Mapping the Universe

This chapter surveys the changes that have taken place in the science of astronomy over the last two centuries. It looks at the shifting views of astronomers themselves with regard to the scope of astronomy. It looks at the changing composition of the astronomical workforce and surveys the development of challenging new ideas about the nature and scope of the physical universe. It shows how increasingly large telescopes were used to map the heavens and state observatories were instituted. It shows how new techniques such as spectroscopy were deployed to investigate the composition of celestial bodies and how new ideas about the size and age of the universe were developed.