Lomonosov's Discovery of Venus Atmosphere in 1761: English Translation of Original Publication with Commentaries

2012/06/15 by Vladimir Shiltsev, Shiltsev, Vladimir · 2 voices · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · Physics and Astronomy · #History and Developments in Astronomy #History of Science and Natural History #physics.hist-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1206.3489

16 pages, 5 figures, submitted to JAHH

arxiv created 2012/08/09 · arxiv updated 2012/08/10

Abstract

Key figure of Russian Enlightenment, polymath Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov (1711-1765) had discovered atmosphere of Venus during its transit over the Sun's disc in 1761. This paper contains the first full English translation of his report (originally published in Russian in July of 1761 and in German in August of the same year), commentaries and extensive bibliography.

Cited by

• Mikhail Lomonosov. Meditations on Solidity and Fluidity of Bodies(1760). English translation and commentary by V.Shiltsev
• Mikhail Lomonosov. Oratio De Meteoris Vi Electrica Ortis - Discourse on Atmospheric Phenomena Originating from Electrical Force (1753). English translation and commentary by V.Shiltsev

Discussions

• Lomonosov’s Discovery of Venus Atmosphere in 1761 [hn, 40 points, 4 comments]
• The false claim in NASA's official project report - not a press release - in inexcusable (cited in ALT), since the dates of Venus transits were very well known. It is no defence that Lomonosov's paper [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]

Related

• Mikhail Lomonosov: Discourse on Greater Accuracy of Navigation
• Mikhail Lomonosov: Oration on the Origin of Light
• Mikhail Lomonosov. Panegyric to the Sovereign Emperor Peter the Great (1755). Panegyric to Empress Elizabeth (1749). English translations with footnotes and commentaries by V.Shiltsev
• Mikhail Lomonosov: Oration on the Birth of Metals by Earth's Tremor
• Mikhail Lomonosov. Meditations on Solidity and Fluidity of Bodies(1760). English translation and commentary by V.Shiltsev