Astronomy and Astrophysics in Spain (1850-1914)

This book explores the progress of astronomy and astrophysics in Spain during the second half of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. In fact, it covers a period in which astronomy passed from a position of weakness to one of strength, as manifested by the size and diversity of the community of practitioners. This progress of Spanish astronomy has to be understood in the broader context of the modernizing ideals that took root in the country during the late nineteenth century. But it was essentially the fortuitous convergence of the eclipses of 1900 and 1905 what opened up a new period for the development of astronomy and astrophysics in Spain. These astronomical events brought astronomers from across the world to this country and thereby gave Spanish astronomers an opportunity for international contacts, which led to the inclusion of Spanish scholars into an international astronomical community in the process of becoming institutionalised. This work, which makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the emergence and progress of astronomy and astrophysics in Spain from the second half of the nineteenth century, is impressively documented with printed sources and manuscripts. The result is a 'punchy' text, sustained by a rich body of evidence and ideas.