Hevelius selenographia frontispiece of a book

On the frontispiece of this book, hevelius celebrates not the triumph of a european scientific revolution, but a much broader heritage. Selenographia, sive lunae descriptio is a work of johannes hevelius, published in 1647 media in category selenographia the following 8 files are in this category, out of 8 total. When hevelius published a book about the instruments of his observatory, the machina coelestis 1673, he included two large engravings that showed johannes at one side of an octant second image and a sextant third image, and elisabeth at the other. Hevelius published his observations and drawings in 1647s selenographia. Selenographia, sive lunae descriptio selenography, or a description of the moon is a milestone work by johannes hevelius, printed in 1647. In his treatise hevelius reflected on the difference between his own work and that of galileo galilei. On the left appears ibn alhaytham, a leading medieval islamic astronomer and optical theorist. Johannes hevelius scientist of the day linda hall library. This work of hevelius influenced his contemporary european astronomers, and the selenographia was the standard reference on selenography for over a century. Published in 1647, selenographia made hevelius a celebrity of sorts.

One of the engravings is of hevelius with one of his telescopes. Johannes hevelius 16111687, a polish astronomer, founder of the modern selenography. Selenographia sive lunae descriptio johannes hevelius. Hevelius included 40 engravings representing the moon in different phases. On the right, holding a telescope, is galileo, portrayed in middle eastern dress.

Click on image or caption above to see image in the zoom viewer. Frontispiece of johannes hevelius, selenographia 1647. His selenographia was published in 1647, 43 years before the star atlas second image. A tall, thick quarto, printed in a large, rich font and filled with lovely engravings, many executed by hevelius himself, it has to be the most elegant book on the moon ever printed. The engraved frontispiece by jeremias falck depicts portraits of alhazen and galileo. Of course, like copernicus before him, hevelius believed that that the earth orbited the sun.

Selenographia contains detailed descriptions with illustrations of the surface of the moon. Depiction of ibn alhaytham left holding a geometrical diagram and symbolising knowledge through reason and galileo galilei right, holding a telescope and symbolising knowledge through the senses. Giambattista riccioli, sj, a catholic priest and scholar who lived in northern italy authored the present scheme of latin lunar nomenclature. Elisabeth hevelius scientist of the day linda hall library. But long before hevelius began tracking the stars, he made his mark as an observer and mapper of the moon. Hevelius remarked that the quality of galileos representations. When protestant johannes hevelius johannes hevelius selenographia first appeared in 1647, pope innocent x admired the book so much he wished it hadnt been written by a heretic. Hevelius history of science book collection woodson. The italian astronomer niccolo zucchi even showed a copy of the book to the pope. Johann hevelius, selenographia gdansk, 1647 lynx open ed. The 17thcentury astronomer who made the first atlas of.