Majestic Lights: The Aurora in Science, History, and the Arts (Special Publications)

About The Product Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Special Publications Series . The atmosphere being heavier in the polar regions, than in the equatorial, will there be lower; as well as from that cause, as from the smaller effect of the centrifugal force: consequently the distance of the vacuum above the atmosphere will be less at the poles, than elsewhere;...May not then the great quantity of electricity, brought into the polar regions by clouds, which are condensed there, and fall in snow, which electricity would enter the earth, but cannot penetrate the ice; may it not, I say, break through that low atmosphere, and run along in the vacuum over the air and towards the equator; diverging as the degrees of longitude enlarge; strongly visible where densest, and becoming less visible as it more diverges; till it finds a passage to the earth in more temperate climates, or is mingled with their upper air. So wrote Benjamin Franklin (176), L.L.D., F.R.S., in a paper read to the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris at the meeting held immediately after Easter in 1779. Franklin is but one famous name among men of science who has puzzled over the aurora since science began. A partial list reads almost like a Who's Who's of science up until our present century, and it includes Aristotle, Seneca, Kepler, Galileo, Gassendi, Halley, Euler, Descartes, Celsius, Cavendish, Dalton, Volta, Gauss, Humbolt, and Angstrom. To trace the story of the aurora through history is to trace the development of man from a creature of ignorance and superstition, through his renaissance of art and learning, to an analytical disciple of science and technology. But fortunately, man's transformation is not complete: Nature has contrived to clothe all objects of our scientific investigation, from the microsopic to the cosmic, in an aura of beauty and surprise. The aurora is perhaps the most spectacular of nature's contrivances to preserve the soul of the scientist. Content: Chapter 1 Modern Aurora Watching (pages 1–32): Chapter 2 The First 2000 Years (pages 33–46): Chapter 3 The Beginning of Scientific Enquiry (pages 47–64): Chapter 4 Severnoe Sijanie (pages 65–74): Chapter 5 A Century of Observations (pages 75–92): Chapter 6 The Aurora in Colonial America (pages 93–102): Chapter 7 Legends and Folklore (pages 103–116): Chapter 8 Aurora Bright, Rain Tonight? (pages 117–128): Chapter 9 The Emergence of Norwegian Auroral Science (pages 129–140): Chapter 10 Aurora Australis (pages 141–152): Chapter 11 Auroral Audibility (pages 153–162): Chapter 12 The Contribution of the Spectroscopist (pages 163–170): Chapter 13 The International Geophysical Year (pages 171–184): Chapter 14 The Aurora in Poetry and Literature (pages 187–214): Chapter 15 The Magnetosphere (pages 215–230): Chapter 16 Man?Made Aurora (pages 231–242): Chapter 17 What Now? (pages 243–250): Chapter 18 Auroral Photography (pages 251–258): Chapter 19 The Aurora and Me (pages 259–279): About The ProductPublished by the American Geophysical Union as part of the __Special Publications Series__. The atmosphere being heavier in the polar regions, than in the equatorial, will there be lower; as well as from that cause, as from the smaller effect of the centrifugal force: consequently the distance of the vacuum above the atmosphere will be less at the poles, than elsewhere;...May not then the great quantity of electricity, brought into the polar regions by clouds, which are condensed there, and fall in snow, which electricity would enter the earth, but cannot penetrate the ice; may it not, I say, break through that low atmosphere, and run along in the vacuum over the air and towards the equator; diverging as the degrees of longitude enlarge; strongly visible where densest, and becoming less visible as it more diverges; till it finds a passage to the earth in more temperate climates, or is mingled with their upper air. So wrote Benjamin Franklin (176), L.L.D., F.R.S., in a paper read to the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris at the meeting held immediately after Easter in 1779. Franklin is but one famous name among men of science who has puzzled over the aurora since science began. A partial list reads almost like a Who's Who's of science up until our present century, and it includes Aristotle, Seneca, Kepler, Galileo, Gassendi, Halley, Euler, Descartes, Celsius, Cavendish, Dalton, Volta, Gauss, Humbolt, and Angstrom. To trace the story of the aurora through history is to trace the development of man from a creature of ignorance and superstition, through his renaissance of art and learning, to an analytical disciple of science and technology. But fortunately, man's transformation is not complete: Nature has contrived to clothe all objects of our scientific investigation, from the microsopic to the cosmic, in an aura of beauty and surprise. The aurora is perhaps the most spectacular of nature's contrivances to preserve the soul of the scientist. Content: Chapter 1 Modern Aurora Watching (pages 1–32): Chapter 2 The First 2000 Years (pages 33–46): Chapter 3 The Beginning of Scientific Enquiry (pages 47–64): Chapter 4 Severnoe Sijanie (pages 65–74): Chapter 5 A Century of Observations (pages 75–92): Chapter 6 The Aurora in Colonial America (pages 93–102): Chapter 7 Legends and Folklore (pages 103–116): Chapter 8 Aurora Bright, Rain Tonight? (pages 117–128): Chapter 9 The Emergence of Norwegian Auroral Science (pages 129–140): Chapter 10 Aurora Australis (pages 141–152): Chapter 11 Auroral Audibility (pages 153–162): Chapter 12 The Contribution of the Spectroscopist (pages 163–170): Chapter 13 The International Geophysical Year (pages 171–184): Chapter 14 The Aurora in Poetry and Literature (pages 187–214): Chapter 15 The Magnetosphere (pages 215–230): Chapter 16 Man?Made Aurora (pages 231–242): Chapter 17 What Now? (pages 243–250): Chapter 18 Auroral Photography (pages 251–258): Chapter 19 The Aurora and Me (pages 259–279): MAJESTIC LIGHTS The Aurora in Science, History, and the Arts......Page 1 Copyright ......Page 2 Table of Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 8 1. Modern Aurora Watching......Page 9 2. The First 2000 Years......Page 41 3. The Beginning of scientific Enquiry......Page 55 4. Severnose Sijanie ......Page 73 5. A Century of Observations ......Page 83 6. The Aurora in Colonial America ......Page 101 7. Legends and Folklore ......Page 111 8. Aurora Bright, Rain Tonight? ......Page 125 9. The Emergence of Norwegian Auroral Science ......Page 137 10. Aurora Australis ......Page 149 11. Auroral Audibility......Page 161 12. The Contribution of the Spectreoscopists ......Page 171 13. The International Geophysical Year ......Page 179 14. The Auroua in Poetry and Literature ......Page 193 15. The Magnetosphere ......Page 223 16. Man-Made Aurora ......Page 239 17. What Now?......Page 251 18. Auroral Photography ......Page 259 19. The Aurora and Me ......Page 267 Appendix. Names for the Aurora......Page 288 Photograph Gallery......Page 290 Acknowledgments......Page 296 FIGURE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 297 Bibliography......Page 303 Subject Index......Page 321 Name Index......Page 326 Authoritative Account Written For The General Reader. Robert H. Eather. Includes Indexes. Bibliography: P. 299-316.