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EDITORIAL INFORMATION

Since the earliest times one of the brightest lights in the heavens has been that of Jupiter, mythical king of the gods and the largest planet in the solar system. It was only natural that peoples from the dawn of history would be interested in such a planet, and indeed Jupiter was one of the first objects to be observed with the telescope. Even today Jupiter captures the public interest like no other planet: a vast gaseous world, home to violent storms (larger than the Earth), which have raged for centuries.

This book tells the history of humankind's quest to understand the giant planet in the era before photography, a time when the only way to observe the universe was with the human eye. It provides a comprehensive and fascinating account of the people involved on this quest, their observations, and the results of their findings.

Many of the planetary features studied in detail by today's space probes were glimpsed by keen-eyed amateur astronomers. These Earth-bound explorers made up for their modest instruments and viewing conditions with their patience, perseverance, and passion for the night sky. The greatest challenge was the fifth planet from the Sun, and the search of its imagined surface-a revelation of the 'real' Jupiter-and in this process, these part-time observers redefined the meaning of the word 'planet'. This book tells their story from the earliest times right up until the invention of the camera.

(Extracted from the back cover).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Contents.

-Glossary.

-1. Introduction.

-2. A Jupiter Primer.

-3. Before the Telescope.

-4. The Seventeenth Century.

-5. The Eighteenth Century.

-6. The First Half of the Nineteenth Century.

-7. The 1860s and 1870s.

-8. The Modern Discovery of the Great Red Spot.

-9. Theories of Jupiter.

-10. Observations, Conclusions, and Final Thoughts.

-A. Oppositions of Jupiter.

-Index.