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Re:Webb and Hubble confirm Universe's expansion rate by rexer on Tuesday March 12, 2024 @02:19AM (#39676687)
Great comment! Maybe you can help me with a book recommendation?

I was recently looking for a book which was basically your comment, but more in depth and covered the last couple thousand years. I wanted a to read about the history of astronomy - yknow, what was the state of the art in, say, 1350 or whatever. If you know of anything, I’d be super interested!

Re:Webb and Hubble confirm Universe's expansion rate by tails4e on Tuesday March 12, 2024 @04:25AM (#39677288)
Terence Tao did a great lecture on this, https://youtu.be/kY1gfrhNUIg?si=9u9k8of6-jRybwCG
Re:Webb and Hubble confirm Universe's expansion rate by HarVard93 on Tuesday March 12, 2024 @07:34AM (#39678320)
ya
Re:Webb and Hubble confirm Universe's expansion rate by physicles on Tuesday March 12, 2024 @03:23AM (#39676969)
Unfortunately I don't have any books to recommend. I don't remember where I learned about Cepheid variables and type 1a supernovae (maybe science shows, maybe youtube, ...) but I learned about the transit of Venus stuff on a big Wikipedia rabbit hole one evening.

I think the pre-quantum mechanics era for physics and astronomy is super interesting. People figured out so much with such primitive tools, and it's all very accessible and easy to understand.

Re:Webb and Hubble confirm Universe's expansion rate by severila on Tuesday March 12, 2024 @05:24AM (#39677590)
You might be interested in "Unrewarded" by "Ben Moore" which has an interesting take by telling the history of astronomy through the lives of those that made these discoveries but were not awarded a Nobel Prize.
Re:Webb and Hubble confirm Universe's expansion rate by zuzun on Tuesday March 12, 2024 @05:30AM (#39677612)
Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe by Simon Singh.
Re:Webb and Hubble confirm Universe's expansion rate by nolta on Tuesday March 12, 2024 @10:31AM (#39679987)
You might like "Coming of Age in the Milky Way".
Re:Webb and Hubble confirm Universe's expansion rate by rexer on Tuesday March 12, 2024 @03:31PM (#39683872)
This looks perfect, thank you!
Re:Webb and Hubble confirm Universe's expansion rate by callamdelaney on Wednesday March 13, 2024 @10:58AM (#39692006)
Cosmos by Carl Sagan covers similar stories including the history of astronomy and the mathematics invented to explain it - it is like a whistle stop tour of these subjects and more + ties them together conceptually.
Re:Webb and Hubble confirm Universe's expansion rate by mvdtnz on Thursday March 14, 2024 @02:00PM (#39707067)
Cosmos by Carl Sagan covers this history. Either the book or the still-excellent TV series.