Book "History of Astronomy in Madeira"

Book "History of Astronomy in Madeira" (about 272 pages; 15.5x23cm; B / W; 80g paper), already budgeted by a renowned publisher.

Why am I campaigning?

Because I have the book completed a year ago and I had a support promised at the time it failed with the COVID-19.

What was the need that motivated the campaign?

Publish a book on the history of Astronomy in Madeira, by a prestigious publisher, in 2020, when the 300th anniversary of Laval's astronomical observations in Funchal is celebrated, which were also a national novelty.

Why do I need your help to achieve that goal?

Because I don't have the funds available. In addition, this is a way of guaranteeing at least one copy of the work in advance!

Synopsis of the book:

In 1720, Father Laval made, at the 'Astronomical Observatory of Funchal', the first astronomical observations in Portugal in the context of an observatory. In fact, until recently, almost all astronomical activities in Madeira were conducted by foreign researchers. The story is divided into three major periods: i) 'Classic' period , from the discovery to the beginning of the 20th century (with emphasis on De Bory, Green and Piazzi Smyth). ii) 70s of the 20th century, when the keyword was seeing (atmospheric turbulence) because the best places in the world were sought for the installation of the Northern Hemisphere Observatory (NHO), with Madeira among them (Encumeada Alta); Merle Walker, Bennet McInnes and the British observation teams, one of whom died in service on the island, stood out. iii) New millennium, when Astronomy in Madeira had several firsts: first doctorate, research group, library, National Meeting of Astronomy and Astrophysics, degree and the explosive International Year of Astronomy 2009; there was also an opportunity to redo seeing measurements (2008-09) and three of the British observers from the 70's to return to the island! The three periods are explored in this work on a scientific and factual basis, as attested by the 377 listed bibliographic references. A detailed subject index concludes the work, precious for those who want to go further in search of details, information and news from the History of Astronomy in Madeira. 

About the author

Pedro Augusto completed Secondary Education at Rodrigues de Freitas Secondary School (former D. Manuel II Lyceum, in Porto) with an average of 20 values but he did not even enter into Medicine, having previously studied his childhood passion, Astronomy . After completing his degree, he entered a three-year PhD in Radio Astronomy at the University of Manchester, England, at the mythical radio observatory of Jodrell Bank. Returning to Portugal, after a brief visit to the Astrophysics Center of the University of Porto, he demanded from the University of Madeira the first opportunity that came up. During the 14 years he spent there, he published four dozen articles in international magazines, founded an Astronomy Group, an Astronomy and Instrumentation Laboratory and a pre-Bologna Degree in Instrumentation and Electronic Engineering (branch of Astronomy) that graduated three students. It organized hundreds of annual meetings, exhibitions, public lectures, astronomical observation sessions and laboratory hands-on . He trained hundreds of teachers in Basic and Secondary Education. He is currently an Advisor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, having thus returned to his city. It also (u) contributes to society in 'non-astronomical' activities: Nature clubs and associations, hiking, indoor soccer, chess, choirs, tunas and even a rock band.

The present work corresponds to four years of work. Pedro Augusto intends to publish it still in 2020 as a way to commemorate the 300 years of the first astronomical observations made in a Portuguese observatory, in Madeira!

Budget and due dates

The publisher budgeted the project at € 3300. The remaining € 500 is earmarked for PPL commissions and also to cover possible budget increases when the time comes for the award. The campaign is given a month and a half because the goal is to contract with the publisher before the month of August starts, in order to guarantee publication still with 2020 date (at the end of the year) to celebrate, in this way, the 300 years of the first "observatory" in Portugal (in Funchal).

Images

Documents

• Índice completo do livro

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