Book Review: Nineteenth-Century Observatories in Context: The Heavens on Earth: Observatories and Astronomy in Nineteenth-Century Science and Culture

Abstract

NINETEENTH-CENTURY OBSERVATORIES IN CONTEXT The Heavens on Earth: Observatories and Astronomy in Nineteenth-Century Science and Culture. Edited by David Aubin, Charlotte Bigg, and H. Otto Sibum (Duke University Press, Durham, 2010). Pp. xii + 384. $23.95 (paperback). ISBN 9780-8223-4640-1.What is an astronomical observatory? What role did such institutions play in nineteenth-century scientific, economic, social, and cultural life? It is well known that observatories are privileged sites for astronomical observation. But as this book suggests, they also must be understood as settings where heavenly and earthly concerns closely interact.The contributors of this edited volume emphasize different sets of physical, methodological, and social techniques - presented as observatory techniques - that proved crucial for developing political and cultural narratives. For example, in his study of the Pulkovo Observatory, Simon Werret shows how the institution, in addition to helping manage a vast territory, was designed to impress Western audiences, not unlike a theatre where specific manners and traditions are represented. Likewise, David Aubin's study treats astronomy as a key element in the building of identities by examining the eclipse of 1 868 and the construction of Thailand's national identity.Central to this volume is the claim that observatory techniques were crucial for the construction and modernization of Western nation-states. Massimo Mazzotti offers an enlightening discussion of how Secchi's shift from positional astronomy to physical astronomy and meteorology at the observatory of the Collegio Romano was essential in the pontifical modernization project as well as in the construction of Rome as a supranational city. Sven Widmalm's chapter shows how nineteenth-century military cartography in Sweden helped define the modern nation-state by using an informational infrastructure for military and social control and reform. Martina Schiavon examines geodesy and mapmaking in France and Algeria, arguing that the conceptual resources and material from observatories were particularly significant for military practice as well as for administrating and controlling territories. And Simon Schaffer argues that colonial observatories such as Paramatta became important elements in imperial systems of government and that observatory techniques were used to exemplify utilitarian governance and rationalist politics in colonial administration.A second theme is the role of the observatory in the culture of precision and universal standards that transformed scientific practices in the nineteenth century. The success of astronomy stimulated scientific research and the observatory became a model institution. In demonstrating bonds between astronomy and other disciplines, Richard Staley presents an account of Michelson's contributions to the observatory and describes how his experimental program was developed within a framework set primarily by astronomical concerns. …