Colonial American astronomy

485: 428:, Jupiter's fifth moon, wrote "It makes me feel specially humiliated just now, for I have only caught the feeblest glimpses of the 5th satellite with the 40-inch during the past two years. Winthrop’s telescope must have been specially good for him to see this faint object with his imperfect instrument in 1664." Although today it is assumed that Winthrop probably did see a faint star, he is still credited for being a dedicated and vigilant observer of natural phenomenon. 334:

fashioned its reputation by vigilantly developing and maintaining its membership as an assembly of gentlemen. "The reliable witnessing of experiments by gentlemen was the only sure way to establish matters of fact about the physical realm." With a list of members in the Society that included eighteen

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and He revealed himself through mathematics which propagated His intricately rational plan. This scientific doctrine of the Puritans was an "assertion that the cultivated mind... is competent to gather accurate knowledge of things... because the mind is fundamentally commensurate with creation." This

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It is a fact upon which most bibliographers agree, that the first almanac printed in America came out in 1639, and was entitled "An Almanac Calculated for New England" by Mr. Pierce, Mariner. The printer was Stephen Day, or Daye, to whom belongs the title of the first printer in North America. The

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when he was elected in 1663 as the first colonist elected Fellow and western correspondent. He was a man of great learning with an education in law who also mastered most of the new sciences. Winthrop's collection of books he brought back to America was remarkable. He is credited as being the first

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and its relationship with the growth of the English scientific movement was extremely close. A longing to discern the universe's composition and reveal the force of the "Great Geometer" provided a sense of wonder at the universe's immensity and intricacy. Exploring "God’s great mechanism" was the

518:, and other scientific devices. It is believed that he built the first telescope and observatory in America. It was in this observatory on his farm that Rittenhouse observed the 1769 Venus Transit. His account was published in the American Philosophical Society's 272:. Davenport responded with a letter to Winthrop stating that although he does not agree with Brigden, he entitled Brigden to his opinion. Davenport showed lenience by not putting him on the Puritan index expurgatorius or expelling his membership from the church. 570:. The argument was that scientific pursuits were a type of "good work" and therefore a sign of election. "This-worldly asceticism which inspired Puritans to greater economic activity also motivated them to diligent and painstaking scientific enquiry." In 1975, 248:

Brigden opens the almanac with a quote from Wing "Twice shall this planet wheron we live, and it’s concomitant the moon, widdow each other of their Sun-derived luster." He ends the almanac with a short concise account of the

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hints that instead of finding the answer in the heavens, it was the cruel treatment of the English toward the natives. He also mentioned a "perspective glass whereby we shewed manie strange sights." This was most likely a

1468: 161:. However, as early as 1659, one Harvard graduate, Zachariah Brigden, began to promote the new astronomy in the New England almanacs. Most astrological information came to the people by way of these almanacs. 209:

way of thinking encouraged New England almanac writers to accept the new astronomy. New England almanacs were compiled by young Harvard graduates who used them as a vehicle for popular essays on

467:, became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1734. He collected geological specimens and demonstrated skills in classification and cataloging. In the area of astronomy, Winthrop observed the 1761 294:

These very rare booklets reveal the astronomical information that was held by the colonists' intellectual class. They also contained practical information such as the rising and setting of the

431:"An exceptionally talented Puritan intellectual whose work in mathematics and astronomy was sought after by the scientific elite on both sides of the Atlantic" describes Royal Society Fellow 975: 302:, guiding the scholar and the mariner, location of the planets and stars in conjunction and opposition, and providing longitude and latitude. The almanacs correctly predicted 291:

for the year 1678, with work arranged in advance making it evident that Brattle "prepared his dissertation by computing the elements necessary to solar and planetary data."

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Americans, it is obvious that the Royal Society had a major influence in scientific development in the colonies in a variety of fields. The Royal Society encouraged their

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press was at Cambridge, Mass., and its introduction was effected mainly through Rev. Jesse Glover, a wealthy Nonconformist minister, who had only recently left England.

107: 412:. His letter was cautious since he thought it may be a faint star in close proximity to the other satellites. Winthrop requested that his observations be validated by 678: 435:

who devoted much of his wealth to the pursuit of science. Not only did Brattle prepare almanacs, he also made celestial observations. For his keen observation of the

477: 445: 1510: 453:, that even though the comet appeared to be two, it was a single comet that changed direction. His observation of a solar eclipse in 1694 was published in 138:, taught his students the "astronomy of the ancients". The Earth was the center of the universe while nine transparent spherical orbs revolved around it. 69:

looked to the stars to determine why many of the natives that came in contact with the Europeans had died mysteriously. He determined that it was not the

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Brastle=The Origin of North American Astronomy - Seventeenth Century (September 1977). "The Origin of North American Astronomy--Seventeenth Century".

1612: 217:, who wrote about the revolution of the six planets around the sun, the four satellites around Jupiter and the two satellites around Saturn in 1590: 1557: 1532: 1499: 1266: 1233: 484: 31: 1377: