Columbia University Press
The Clock in the Sun
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The Clock in the Sun rekindles in me a spark of what my ancestors must have felt when they worshiped the Sun. Sokolsky methodically reconstructs the mystery and history of sunspots and reignites curiosity for our phenomenal solar timekeeper.
Francis Halzen, Vilas Research Professor and Gregory Breit Professor,
University of Wisconsin–Madison:
Pierre Sokolsky, a pioneer in observing cosmic rays by the streak
of fluorescence they leave in the atmosphere, is fascinated with sunspots. In
The Clock in the Sun, he takes us on a grand tour covering the
history of astronomy and the physics of the sun, with sunspots as a central theme.
The result is a book suitable for general readers, and for specialists, a weekend of
fascinating reading.
Peter L. Biermann, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy:
The Clock in the Sun is a one-of-a-kind history
of our understanding of the Sun—and how it has often defied authorities'
predictions. Sokolsky beautifully traces this story over nearly a thousand years and
across the world, ranging from observations of sunspots through clouds and colorful
wisps during solar eclipses to the Nobel Prize-winning research that has led us to
believe we finally grasp how the Sun functions.
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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CONTENTS
v -
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PREFACE
vii -
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INTRODUCTION
1 -
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1 SUNSPOTS AS OMENS
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2 THE ROOTS OF WESTERN COSMOLOGY
20 -
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3 MEDIEVAL EUROPE AND THE ISLAMIC EMPIRE
38 -
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4 THE INVENTION OF THE TELESCOPE
51 -
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5 AFTER GALILEO
79 -
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6 DISCOVERY OF THE SOLAR CYCLE
94 -
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7 THE BUSINESS CYCLE
120 -
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8 SOLAR SPECTROSCOPY
136 -
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9 THE SUN AND THE WEATHER
160 -
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10 TWENTIETH-CENTURY BUSINESS CYCLE SOLAR CYCLE THEORIES
190 -
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11 SUNSPOTS, THE SOLAR WIND, AND THE SUN–EARTH CONNECTION
200 -
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12 THE SUN’S ENERGY SOURCE
214 -
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13 SUNSPOTS TODAY
235 -
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Appendix A ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS
273 -
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Appendix B ATOMS AND THEIR SPECTRA
279 -
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NOTES
281 -
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ADDITIONAL READING
305 -
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INDEX
309