Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Origins of a Historical Understanding of the Universe

该奖项支持在19世纪天文学史上探索现代宇宙学出现的博士论文研究。co-PI（博士论文研究员）的目标是提供一个在那个时期西方知识网络和流行文化中如何理解宇宙的描述。为了实现这一目标，联合项目将研究宇宙学的发展是一个跨学科的过程，它对19世纪的科学和社会产生了强烈的影响。本文将通过对美国、英国和法国手稿档案的研究来探讨这种转变的发展和社会影响。现代宇宙学的出现仍未被探索，研究也明显不足。在解决这一差距的同时，联合项目将阐明浪漫主义哲学、公共文化和对宇宙历史理解的发展之间的关系。他还将揭示19世纪天文学、地质学和生命科学之间重要的方法论相互作用；例如，他们有相似的问题，并发展出相似的认识论解决方案。副主任有能力参与这个研究项目。PI（联合PI的导师）带来了19世纪生命科学史上的专业知识。共同项目负责人的资格证书包括天文学和天体物理学学士学位，博士论文委员会包括天体物理学家和科学历史学家。更广泛的影响除了在期刊文章和专业会议上展示这项研究的结果外，联合pi希望将这些材料发展成一门本科课程，并以通俗易懂的风格出版一本书，供公众和学者使用。

Project OverviewThis award supports doctoral dissertation research that explores the emergence of modern cosmology in the history of nineteenth century astronomy. The goal of the co-PI (the doctoral dissertation researcher) is to provide an account of how the universe was understood in western intellectual networks and popular culture during that period. In pursuing that goal, the co-PI will examine the ways in which the development of cosmology was an interdisciplinary process that strongly influenced nineteenth-century science and society. The development and social impact of this transformation will be explored through research in manuscript archives in the US, UK, and France.Intellectual MeritThe emergence of modern cosmology remains unexplored and significantly under-researched. While addressing this gap, the co-PI will illuminate the relationship between Romantic philosophy, public culture, and the development of a historical understanding of the universe. He will also reveal significant methodological interplay between nineteenth-century astronomy, geology, and life sciences; for example, that they share similar problems and develop similar epistemological solutions. The co-PI is well positioned to engage in this research project. The PI (the co-PI's mentor) brings expertise in the history of nineteenth-century life sciences. The co-PI's credentials include a bachelor's degree in astronomy and astrophysics, and the doctoral dissertation committee includes an astrophysicist and historians of science.Broader Impacts In addition to presenting the results of this research in journal articles and at professional meetings, the co-PI hopes to develop the material into an undergraduate course and to publish the research as a book, written in an accessible style, for the general public and academics alike.