Steven J. Dick: Discovery and Classification in Astronomy

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mikemarotta
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Steven J. Dick: Discovery and Classification in Astronomy

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Post by mikemarotta »


Thomas Jefferson did not say that it “was easier to believe that two Yankee professors could lie than to admit that stones could fall from heaven.” But he could have because the celestial origin of meteors and meteorites was not established until 1863. Steven J. Dick (NASA Chief Historian, 2003-2009) calls earlier claims the “pre-discovery” phase. After discovery—the correct identification of an object—come classification, controversy, and consensus.

Discovery and Classification in Astronomy: Controversy and Consensus by Steven J. Dick (Cambridge University Press, 2013), is a taxonomic history. Dick alludes to parallels in the development of biology and chemistry which he offers as more mature paradigms. The periodic table of elements allowed predictions. Astronomy has nothing like it. Biology still has controversies but it has millions of species to consider. Astronomy has fewer than 100, 82 by his count. In most cases, each discovery was a thing-in-itself until improved understanding (usually through controversy) revealed others of its kind.
Dick Discovery cover (small).jpeg
Pre-discovery of the Sun, Moon, and stars begins with our hominid ancestors. Uranus and Neptune had pre-discovery phases because they were spotted and recorded as stars before they were identified as planets. Uranus was recorded (as a star) by British Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed six times in 1690. Galileo recorded Neptune (as a star) on December 28, 1612, and January 27, 1613. When William Herschel identified it as a planet, there was some controversy between 1781 and 1783 but the matter was soon settled. Pluto, on the other hand, stands as a counter-example. It had no pre-discovery phase. When discovered, it was accepted as a planet. Only later did controversy change its classification and a new consensus evolve. The catalyst for that change was understanding, and the process was an evolution.

The stars were even less tractable and nebulae all the more difficult to isolate into classes. At first astronomers expected that better telescopes would resolve all nebulae into fields of stars. That did happen with some. Others were found to be huge volumes of gas or dust that absorb or reflect or emit radiation. Still others eventually were identified as types of galaxies, again, with some controversies that are not yet entirely settled.

The main narrative of 340 pages delivers a chronology by types from planets to quasars and then reviews the works and publications to reveal the patterns (Part IV) and the drivers of discovery (Part V). Part VI closes with The Meaning of Discovery.
“… discoveries end with a basic understanding of the fundamental properties of a class, but before mature understanding, as defined by knowing an object's place in an evolutionary scheme.” (page 331). The process can take centuries as with the planetary nebulae. Dick also believes that since 1960 or so we have come to a mature evolutionary scheme for the universe. (page 331).
Having presented the facts, Dick then organizes them into a Three Kingdoms model: Planets, Stars, and Galaxies. It fits on two landscape pages as Appendix 1.

Appendix 2 “Astronomical Discoveries and Their Extended Structure” is a detailed tabulation of 82 objects, from Novae through Proto-Galactic Clouds, identifying the discoverer and citing the pre-discoveries.

I got the book from the library because in our home we are of one mind on not acquiring more stuff. However, I bought it because it is more conceptual than a history of astronomy or, more narrowly, astrophysics (which I regard as the touchstone of astronomy) and it is more concrete than a philosophy of science. I bought it because I checked it out and renewed it four times (maxed out) and filled it with post-its as I read and re-read it.

As valuable as I regard the work, I do differ from Dick on his metaphysics and epistemology, and I have some quibbles with his history. In the main, however, his assertions are supported by deep foundations of facts in their correct contexts.

(I have a much longer review on my blog, including a defense of Thomas Jefferson from the curators at Montecello.)
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Michael E. Marotta
Astro-Tech 115 mm APO Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/6.47 Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/9.8 Refractor Bresser 8-inch Newtonian Reflector Plössls from 40 to 6 mm Nagler Series-1 7mm. nonMeade 14 mm. Mounts: Celestron AVX, Explore Twilight I Alt-Az, Explore EXOS German Equatorial
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