Moving the Stars
Christian Doppler, His Life, His Works and Principle, and the World After
Translation: Lily Wilmes
ISBN 978-3-901585-05-0 (hardcover; English)
first edition, May 2005; 230 pages; 207 Fig. (of which 13 in color); 241×176 mm (H×W); 950 g;
€ 33.00 (fixed selling price, Austria, incl. 10% VAT)
This 2005 first edition in English incorporates a revised and extended version made in 2004–2005 of the 2003 German original: ‘Weltbewegend – unbekannt: Leben und Werk des Physikers Christian Doppler und die Welt danach’ (for more details on the original, please refer to the German pages of this site, sub Geschichte der Physik).
Up to date, this book is the only comprehensive biography/monograph that is available on the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler (1803–1853) and the Doppler Principle. The historical part is a thrilling read on Doppler and on the eminent personalities, who were his antecedents or who were contemporaneous with him during the five decades of his life in an Austrian Empire that was shaken by continued revolutionary uproar. An entire chapter treats the latest applications of the Doppler principle in the fields of modern medicine, sciences and technology. A complete up-to-date listing of the works and publications by Christian Doppler, and which indicates the original sources, is included.
Like no other discovery the Doppler principle provided the crucial blow that has radically changed our perception of the universe. Doppler’s law is indeed ‘moving the stars’, being the foundation for the measuring techniques of every subdiscipline without exception of astronomy, as well as of medicine, physics and applied science. The book shows how it came to be that Christian Doppler has remained unnoticed despite his comprehensive work and superior achievement, both in conceptual principle and practical application. Albert Einstein noted about Christian Doppler’s idea: “No matter what shape the theory of electromagnetic processes should take, the Doppler Principle … will remain in any case.”
The German original (ISBN 978-3-901585-03-6) had been launched in Salzburg in 2003 to commemorate both the 200th anniversary and the 150th year of death of Christian Doppler. On the author Schuster, who rediscovered the dying place and the burial monument of this savant in Venice, Italy, the Golden Decoration of Merits of the Salzburg Land became conferred in 2004.
“This is a plain fascinating book that can be read a couple of pages at a time with profit, evoking surprises at several points (What three important events made 1842 an Annus Mirabilis?) and suggesting that there are still more areas of Physics to be illuminated by the Doppler Principle.”
John L. Hubisz (AAPT The Physics Teacher, Volume 45, 320, 2007)
Translated to English from the German original:
