"The Sun in the Church: Cathedrals as Solar Observatories" is a
historical, well-documented, scholarly book concerned both with the
use of churches in Italy during the 16th and 18th centuries to
obtain observations of the sun for calendric and scientific
purposes and with the relationship between the Church of Rome and
the heliocentric views of many of the scientists of those
times.--Arnold, M. Heiser "Science Books and Films "
[The] improbable tale [of an astrological instrument saving a
church] is just one of the gems recovered by Heilbron in a book
that lingers lovingly over these forgotten instruments. Once big
science, now architectural curios not infrequently buried under
flagstones and pews, gnomons (or meridian lines, as they are more
properly called) lie at the luminous conjunction of mathematics,
philosophy, architecture, astronomy and church politics. Dusted off
in this idiosyncratic history of astronomy during the scientific
revolution, they provide an occasion to revisit perennial questions
about the relationship between science and religion, reason and
faith...[Readers] will be surprised to discover what Heilbron
shows: that the Catholic Church served as perhaps the largest
patron of sophisticated astronomical research throughout the
controversies over Copernicus and his sun-centered scheme.--D.
Graham Burnett "New York Times Book Review "
Dr. Heilbron reveals the ubiquity of the solar observatories, which
heretofore were little known among scholars. And he shows that the
church was not necessarily seeking knowledge for knowledge's sake,
a traditional aim of pure science. Rather, like many patrons, it
wanted something practical in return for its investments: mainly
the improvement of the calendar so church officials could more
accurately establish the date of Easter.--William J. Broad "New
York Times "
He tells his story in rich detail, reconstructing characters and
circumstances with ironic verve. His theme is the meridian lines
(meridiane) laid down in the marble floors of cathedrals for
quantifying the sun's annual motion...Heilbron's book is a treasure
trove of fascinating information.--Curtis Wilson "ISIS "
Heilbron chronicles the ironic relationship between astronomy and
the Catholic Church as it seeks the means to determine [the date
for Easter]. This is the story of politically astute astronomers
and cardinals who have to reconcile church doctrine with Galileo's
universe...The text is filled with fine detail and is richly
illustrated. An erudite and scholarly work.--James Olson "Library
Journal "
Heilbron combines the history of astronomy, mathematics,
architecture, patronage, and religion to tell a story that very
much alters the common picture of the progress in astronomy in the
early modern period and the place of the Catholic Church in that
history. The story is well told, and the mathematics is given in a
way that could discourage only the most innumerate.--Sheila J.
Rabin "The Sixteenth Century Journal "
Heilbron's book tells of the struggle to determine dates more
accurately, including a little-known aspect of the history of the
calendar--the use of churches as giant sundials to make
astronomical measurements.--Kate Noble "Time "
In "The Sun in the Church", historian John Heilbron argues
convincingly that long-held interpretations [in astronomy] are too
simplistic and must be revised...Heilbron tells an important story,
one that is not so much neglected as unknown among historians of
science. Even in histories of astronomy, there is usually only a
passing reference to it.--Albert Van Helden "Science "
J. L. Heilbron's remarkable book draws our attention to church
users of a very different kind: early modern astronomers measuring
the solar path to correct the shift of the ancient Julian
calendar..."The Sun in the Church" tells their history in detail,
alongside an exceptionally comprehensive and clear account of
medieval and early modern astronomy..."The Sun in the Church" is an
illuminous book, possibly as durable as the meridianae it
celebrates.--Sergio Sanabria "Technology and Culture "
John Heilbron's book does tell a gripping story and with a splendid
literary flair...By subtly inserting critical comments, the author
evaluates the interactions of science in its gestation with the
culture of those centuries and the repercussions that these
interactions have has down to our own times. And so it becomes a
story about people, and Heilbron tells it in a masterfully human
way.--George V. Coyne "Nature "
The historical perception of post-Renaissance Italian astronomy has
become so over-charged with the Roman Catholic Church's
condemnation of Galileo in 1633 that it is commonly assumed that no
significant science took place south of the Alps until the 19th
