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Astronomy at the Edward Worth Library, Dublin
by
Dr. Elizabethanne Boran, Assistant Librarian, The Edward Worth Library
A new exciting web exhibition on astronomy has been launched by the Edward Worth Library in Dublin.
Dr. Edward Worth (1678-1733), was a physician in early eighteenth-century Dublin. While his own interests are clearly reflected
in the fact that over one third of his collection of c. 4,500 volumes is devoted to medicine, Worth was also intrigued by
scientific subjects. The present exhibition explores one such area: astronomy.
The exhibition is in two parts: exhibited in the Worth Library, are a small number of works, including the 1651 Grimaldi map
of the Moon and Tycho Brahe's Astronomia instaurata mechanica (Nuremberg, 1602). These and other works will be on view during a
special Open Day for members and friends of Astronomy Ireland on Tuesday 9 March 2010, from 10.30am-12.30pm and 2.00pm-4.00pm.
The Worth Library is located in Dr. Steevens's Hospital, Dublin 8, which is opposite Heuston Station, and is therefore easily
accessible via the Red Line Luas.
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Jan Luyts, Astronomica institutio (Utrecht, 1692), frontispiece.
Works by Galileo, Hevelius, Brahe, Copernicus and Ptolemy,
seen here standing from left to right around Hipparchus,
are investigated at the 'Astronomy at the Edward Worth Library' exhibition.
Credit: The Edward Worth Library
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Recording observations of the Sun in the later seventeenth-century: Johannes Hevelius, Machinae coelestis (Danzig, 1673), Fig W.
Credit: The Edward Worth Library
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This is, however, just the tip of the iceberg! The accompanying web exhibition, curated by Dr. Elizabethanne Boran with the
assistance of Mr. Tony Kelly, Trustee of the Edward Worth Library, celebrates all of Edward Worth's extensive collection of
astronomical works. The site is primarily divided into two sections: 'Astronomy and Astronomers' explores works by leading
ancient, medieval and early modern astronomers, while 'The Solar System' section includes pages on early modern theories about
the Sun, Moon, Jupiter's satellites, Saturn's Rings, Comets and, last but not least, Sirius. Two other web pages are devoted to
works on early modern 'Astronomical Instruments' and the relationship between 'Astronomy and Medicine', while the final page
investigates 'Life on Other Planets'.
The web exhibition can be found at
http://astronomy.edwardworthlibrary.ie/Home.
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