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As a historian of astronomy, I have started to take an interest in the achievements of astronomers who have been neglected by popular science writers and authors of astronomy textbooks. One such is Vesto Slipher, of the Lowell Observatory. Hired to do planetary science, he became a pioneer in extragalactic optical spectroscopy, working under very difficult conditions. He developed instrumentation and technique. It was Vesto Slipher, NOT Edwin Hubble, who discovered the recession of the galaxies. Marcia Bartusiak is the expert on Vesto Slipher. Her book, The Day we Found the Universe (1 January 1925) is superb in every way.
Stay tuned for some more neglected figures.
Simon
http://www.totalastronomy.com
1 comment:
Better known as V.M. (for Vesto Melvin) Slipher. Perhaps to delineate him from his brother, E.C. Slipher. At least he was appreciated around Flagstaff. Yes, my time at Lowell overlapped with V.M. (and E.C.).
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