century. But, as John Heilbron's learned, elegant and finely
phrased book reminds us, this was not the case...Though Heilbron
supplies all the necessary geometry to demonstrate how the
meridianae [(a solar measuring instrument)] were constructed and
used within the great architectural masterpieces into which they
were incorporated, his book is arranged and illustrated in such a
way that non-mathematical persons can enjoy it.--Allan Chapman
"Times Higher Education Supplement "
The innumerate reader will learn much from Heilbron's book, and may
come away with a different appreciation of the stars above
us.--Ingrid D. Rowland"New York Review of Books" (02/22/2001)
The spectacle of the image of the sun projected on meridian lines
in several of the great Italian cathedrals is captured in the
beautiful color plates highlighting this book...This excellent book
explains the difficulties posed by the inconvenient lengths of the
lunar month and solar year, and discusses how observations of the
solar image crossing a precisely aligned mark could solve the
problem...The book is well written.--D. E. Hogg "Choice "
This book offers a different kind of travel guide for the
'mathematical tourist, ' providing an itinerary of Italian cities
and churches in which to find meridians, analemmas, armillary
spheres and gnomons. These are good reminders of the role of the
church in the history of science and testify to the fact that
everything applied to the church, even the most apparently
ornamental, served a didactic purpose.--Paul A. Calter and Kim
Williams "Nexus Network Journal "
This excellent book adds a welcome complexity to the historiography
of astronomy in the years after Galileo's abjuration allegedly
brought Italian astronomy to its knees...Heilbron's book also
reinterprets the relations of science and religion in the shadow of
the Galileo affair. The novelty of his argument is neither that
religion can stimulate astronomy...nor that ecclesiastical
patronage encouraged learning...It is rather that the Church
signally fertilized astronomy in an era when most historians
portray the two as antagonists...[one] will appreciate the witty
prose of the argument and the elegant design of this important
book.--Michael H. Shank "Renaissance Quarterly "
In "The Sun in the Church," historian John Heilbron argues
convincingly that long-held interpretations [in astronomy] are too
simplistic and must be revised...Heilbron tells an important story,
one that is not so much neglected as unknown among historians of
science. Even in histories of astronomy, there is usually only a
passing reference to it. -- Albert Van Helden "Science"
ÝThe¨ improbable tale Ýof an astrological instrument saving a
church¨ is just one of the gems recovered by Heilbron in a book
that lingers lovingly over these forgotten instruments. Once big
science, now architectural curios not infrequently buried under
flagstones and pews, gnomons (or meridian lines, as they are more
properly called) lie at the luminous conjunction of mathematics,
philosophy, architecture, astronomy and church politics. Dusted off
in this idiosyncratic history of astronomy during the scientific
revolution, they provide an occasion to revisit perennial questions
about the relationship between science and religion, reason and
faith...ÝReaders¨ will be surprised to discover what Heilbron
shows: that the Catholic Church served as perhaps the largest
patron of sophisticated astronomical research throughout the
controversies over Copernicus and his sun-centered scheme. -- D.
Graham Burnett "New York Times Book Review"
A book both elegant and learned, exploring the installation of vast
(but often easily overlooked) astronomical instruments in major
churches by authorities sometimes thought, wrongly, to have opposed
astronomical research.
In this elegant work, Heilbron recounts how in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries the Roman Catholic Church fashioned several of
its major cathedrals into precision instruments for studying the
motions of the sun. The aim was to determine the time between
vernal equinoxes, so that the dates for Easter could be forecast
accurately...Heilbron, upending common views of the Church's
relationship to science after it condemned Galileo, shows that Rome
handsomely supported astronomical studies, accepting the Copernican
hypothesis as a fiction convenient for calculation.
J. L. Heilbron depicts the unusual intersection of architecture,
science, ecclesiastical and civil history, mathematics and
philosophy that led the church to construct the buildings only a
few years after it martyred Galileo. Erudite, accessible and wryly
humorous, Heilbron's engaging book is a first-rate work of science
history.
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