Auguste Comte's Blunder: An Account of the First Century of Stellar Spectroscopy and How It Took One Hundred Years to Prove That Comte was Wrong!

Details Auguste Comte's Blunder: An Account of the First Century of Stellar Spectroscopy and How It Took One Hundred Years to Prove That Comte was Wrong! Auguste Comte's Blunder: An Account of the First Century of Stellar Spectroscopy and How It Took One Hundred Years to Prove That Comte was Wrong!

Jan 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010aas...21520001h&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #215, #200.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.214

Physics

Scientific paper

In 1835 the French philosopher Auguste Comte predicted that we would never know anything about the chemical composition of stars. I will give a broad overview of the development of stellar spectroscopy, especially from about 1860. Developments in stellar spectroscopy segregated quite clearly into three main fields of endeavour: spectral classification, radial velocities and spectral analysis. After introducing the main players, I will concentrate mainly on spectral analysis, or how stellar spectroscopy one hundred years after Comte showed that quantitative information on the composition of stars was possible. The journey was quite arduous, as it required numerous developments in theoretical physics and in laboratory spectroscopy, which in turn allowed stellar spectral analysis successfully to be undertaken by the mid-20th century.
The key developments in physics that first had to be understood were in quantum and atomic theory, ionization theory, the concept of the Planck function, local thermodynamic equilibrium, the first stellar model atmospheres, line formation theory, turbulence, collisional broadening of spectral lines and the theory of radiative transfer and of the curve of growth. My talk will emphasize these close links between stellar spectroscopy and theoretical physics. In addition laboratory physics was also an essential precursor, to measure line wavelengths and oscillator strengths.
Comte may have been an influential philosopher of science in his time. Perhaps his one small transgression was not to have read the works of Joseph Fraunhofer, which in the early 19th century already contained the first small clues that Comte's assertion might be wrong.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Auguste Comte's Blunder: An Account of the First Century of Stellar Spectroscopy and How It Took One Hundred Years to Prove That Comte was Wrong! does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Auguste Comte's Blunder: An Account of the First Century of Stellar Spectroscopy and How It Took One Hundred Years to Prove That Comte was Wrong!, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Auguste Comte's Blunder: An Account of the First Century of Stellar Spectroscopy and How It Took One Hundred Years to Prove That Comte was Wrong! will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-960862