"The sun has been worshiped as a deity in many cultures, for giving life and light. In medieval times in Russia, China, and Korea, occasional observations of dark spots on the sun were recorded and interpreted as omens of instability, or as harbingers ofdisaster. By contrast, in Europe, in a cosmology originating from the ancient Greeks, the sun was regarded as a perfect body, part of the unchanging celestial realm. The discovery of imperfections on the solar surface by Galileo and others and dubbed sun-spots played an important part in the development of new sciences that broke with the medieval worldview. In the early 19th century amateur observers discovered that the number of sunspots ebbed and flowed with a cycle of about eleven years. This discovery of a solar cycle captured the popular imagination and led to intriguing speculations on such diverse topics as solar influences on the weather and even business cycles. While notions of predicting market prices by counting sun-spots proved illusory, subsequent astronomical discoveries of the sun's magnetic field and the magnetic nature of sunspots themselves led to the discovery of the outflow of the sun's matter into space, known as the solar wind. The earth is in fact closely coupled with the sun in a kind of magnetic cocoon. This sun-earth connection affects our atmosphere, communications and power transmission networks, as well as the ability of cosmic radiation from outside our solar system to penetrate our atmosphere. This is one of the great compelling stories of our interconnection with the larger universe. This book will trace the development of our scientific knowledge of the sun and its influence on the earth by interweaving the science with historical, political, and cultural contexts. The unifying theme is the puzzle of the cyclical solar imperfections whose rhythm has been tied to all kinds of events on earth. Topics from astronomy, optics, electricity and magnetism, and modern physics will be introduced conceptually as needed."--
On the surface of the Sun, spots appear and fade in a predictable cycle, like a great clock in the sky. In medieval Russia, China, and Korea, monks and court astronomers recorded the appearance of these dark shapes, interpreting them as omens of things to come. In Western Europe, by contrast, where a cosmology originating with Aristotle prevailed, the Sun was regarded as part of the unchanging celestial realm, and it took observations through telescopes by Galileo and others to establish the reality of solar imperfections. In the nineteenth century, amateur astronomers discovered that sunspots ebb and flow about every eleven yearsspurring speculation about their influence on the weather and even the stock market.
Exploring these and many other crucial developments, Pierre Sokolsky provides a history of knowledge of the Sun through the lens of sunspots and the solar cycle. He ranges widely across cultures and throughout history, from the earliest recorded observations of sunspots in Chinese annals to satellites orbiting the Sun today, and from worship of the Sun as a deity in ancient times to present-day scientific understandings of stars and their magnetic fields. Considering how various thinkers sought to solve the puzzle of sunspots, Sokolsky sheds new light on key discoveries and the people who made them, as well as their historical and cultural contexts. Fast-paced, comprehensive, and learned, The Clock in the Sun shows readers our closest star from many new angles.
Pierre Sokolsky provides a history of knowledge of the Sun through the lens of sunspots and the solar cycle, shedding new light on key discoveries and the people who made them.
