Home | Exhibition | Catalogue | Gallery | Reconstruction |
This large folding plate shows how a transit of Venus arises from the relative motions of the Earth and Venus around the Sun. It appears in a late edition of James Fergusons Astronomy Explained Upon Sir Isaac Newtons Principles, and Made Easy to Those Who Have Not Studied Mathematics (first published in 1757).
. Ferguson was renowned for the clarity of his texts and diagrams. Like his London competitor Benjamin Martin, he combined writing, lecturing and instrument-making, though he rose further than Martin to become a Fellow of the Royal Society. |