Today we are all familiar with the iconic pictures of the nebulae produced by the Hubble Space Telescope's digital cameras. But there was a time, before the successful application of photography to the heavens, in which scientists had to rely on handmade drawings of these mysterious phenomena.
"Observing by Hand" sheds entirely new light on the ways in which the production and reception of handdrawn images of the nebulae in the nineteenth century contributed to astronomical observation. Omar W. Nasim investigates hundreds of unpublished observing books and paper records from six nineteenth-century observers of the nebulae: Sir John Herschel; William Parsons, the third Earl of Rosse; William Lassell; Ebenezer Porter Mason; Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel; and George Phillips Bond. Nasim focuses on the ways in which these observers created and employed their drawings in data-driven procedures, from their choices of artistic materials and techniques to their practices and scientific observation. He examines the ways in which the act of drawing complemented the acts of seeing and knowing, as well as the ways that making pictures was connected to the production of scientific knowledge.
An impeccably researched, carefully crafted, and beautifully illustrated piece of historical work, "Observing by Hand" will delight historians of science, art, and the book, as well as astronomers and philosophers.
About the Author
Omar W. Nasim is a senior research fellow at the Chair for Science Studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, a member of the Iconic Criticism project at the University of Basel, and the author of "Bertrand Russell and the Edwardian Philosophers".
Reviews
"In 'Observing by Hand', Omar W. Nasim focuses on the unpublished notebooks and drawings of six of the most significant nebulae observers of the nineteenth century. He convincingly demonstrates that drawing was a fundamental component of observation and contributed in essential ways in constituting these elusive phenomena, how they were visualized, conceptualized, and studied. This is an impeccably researched and carefully crafted piece of work, and one that provides the closest study of the practices of observation in astronomy – and possibly even in the history of science altogether – that exists to this day" – Charlotte Bigg, CNRS/Centre Alexandre Koyre d'Histoire des Sciences et des Techniques, Paris
"Travel to the nebulae during the nineteenth century and find there a time when scientists could observe with their hands rather than eyes, when they could measure by drawing, and where graphite, stylus, and paper joined the telescope in importance. This is when publicly shared standards about what constituted a scientific observation were still in formation – and it is beautiful. Omar W. Nasim invites us to go where few have ventured, to the unstable, informal and private 'context of discovery', and to admire its splendor" – Jimena Canales, Harvard University
"'Observing by Hand' is a thoughtful, deeply researched, and important study that engages with significant and fascinating topics: the representations of nebulae – with the focus on drawings – by various observers in the nineteenth century and what such representations can tell us about the nature of scientific observation in general in that century. A major contribution to scholarship" – Robert W. Smith, University of Alberta
"Observing the position of stars is one thing, observing extended and faint nebulae in a time before photography is quite another. How did researchers pin down their observations, how did they communicate them? In his brilliant analysis of astronomical practice, Omar W. Nasim shows how nineteenth-century observers coped with such challenges. He provides an intriguing case study of how closely observing and communicating are intertwined" – Friedrich Steinle, Technische Universitat Berlin
