"Measuring the Universe" is the first history of the evolution of cosmic dimensions, from the work of Eratosthenes and Aristarchus in the third century B.C. to the efforts of Edmond Halley (1656 1742).
"Van Helden's authoritative treatment is concise and informative; he refers to numerous sources of information, draws on the discoveries of modern scholarship, and presents the first book-length treatment of this exceedingly important branch of science." Edward Harrison, "American Journal of Physics"
"Van Helden writes well, with a flair for clear explanation. I warmly recommend this...

Galileo Galilei's Sidereus Nuncius is arguably the most dramatic scientific book ever published. It announced new and unexpected phenomena in the heavens, "unheard of through the ages," revealed by a mysterious new instrument. Galileo had ingeniously improved the rudimentary "spyglasses" that appeared in Europe in 1608, and in the autumn of 1609 he pointed his new instrument at the sky, revealing astonishing sights: mountains on the moon, fixed stars invisible to the naked eye, individual stars in the Milky Way, and four moons around the planet Jupiter. These discoveries changed the...