A one galaxy universe, the discovery of galaxies and the shift to modern approaches to the cosmos
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61377/ehc.39465Keywords:
Nineteenth century astronomers, infinite universe, cosmos, nebular hypothesisAbstract
Astronomers in the late nineteenth century and at the very start of the twentieth century were very little interested in the broader universe, its history and what lay beyond our galactic system as well as what is sometimes termed the thermodynamic cosmos. Some were very concerned with the structure of our own stellar system, but astronomers played next to no part in debates at the end of the nineteenth century about the wider nature of the cosmos. The infinite universe beyond our stellar system was territory professional astronomers were more than were happy to leave to mathematicians, physicists, philosophers, and some popularizers. In this paper I will examine these attitudes and why and how they changed. I will then discuss the discovery of galaxies, which will be the focus of the final section of the paper.
Originally published as: Smith, R. W. (2015). A One Galaxy Universe, the Discovery of Galaxies and the Shift to Modern Approaches to the Cosmos. En K. Freeman, B. Elmegreen, D. Block, & M. Woolway (Eds.), Lessons from the Local Group (pp. 401-411). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10614-4_33
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