548 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 588. 



A SUMMARY OF THE BIBLIOGEAPHIE ASTKONOMIQUE 



OF LALANDE FOR THE YEARS A.D. 130 TO 147.3, 



THE EPOCH AT WHICH SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



BEGAN TO BE PRINTED. 



The following paragraphs give the skeleton 

 of an investigation that was begun half a 

 dozen years since and that is not likely to 

 be carried further by the present writer. It 

 is accurate so far as it goes, and those who 

 are interested in astronomical anatomy may 

 be glad to see the figures here set down, and 

 will know how to clothe them with flesh. They 

 constitute a very small but a genuine contri- 

 bution to the early history of astronomy. 



SUMMARY OF LALANDE'S TABLES. 



During the II. century 2 authors are mentioned. 

 During the III. century 2 authors are mentioned. 

 During the IV. century 3 authors are mentioned. 

 During the V. century 5 authors are mentioned. 

 During the VI. century 2 authors are mentioned. 

 During the VII. century 2 authors are mentioned. 

 During the VIII. century 2 authors are mentioned. 

 During the IX. century 5 authors are mentioned. 

 During the X. century 4 authors are mentioned. 

 During the XI. century 8 authors are mentioned. 

 During the XII. century 13 authors are mentioned. 

 During the XIII. century 14 authors are mentioned. 

 During the XIV. century 19 authors are mentioned. 



Lalande's data are incomplete but, even so, 

 they exhibit a fundamental fact. The renais- 

 sance of astronomy in Europe hegan in the 

 twelfth century, or even earlier. 



About the year 1440 the art of printing 

 began to be practised in Europe, but it was 

 not until 1471-3 that works on astronomy 

 were put forth. The ' Bibliographie Astro- 

 nomique ' of Lalande, the catalogues of the 

 great astronomical library of the Imperial Ob- 

 servatory of Pulkowa, and other works of the 

 sort, contain lists of astronomical books ar- 

 ranged in the chronological order of publica- 

 tion. 



We can follow the movement of European 

 thought very closely by following such lists 

 year by year. The titles of the books give 

 precise information as to the matters upper- 

 most in men's minds; the number of publica- 

 tions in each decade exhibits something like 

 a numerical measure of their activity; the re- 

 prints of the works of classic authors show 

 how much each generation leaned on the past; 



and the number of really original books indi- 

 cates how far men were depending upon them- 

 selves. It is, moreover, very interesting to 

 note how the places of publication slowly 

 change from Germany to Italy. A true esti- 

 mate of each century can, of course, be based 

 only upon an examination of the books them- 

 selves. Rude statistics of the kind indicated 

 are, however, of value. 



I have, therefore, used the standard bibliog- 

 raphies of the years from the invention of 

 printing (1440) to the date of the publication 

 of the great work of Copernicus (1543) to 

 prepare the little table that immediately 

 follows. 



TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF ASTRONOMICAL 

 BOOKS PUBLISHED IN EACH DECADE 

 FROM 1472 TO 1600 . 

 N. B. — The numbers are the sum of the titles 

 named in Lalande's Bibliographie Astronomique 

 and in the Catalogues of the Library of the Im- 

 perial Observatory of Pulkowa, excluding dupli- 

 cates. 



Undated books XV. century, 18 works. 

 1472-1480, 34 works. 



1481-1490, 55 works. 



1491-1500, 83 works. 



XV. century (total), 190 works. 



1501-1510, 73 works. 



1511-1520, 88 works. 



1521-1530, 81 works. 



1531-1540, 152 works. 



L541-1550, 130 works. 



First Half XVI. century, 524 works. 



1551-1560, 181 works. 



1561-1570, 134 works. 



1571-1580, 208 works. 



1581-1590, 171 works. 



1591-1600, 191 works. 

 Second Half XVI. century, 885 works. 



XVI. century (total), 1,409 works. 



The foregoing table exhibits the growth of 

 astronomical publication very clearly. It 

 shows a steady growth during the whole period 

 from 1473 to 1600, and marks a decided in- 

 crease of activity at the end of the iirst third 

 of the sixteenth century, just before the ad- 

 vent of the epoch-making book of Copernicus. 

 Edward S. Holden. 



U. S. Military Academy, 

 West Point, March 22, 1906. 



