Tidal friction and the earth's rotation : proceedings of a workshop held at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, ZiF, of the Univ. of Bielefeld ... (1), Proceedings of a workshop held at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF) of the Univers

P.Brosche The development of the ideas and observational techniques related to the subject of our meeting "Tidal friction and the Earth's rotation", Bielefeld, September 1977 is one of the most fascinating books - not merely chapters! - of the modern history of science. Its genealogical tree is as intricate as that of mankind itself: There are dead ends and superfluous re-discoveries. Due to these circumstances and to the pure extent of the topic, it is impossible to give more than a few highlights here. The first relevant observational fact was discovered by the famous English astronomer E. Halley in 1695 (Berry, 1961). He simply could not arrive at an agreement between ancient and recent eclipses using a constant mean angular motion of the Moon. Instead, he had to intro­ duce an empirical acceleration term in the mean motion. Known as the "secular acceleration", it has ever since been a most challenging sub­ ject of celestial mechanics and a main branch of the genealogical tree already mentioned. In 1754, completely independently and almost certainly in ignorance of those specialists' activities, the German philosopher Kant established the idea of tidal friction as a decelerating mechanism for the rotation of the Earth (Felber, 1974). Although he made some errors in his rough computations, the majority of the constitutive elements of his concept have survived to the present day (Brosche, 1977). P. Brosche The development of the ideas and observational techniques related to the subject of our meeting "Tidal friction and the Earth's rotation", Bielefeld, September 1977 is one of the most fascinating books - not merely chapters! - of the modern history of science. Its genealogical tree is as intricate as that of mankind itself: There are dead ends and superfluous re-discoveries. Due to these circumstances and to the pure extent of the topic, it is impossible to give more than a few highlights here. The first relevant observational fact was discovered by the famous English astronomer E. Halley in 1695 (Berry, 1961). He simply could not arrive at an agreement between ancient and recent eclipses using a constant mean angular motion of the Moon. Instead, he had to introƯ duce an empirical acceleration term in the mean motion. Known as the "secular acceleration", it has ever since been a most challenging subƯ ject of celestial mechanics and a main branch of the genealogical tree already mentioned. In 1754, completely independently and almost certainly in ignorance of those specialists' activities, the German philosopher Kant established the idea of tidal friction as a decelerating mechanism for the rotation of the Earth (Felber, 1974). Although he made some errors in his rough computations, the majority of the constitutive elements of his concept have survived to the present day (Brosche, 1977) Front Matter....Pages I-VIII Historical Background and Introduction....Pages 1-4 Pre-Telescopic Astronomical Observations....Pages 5-21 Tidal Deceleration of the Earth’s Rotation Deduced from Astronomical Observations in the Period A. D. 1600 to the Present....Pages 22-27 Determination of the Rotation of the Earth (at Present)....Pages 28-42 Effect of Tidal Friction on the Lunar Orbit and the Rotation of Earth and Its Determination by Laser Ranging....Pages 43-54 Tides of the Solid Earth from Gravimetric Measurements....Pages 55-61 Tidal Friction in the Solid Earth: Loading Tides Versus Body Tides....Pages 62-94 Tidal Dissipation in the Oceans....Pages 95-97 The Influence of Solid Earth Deformations on Semidiurnal and Diurnal Oceanic Tides....Pages 98-124 Numerical Computation of Tidal Friction for Present and Ancient Oceans....Pages 125-144 The Earth’s Palaeorotation....Pages 145-153 Periodic Growth Features in Fossil Organisms and the Length of the Day and Month....Pages 154-196 Geological and Geophysical Evidence Relating to Continental Growth and Dynamics and the Hydrosphere in Precambrian Times: a Review and Analysis....Pages 197-241 Concluding Remarks....Pages 243-243 Back Matter....Pages 243-248