History Corrected by 400-year-old Moon Map
Galileo Galilei is often credited with being the first person to look through a telescope and make drawings of the celestial objects he observed. While the Italian indeed was a pioneer in this realm, he was not the first.
Englishman Thomas Harriot made the first drawing of the moon after looking through a telescope several months before Galileo, in July 1609.
Historian Allan Chapman of the University of Oxford details that 400-year-old breakthrough in astronomy in the February 2009 edition of Astronomy and Geophysics, a journal of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Chapman explains how Harriot preceded Galileo and went on to make other maps of the moon's surface that would not be bettered for decades.
Historian Allan Chapman of the University of Oxford details that 400-year-old breakthrough in astronomy in the February 2009 edition of Astronomy and Geophysics, a journal of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Chapman explains how Harriot preceded Galileo and went on to make other maps of the moon's surface that would not be bettered for decades.
The first drawing of the Moon through a telescope, dated July 26, 1609, by Thomas Harriot. This crude but historic sketch roughly delineates the terminator, the line that marks the boundary between day and night on the lunar surface. The original image is a little more than 15 cm across. The dark patches correspond to Mare Crisium (at the top), Mare Tranquilitatis and Mare Foecunditatis. Credit: © Lord Egremont The story
Harriot lived from 1560 to 1621. He studied at St Mary's Hall (now part of Oriel College), Oxford, achieving his BA in 1580.
He then became a mathematical teacher and companion to the explorer Sir Walter Raleigh. In the early 1590s Raleigh fell from royal favor and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Harriot was passed to the patronage of Henry Percy, the Ninth Earl of Northumberland who was himself imprisoned as one of the Gunpowder Plotters in 1605 but continued to support Harriot in his residence at Sion (now Syon) Park, in what is now west London.
Harriot lived from 1560 to 1621. He studied at St Mary's Hall (now part of Oriel College), Oxford, achieving his BA in 1580.
He then became a mathematical teacher and companion to the explorer Sir Walter Raleigh. In the early 1590s Raleigh fell from royal favor and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Harriot was passed to the patronage of Henry Percy, the Ninth Earl of Northumberland who was himself imprisoned as one of the Gunpowder Plotters in 1605 but continued to support Harriot in his residence at Sion (now Syon) Park, in what is now west London.
Thomas Harriot's map of the whole Moon, made after looking through an early telescope. This image accurately depicts many lunar features including the principal Maria (lunar 'seas' - actually lava-filled basins) and craters. Labelled features include Mare Crisium ('18') on the right hand side and the craters Copernicus ('b') and Kepler ('c') in the upper left of the disk. Credit: © Lord EgremontHarriot became a leading force in mathematics, Chapman explains, working on algebraic theory and corresponding with scientists across Europe.
By 1609, Harriot had acquired his first "Dutch trunke" (telescope), which had been invented in The Netherlands in 1608. He turned it on the moon on July 26, becoming the first astronomer to draw an astronomical object after viewing it through a telescope. The crude lunar sketch shows a rough outline of the lunar terminator (the line marking the division between night and day on the moon, as seen from the Earth) and includes a handful of features like the dark areas Mare Crisium, Mare Tranquilitatis and Mare Foecunditatis.
Harriot went on to produce more maps from 1610 to 1613, Chapman said in a statement released today. Not all of these are dated, but they show an increasing level of detail. By 1613 he had created two maps of the whole moon, with many identifiable features such as lunar craters that crucially are depicted in their correct relative positions.
The earliest telescopes of the kind used by Harriot (and Galileo) had a narrow field of view, meaning that only a small portion of the moon could be seen at any one time and making this work all the more impressive. No better maps would be published for several decades.
By 1609, Harriot had acquired his first "Dutch trunke" (telescope), which had been invented in The Netherlands in 1608. He turned it on the moon on July 26, becoming the first astronomer to draw an astronomical object after viewing it through a telescope. The crude lunar sketch shows a rough outline of the lunar terminator (the line marking the division between night and day on the moon, as seen from the Earth) and includes a handful of features like the dark areas Mare Crisium, Mare Tranquilitatis and Mare Foecunditatis.
Harriot went on to produce more maps from 1610 to 1613, Chapman said in a statement released today. Not all of these are dated, but they show an increasing level of detail. By 1613 he had created two maps of the whole moon, with many identifiable features such as lunar craters that crucially are depicted in their correct relative positions.
The earliest telescopes of the kind used by Harriot (and Galileo) had a narrow field of view, meaning that only a small portion of the moon could be seen at any one time and making this work all the more impressive. No better maps would be published for several decades.
Cush job
Despite his innovative work, Harriot remains relatively unknown. Unlike Galileo, he did not publish his drawings. Unlike Galileo, Harriot is not being widely celebrated during 2009, dubbed the International Year of Astronomy as a commemoration of the telescope's 400th year.
Chapman attributes this to his comfortable position as a "well-maintained philosopher to a great and wealthy nobleman" with a generous salary, said to be "several times the level of the Warden of Wadham College, Oxford." Harriot had comfortable housing and a specially provided observing chamber on top of Sion House, all of which contrasted with Galileo's financial pressures.
Galileo, interestingly, was unable to buy a telescope. So he figured out the optics of it and built his own. He also examined the moon, and then found that the Milky Way was composed of individual stars. Galileo also discovered four moons around Jupiter and spent much time observing and drawing sunspots.
"Thomas Harriot is an unsung hero of science," Chapman said. "His drawings mark the beginning of the era of modern astronomy we now live in, where telescopes large and small give us extraordinary information about the universe we inhabit."
