, 1980. 404 p. ISBN 0521273803.
Eisenstaedt, J. Antes de Einstein: relatividad, luz y gravitación, Fondo de Cultura Económica, Carretera Picacho-Ajusco, 227; 14738 México, D. F. 2015.
Eisenstaedt, J. (2001) Bradley’s discovery of nutation, Laboratoire de Gravitation et Cosmologie Relativistes, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS/ESA 7065 Tour 22-12, 4ème étage, B.C. 142, 4, place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France, 75014, Paris, France.
Grimberg, G., E. A constituição da Teoria Das Funções de Várias Variáveis no século XVIII: O Início da Análise Moderna. Tese de Doutorado. Universidade de São Paulo, Departamento de Filosofia, 2001.
Huygens, C. Systema Saturnium: sive, De causis mirandorum Saturni phaenomenôn, et comite ejus Planeta Novo, 1629-1695; Vlacq, Adriaan, 1600-1667, printer; Hollingworth, Jacob, 17th century.
King, H. C., & Jones, H. S. The history of the telescope. General Publishing Company, Ltd., 30 Lesmill Road, Don Mills, Toronto, Ontario.1955.
Linton, C. M. From Eudoxus to Einstein: A History of Mathematical Astronomy, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2004.
Nacional, O. ASTRO - Ferramentas Básicas de Astronomia. Disponível em: <https://daed.on.br/astro/obliquidade-da-ecliptica>. Acesso em: 31 maio. 2024.
Savoie, D. The precession of the equinoxes from Hipparchus to Tycho Brahe. Edited by N. Capitaine, Paris: Observatoire de Paris, p. 125-130.
Souchay, J. (2001) D'Alembert's theory of precession-nutation. Edited by N. Capitaine, Paris: Observatoire de Paris, p. 136-141.
