Celestial Harmony: Four Visions of the Universe

Exhibition Program | Exhibition Program Committee | Exhibition Schedule

Celestial Harmony: Four Visions of the Universe

April 26, 2004 - May 30, 2004
Main Level, Milton S. Eisenhower Library

Exhibition Catalog

INTRODUCTION

The Classical and Geocentric Universe of Plato, Aristotle, and Ptolemy:350 to 1543 A.D.

The Revolutionary and Heliocentric Universe of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo: 1543 to 1638

The Clockwork Universe of Newton and Laplace: 1687 to 1900

The Expanding and Relativistic Universe of Einstein and Hubble: 1900 to Present

It is easy to appreciate the physical beauty of these books, the bindings, typography, and illustrations that represent a time when great pains were taken in their production. But the essential element of this collection, and of this exhibit, is in the scientific discovery that runs through these works, a coherent sequence of progressively more informed and detailed knowledge about our universe, invariably, if sometimes haphazardly, built on earlier discoveries. The night skies appear more or less the same today as they did a millennium ago. Our understanding of what we see is more enlightened now and more complete because of this long chain of scientific discovery. It is true that mankind has progressively been pushed off center stage from the middle of Ptolemy’s universe to just one satellite of an ordinary star among billions of stars, in one ordinary galaxy from among billions of galaxies. But the view from this remote vantage point is infinitely more grand, and more awe inspiring than anything Ptolemy or Copernicus could have imagined. We conclude this exhibition with a view of the universe from the the perspective of the Hubble telescope and the research currently taking place.
-Contributed by Elliott Hinkes

Dr. Elliott Hinkes

Elliott Hinkes, M.D. earned his bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins in 1964 and his medical degree from Hopkins in 1967. He completed postgraduate work in internal medicine at Stanford and the University of California at Los Angeles. He has been in private practice in the
Los Angeles area for the last 25 years.

His interest in rare books dates from the 1980’s, when he purchased his first book, The California Water Atlas, for purely aesthetic reasons. His collection now includes early dictionaries, bibles, the works of Darwin and Shakespeare, and astronomy and physics, with an emphasis on the thread of scientific discovery. He notes, “I now find myself taking a number of astronomy and physics courses at U.C.L.A. to keep up with my collection, all of which has proven a stimulating experience and a good way to try to stay young. I was never a serious collector of anything until my books, and I still am uncertain exactly why I enjoy collecting rare books. But, I do find the pleasures I receive from them—and the worlds they open—grow yearly.”

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Dr. Elliott Hinkes for his generosity in exhibiting these works from his personal collection.

This exhibit would not have been possible without the support of the Friends of the Libraries and the assistance of the following individuals:

Professor Ethan T. Vishniac
Department of Physics and Astronomy

Sophia K. Jordan
Director of Preservation and
Chair, Exhibits Committee

Linda Claremon
Associate Director for Library Development

Martha Edgerton
Conservator

Royce Faddis
Office of Design and Publications

Pamela Higgins
Director of External Relations

Steven Loew
Conservator

Susan M. Vazakas
Science Reference Coordinator

Jay Van Rensselaer
Homewood Photographic Services

Lena Warren
Conservator