Product Description

This volume is, first and foremost, a story of the relations between space, time and navigation, from the rise of the chronometer in the U.S. to the Global Positioning System of satellites, for which the Naval Observatory provides the time to a billionth of a second per day. It is a story of the history of technology, in the form of telescopes, lenses, detectors, calculators, clocks and computers over 170 years. It describes how one scientific institution under government and military patronage has contributed, through all the vagaries of history, to almost two centuries of unparalleled progress in astronomy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1272576 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 800 pages

Review
'... easy reading. It is well-illustrated and well-referenced ... an historical tour-de-force, and I thoroughly recommend it to everyone interested in US astronomical history ...' Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage 'There is no space to pull out more from Dick's fascinating and readable official history of the USNO, but I can thoroughly recommend it to anyone with an interest in time, navigation and their links to astronomy.' Astronomy '... a fascinating and well written story ...' The Naval War College Review '... finely produced book rich in detail about an early exemplar of American institutional science, and one that complements studies of its other nineteenth- and twentieth-century counterparts very well'. BJHS Journal 'Dick has produced a text which is also extremely readable, with many relevant and interesting illustrations and a very thorough index. The entire production is of the highest standard, and both author and publisher are to be congratulated on the care which has gone into the design and content of the book. In the opinion of the reviewer this book is an outstanding example of the genre, quite the most important contribution to the literature of the history of astronomy to appear for many years.' The Antiquarian Astronomer

Review
"...an historical tour-de-force, and I thoroughly recommend it to everyone interested in U.S. astronomical history, positional astronomy, national observatories, naval history, navigation, time-keeping, or the conflict involving civilian and military control of science." Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage

"It provides insight for scholars and general readers interested in naval history and navigation, timekeeping, positional astronomy, and celestial mechanics, and it charts the relationship between astronomy and astrophysics, the rise of national observatories and military patronage." Bulletin of Science Technology and Society

"An amazingly comprehensive and detailed history of the oldest major astronomical observatory in the United States, this excellent book offers mature readers fascinating stories of scientific discoveries (e.g. of the moons of Mars and Pluto), technological developments (e.g. from mechanical clocks working before there were any time zones to today's satellites that provide nanaosecond accuracies worldwide), and personal and political struggles (both governmental and institutional)." Science Books & Films

"Sky and Ocean Joined is quite well written and will certainly appeal to historians of science and technology, as well as naval enthusiasts, physicists, and anyone generally interested in astronomy." Stardust

"Extensively researched over 15 years, this book is well written and well documented with footnotes, select bibliographic essays, appendixes, and indexes. Recommended." Choice

"Sky and Ocean Joined is an outstanding book." Technology and Culture, Robert W. Smith

Book Info
A story of the relations between space, time and navigation, from the rise of the chronometer in the United States to the Global Positioning System of satellites, for which the Naval Observatory provides the time to a billionth of a second per day.

Customer Reviews

Must read as an astronomer
This is a masterful compilation of the history of the oldest scientific institution of the United States. The perspectives of Dr. Dick were thoughtful and very interesting. Many of the realtionships of the past half century were interesting when viewed from the point of view of today. Many decisions made during the reviewer's tenure at this institution did not strike one at the time as being made with a lot of consideration. From Dr. Dick's review many of them now make a lot more sense in the context of history. They were made by people who had a lot of expertise and a great deal of vision.