JHA i (1970), 167-168

THESES AND DISSERTATIONS ON THE

HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY
NORm AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES

At the request of the editor of this Journal, the major North American Programs in
the History of Science were polled for listings of Ph.D. theses bearing on the history
of astronomy. Among the universities queried were Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Johns
Hopkins, Cornell, Toronto, Indiana, Wisconsin, and California. The result is a list
of no less than 26 dissertations dealing more-or-less directly with either internal or
external aspects of the development of astronomy. Much of this work has already
entered the literature of the field. Most of the remainder is available in xerox or
microfilm reproduction. Listings followed by brackets [containing identification
number, cost of microfilm copies, and cost of xerox copies, respectively] are available
through University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Copies of Harvard disserta-
tions are in some cases available on application to Harvard University Library.
Indiana University VICfOR E. THOREN

1917
DORolHY STIMSON, "The gradual acceptance of the Copernican theory of the uni-
verse," Columbia University.
1935
MICHAEL W. BURKE-GAFFNEY, "Johann Kepler and modem astronomy," Georgetown
University.
1939
EDWARD ROSEN, "Three Copernican treatises," Columbia University.
1942
AYDIN SAYILI, "The institutions of science and learning in the Muslim World,"
Harvard University.
1944
C. DORIS HELLMAN, "The comet of 1577: its place in the history of science,"
Columbia University.
1948
HELEN L. THOMAS, "The early history of variable star observing to the nineteenth
century," Harvard University.
1955
HARRy WOOUl, "The transits of Venus: A study in the organization and practice of
eighteenth-century science," Cornell University. 372 pp. [56-161: $4.65, ]
1957
AsoER AABoE, "On Babylonian planetary theories," Brown University. 133 pp.
[58-4346: $2.00, ]
1958
SEYYED HOSSIEN NASR, "Conceptions of nature in Islamic thought during the fourth
century (A.H.)," Harvard University.
1959
SHIGERU NAKAYAMA, "An outline history of Japanese astronomy: Western impact
vs. Chinese background," Harvard University.
167

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168 Journal for the History of Astronomy
1961
E. MORTON GROSSER, "The discovery of Neptune," Stanford University. 225 pp.
[ : $2.95, $10.15]
1962
LoYD S. SWENSON, JR., "The ethereal aether: A descriptive history of the Michelson-
Morley aether-drift experiments, 1880-1930," Claremont Graduate School (Cali-
fornia). 440 pp. [63-251: $5.60, $19.80]
1964
HAROLD L. BURSTYN, "The rotation of the Earth and its physical consequences in
early modem science," Harvard University.
JOSEPH T. CLARK, S.J., "The Institutio astronomica (1647) of Pierre Gassendi (1592-
1655)," Harvard University.
SEYMOUR L. CHAPIN, "Astronomy and the Paris Academy of Sciences during the
eighteenth century," University of California (Los Angeles). 530 pp, [64-1281:
$6.75, $23.85]
BERNARD R. GOLDSTEIN, "The Commentary of Ibn Al-Muthanna to the Astronomical
Tables of Al-Khwarizmi," Brown University. 559 pp. [64-1972: $7.10, $25.20]
1965
VICTOR E. THOREN, "Tycho Brahe on the lunar theory," Indiana University. 232 pp,
[65-10896: $3.00, $10.60]
1966
JAMES RUFFNER, "The background and early development of Newton's theory of
comets," Indiana University. 371 pp. [66-14877: $4.75, $16.90]
1967
JOHN P. BRITTON, "On the quality of solar and lunar observations and parameters in
Ptolemy's Almagest," Yale University. 312 pp. [67-6997: $4.00, $14.20]
1968
RICHARD BERENDZEN, "The career development and education of astronomers in the
United States," Harvard University.
NOEL SWERDLOW, "Ptolemy's theory of the distances and sizes of the planets: A study
of the scientific foundations of medieval cosmology," Yale University. 275 pp.
[69-8442: $3.55, $12.40]
WARREN Z. WATSON, "An historical analysis of the theoretical solution to the problem
of the advance of the perihelion of Mercury," University of Wisconsin. 242 pp.
[69-4440: $3.15, $11.05]
1969
WILBUR ApPLEBAUM, "Kepler in England: The reception of Keplerian astronomy in
England 1599-1687," State University of New York (Buffalo). 232 pp. [69-20,554:
$3.00, $10.60]
PETER SOLON, "The Hexapterygon of Michael Chrysokokkes," Brown University.
393 pp. [69-10,019: $5.05, $17.80]
RONALD L. NUMBERS, "The Nebular Hypothesis in American thought," University of
California (Berkeley).
DONALD L. OBENDORF, "Samuel P. Langley: Solar scientist, 1867-1891," University
of California (Berkeley).

Editorial Note: Information on theses and dissertations in the history of astronomy may be sent to the
Editor, except in the case of North American universities, for which the information should be sent
to Professor Victor E. Thoren, Dept. of History and Philosophy of Science, 130 Goodbody Hall,
Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind., 47401, U.S.A.

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