Again with feeling: modes of visual representation of popular astronomy in the mid-nineteenth century

Abstract

Visualization is central to both the practice of astronomical science and its popularization. However, the dominant forms of imagery in many forms of mid-nineteenth century astronomical popularization are not observational images but rather geometrical diagrams. I describe two modes of visual representation of astronomy in this period and argue that these were based in two different conceptions of the science itself: as the sublime science revealing the power of Creation, or as the first and perfect mathematically pure science. Whereas these two modes were often kept distinct, there are notable examples of them being combined.