Fire in the Sky: Comets and Meteors, the Decisive Centuries, in British Art and ScienceFire in the Sky collects many representations of comets and meteors in Britain during the eighteen and nineteenth century when a large number of works inspired by these celestial objects were produced. Over 100 photographs--and two sections of luscious color plates--beautifully portray the inspired output of some of the world's most talented artists, fully capturing the phenomenon that obsessed not only a nation but an era as well. Olson and Pasachoff reveal the many different ways that comets and meteors have appeared in paintings and literature and link these works to the achievements of British science in the wake of Newton and Halley. They also examine the different symbolism that writers and artists have attached to these spectacular objects. Throughout, Fire in the Sky conveys how the development of new technologies, and the burgeoning interest of the general public in science and art, dovetailed with an interest in nature and a strong literary tradition of comet and meteor symbolism. Beautifully illustrated and packed with engaging stories, this book will delight anyone with an interest in the art and astronomy of comets. |
From inside the book
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Page 6
... thoughts but rather for a truthful reflection of their values and way of life . Since artists began to explore all fields of subject matter in their role as chroniclers of their time , 7 comets and meteors , which appeared frequently in ...
... thoughts but rather for a truthful reflection of their values and way of life . Since artists began to explore all fields of subject matter in their role as chroniclers of their time , 7 comets and meteors , which appeared frequently in ...
Page 7
... thought to be over 80,000 years ) . These comets seem nonperiodic to us since we never witness their return . Comets that round the sun in periods of two hundred years or less are called " short - peri- od " comets . They are now thought ...
... thought to be over 80,000 years ) . These comets seem nonperiodic to us since we never witness their return . Comets that round the sun in periods of two hundred years or less are called " short - peri- od " comets . They are now thought ...
Page 8
... thought to have impacted earth 65 million years ago causing the extinction of the dinosaurs and other species ; the chunk of a comet or asteroid that may have hit the earth in Tunguska , Siberia , in 1908 ; or Comet Shoemaker - Levy 9 ...
... thought to have impacted earth 65 million years ago causing the extinction of the dinosaurs and other species ; the chunk of a comet or asteroid that may have hit the earth in Tunguska , Siberia , in 1908 ; or Comet Shoemaker - Levy 9 ...
Page 12
... thought that meteors were vapors in our atmosphere that we saw when they exploded.19 Even Halley in 1686 , when he established that the earth's atmosphere extended upward about 45 miles ( 72 km ) , thought that the meteors were ...
... thought that meteors were vapors in our atmosphere that we saw when they exploded.19 Even Halley in 1686 , when he established that the earth's atmosphere extended upward about 45 miles ( 72 km ) , thought that the meteors were ...
Page 15
... thought . The cross currents are also evident in studies such as H. Honour et al . , The Age of Neoclassicism , exh . cat . , London , 1972 . R.J.M. Olson , Fire and Ice : A History of Comets in Art , New York , 1985 . See also I ...
... thought . The cross currents are also evident in studies such as H. Honour et al . , The Age of Neoclassicism , exh . cat . , London , 1972 . R.J.M. Olson , Fire and Ice : A History of Comets in Art , New York , 1985 . See also I ...
Contents
Prelude The Beginning of Telescopic Astronomy and the Background of British Astronomy and Artistic Traditions | 17 |
The Heavens on Fire The Eighteenth Century | 37 |
The CometCrazed Century Opens | 109 |
The Triumph of Realism | 179 |
Donatis Comet the Watershed | 227 |
The Origin oAPPENDIX If Comet and Meteor Photography | 245 |
The Triumph of the Imagination | 263 |
Comets and the New Century | 309 |
Comets and the New Millennium | 317 |
Appendices | 331 |
349 | |
363 | |
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Common terms and phrases
18 August Account apparition appeared Archives artist Astronomical Society Library black ink British Art British Museum brown ink Cambridge celestial Center for British century Charles Piazzi Smyth color comet's tail cometarium comets and meteors depicted Donati's Comet drawing earth engraving Figure fireball Gallery George graphite Greenwich Halley Halley's Comet heaven Ibid illustration inscribed John John Herschel Kronk light Linnell Linnell's London Martin meteor of 18 Meteor seen meteorites Monthly Notices Moon Newton nucleus observed October Olson orbit Oxford painting Pasachoff Paul Mellon Paul Mellon Collection Paul Sandby pen and black pen and brown Phil Philosophical Transactions photograph Piazzi Smyth planets plate portrait published Rowlandson Royal Astronomical Society Royal Observatory Edinburgh Royal Society sale cat Sandby satire Science Museum scientific Scott sketch solar symbolism telescope Thomas tion Trans Turner watercolor watercolor with pen William Blake William Herschel Yale Center York