Professor Andy Fabian, President of the Royal Astronomical Society, agrees.
"As an astrophysicist of the 21st century, I can only look back and marvel at the work of 17th century astronomers like Thomas Harriot," Fabian said. "The world is right to celebrate Galileo in the International Year of Astronomy – but Harriot shouldn't be forgotten!" via
Despite his innovative work, Harriot remains relatively unknown. Unlike Galileo, he did not publish his drawings. Unlike Galileo, Harriot is not being widely celebrated during 2009, dubbed the International Year of Astronomy as a commemoration of the telescope's 400th year.
Chapman attributes this to his comfortable position as a "well-maintained philosopher to a great and wealthy nobleman" with a generous salary, said to be "several times the level of the Warden of Wadham College, Oxford." Harriot had comfortable housing and a specially provided observing chamber on top of Sion House, all of which contrasted with Galileo's financial pressures.
Galileo, interestingly, was unable to buy a telescope. So he figured out the optics of it and built his own. He also examined the moon, and then found that the Milky Way was composed of individual stars. Galileo also discovered four moons around Jupiter and spent much time observing and drawing sunspots.
"Thomas Harriot is an unsung hero of science," Chapman said. "His drawings mark the beginning of the era of modern astronomy we now live in, where telescopes large and small give us extraordinary information about the universe we inhabit."
Professor Andy Fabian, President of the Royal Astronomical Society, agrees.
"As an astrophysicist of the 21st century, I can only look back and marvel at the work of 17th century astronomers like Thomas Harriot," Fabian said. "The world is right to celebrate Galileo in the International Year of Astronomy – but Harriot shouldn't be forgotten!" via
20 comments:
who gives a sh*t.... a 5 year old kid can draw that.. and it's not like they were idiots or monkeys back then... yes they can draw, and speak, and sing, ffs...
Apparently 5 year olds, monkeys and idiots are able to leave comments on blog entries too nowadays......nice contribution 'Anonymous'
LOL @Dave Comment :)
I think it is fascinating to see early works in a field; esp when they have such primative tools (tools as in instrument, not like 'anonymous' above).
The old axiom "publish or perish" applies here. This guy didn't think to _tell_ anyone about his discoveries, so of course he was forgotten. Galileo deserves all the credit and fame that he received.
Dave - I'm pretty sure that 5 year olds and monkeys would be quite offended at being compared to Intarwebs McToughguy up above.
Personally, as an idiot myself I take considerable offense being compared to Trolling McTubes.
:D
-T
"(tools as in instrument, not like 'anonymous' above)"
hehehe Hey, someone's got to paTroll "teh webs" and drive lifted trucks with off road wheels in the city.
-T
He couldn't effing tell people his discoveries because hed rather live then be killed by going against the church. Not as easy as it seems. Read about history before giving your comments on history
@Troy
That only further reinforces the idea that Galileo deserves the credit. He stood up and spoke. Even in the face of physical harm. If you can't or won't do that, you don't get the opportunity to receive the credit.
And, don't forget, being English he would not have gone up against the Catholic Church. The Church of England had long since separated from Rome.
I'm just surprised that this wasn't done by somebody in Africa, ten thousand years before... After all, we all 'came from Africa', so Africans must have existed for millenia before the evil Europeans... How come to this day they haven't contributed anything of any use to humanity?
hi friend, only one thing, the telescope was invented by a spanish (not in Holland), Juan Roget:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7617426.stm
Nice post.
Harriott is well known to historians of mathematics (look up "Harriott's Principle", for example), but also, and much more widely, as the author of A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia.
Oh, and the Church would not have cared about drawings of the moon's surface; read your history.
As a 5-year-old Monkey, I take great umbrage and exception to some of the comments found here.
Publish or perish is meaningless. Its a social circle. Galileo was better connected and in the right place/time to publish. Simple fact is, Harriot observed and drew the first image of the moon. He dated and signed it. Its been confirmed by a historian, thats good enough for me.
Galileo built his own telescope. One day, he showed it to his old mother, letting her take a peek at Venus. She said: "it's upside down!"
To be fair, it's entirely possible, even probable, that neither of them was the 'first' to observe or sketch the moon through a telescope. It just happens that both Harriot and Galileo were in respected positions that meant their documents were kept and recorded for centuries, and both names passed into history.
It's like the classic historian error - if you see a ring of stones, it doesn't mean the inhabitants built everything out of stone, it's just that their wooden buildings weren't preserved.
Anonymous, tell me, who was the first to study uranus?
Sorry.
"Galileo Galilei is often credited with being the first person to look through a telescope and make drawings of the celestial objects he observed."
credited by whom? only by people who know remarkably little about the history of science. the headline "History corrected by ...." is simply pathetic journalism with little relation either to the story beneath or to historical fact.
I can't believe humans saw the moon 400 years ago. Inconceivable. That's like, before cell phones right? Wow!
The issue is not just that Galileo saw the moon through a telescope. It is the inference he drew, namely that the moon had mountains and valleys. It was not a perfect sphere. It was this fact that made his observation significant. Up until then, the prevailing view was that the heavenly bodies were all perfect orbs, unlike the earth, which was special. What was controversial about Galileo's writing about the moon were his claims that the moon had a geography that could be compared to the Earth. So the interesting question to me is not whether or not Harriot saw the moon through a telescope, but what conclusions he made based on his observations.
Ian, the first person to study uranus was the same person who invented the mirror.
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