The Hill-Brown Theory of the Moon’s Motion: Its Coming-to-be and Short-lived Ascendancy (1877-1984) 2010th Edition
Author(s): Curtis Wilson (Author)
Publisher: Springer
Publication Date: 5 Sept. 2012
Edition: 2010th
Language: English
Print length: 337 pages
ISBN-10: 1461426146
ISBN-13: 9781461426141
Book Description
The Hill–Brown theory of the Moon’s motion was constructed in the years from 1877 to 1908, and adopted as the basis for the lunar ephemerides in the nautical almanacs of the US, UK, Germany, France, and Spain beginning in 1923. At that time and for some decades afterward, it was the most accurate lunar theory ever constructed. Its accuracy was due, rst, to a novel choice of “intermediary orbit” or rst approxi- tion, more nearly closing in on the Moon’s actual motion than any elliptical orbit ever could, and secondly to the care and discernment and stick-to-it-ive-ness with which the further approximations (“perturbations” to this initial orbit) had been computed and assembled so as yield a nal theory approximating the Moon’s path in real space with an accuracy of a hundredth of an arc-second or better. The method by which the Hill–Brown lunar theory was developed held the potentiality for still greater accuracy. The intermediary orbit of the Hill–Brown theory may be described as a periodic solution of a simpli ed three-body problem, with numerical parameters carried to 15 decimal places. George William Hill, a young American mathematician working for the U. S. Nautical Almanac Of ce, had proposed it, and computed the numerical parameters to their 15 places. A self-effacing loner, he had in his privately pursued studies come to see that the contemporary attempts at predicting the Moon’s motion were guaranteed to fail in achieving a lunar ephemeris of the accuracy desired.
Editorial Reviews
Review
From the reviews:
“This is the second book on historical aspects of lunar theory to have been published by Springer within a twelve-month period. … the text is largely accessible without specialist knowledge of its central themes. … this text is mainly one for specialists. … the history of lunar theory introduces many fascinating ideas, and it refers very many creative mathematicians and astronomers.” (Peter Ruane, The Mathematical Association of America, August, 2010)
“This excellent book is a cornerstone in the history of astronomy. It deals with the Hill-Brown theory of the Moon’s motion between 1877 and 1984. … This lively written book contains many biographical notes and well-founded historical comments, and thus can be recommended to amateurs in astronomy and science history, and to instructors and scholars interested in the rapid development of astronomy and physics.” (Johannes Viktor Feitzinger, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1202, 2011)
From the Back Cover
The Hill–Brown theory of lunar motion was, from its completion in 1908 to its retirement in 1984, the most accurate model of the moon’s orbit. The mathematical, philosophical, and historical interest in the analytic solution of the lunar problem using the Hill–Brown method still engages celestial mechanicians, and is the primary focus of this work. This book, in three parts, describes three phases in the development of the modern theory and calculation of the Moon’s motion. Part I explains the crisis in lunar theory in the 1870s that led G.W. Hill to lay a new foundation for an analytic solution, a preliminary orbit he called the “variational curve.” Part II is devoted to E.W. Brown’s completion of the new theory as a series of successive perturbations of Hill’s variational curve. Part III describes the revolutionary developments in time-measurement and the determination of Earth-Moon and Earth-planet distances that led to the replacement of the Hill–Brown theory in 1984. Although some calculus and differential equations are included, the text is largely accessible without advanced knowledge in these areas. Amateurs of astronomy, as well as instructors and scholars of the general history of science, will find this book of significant interest.
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