Macdonald, L.T.;
(2026)
The Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 1881–1939: Astronomy, astronomers and heritage in a changing world.
[Book].
UCL Press: London, UK.
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Abstract
Between the late nineteenth century and the outbreak of the Second World War, astronomy underwent a radical change, from a science centred on the positional measurement of stars to the study of astrophysics and the universe. This book tells the story of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich from 1881 to 1939, charting a hitherto under-researched period of its history and bringing its management to life. Using a wealth of primary-source research in the Royal Observatory’s archives and elsewhere, Lee T. Macdonald describes and analyses how the Observatory, originally founded in 1675 to tackle the problem of finding longitude at sea, branched out into areas at the cutting edge of astronomical research, including photographic mapping of the sky and the study of solar eclipses. He shows how the Observatory remained committed to the traditional missions in navigational and positional astronomy, and how its work became increasingly challenged by the growth of London, culminating in relocation. The story is a valuable exemplar of how a working observatory gradually transformed into a heritage institution, which thrives to this day. The Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 1881–1939 will be essential reading for astronomers and historians of science, and important for heritage professionals, particularly those working in historic scientific institutions.
| Type: | Book |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 1881–1939: Astronomy, astronomers and heritage in a changing world |
| ISBN-13: | 9781806550456 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.14324/111.9781806550456 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781806550456 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © Author, 2026 Any third-party material in this book is not covered by the book’s Creative Commons licence. Details of the copyright ownership and permitted use of third-party material is given in the image (or extract) credit lines. Every effort has been made to identify and contact copyright holders and any omission or error will be corrected if notification is made to the publisher. If you would like to reuse any third-party material not covered by the book's Creative Commons licence, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright owner. This book is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC 4.0), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. This licence allows you to share and adapt the work for non-commercial use providing attribution is made to the author and publisher (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work) and any changes are indicated. Attribution should include the following information: Macdonald, L.T. 2026. The Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 1881–1939: Astronomy, astronomers and heritage in a changing world. London: UCL Press. https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781806550456 Further details about Creative Commons licences are available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ |
| Keywords: | Greenwich, observatories, astronomy, navigation, photography |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10219182 |
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