Illustration of the Solar System according to 18th century knowledge

      In Reverend Turner’s first book within the compendium, A View of the Heavens, Turner writes of the astronomical knowledge within the solar system during the 18th century. All observations for the facts within this text were discovered through telescopes and the naked eye, which only give limited information. Of course, since A View of the Heavens has been published, astronomers have expanded understanding of space with many new discoveries.

     “Astronomy, is that Part of Learning, which contemplates the Number, Order, Distances, Magnitudes, Periods and Appearances of the Heavenly Bodies; as the Sun, Moon, Planets, Comets, and Stars: And is a Knowledge, which contributes not only to the Enlargement of our Ideas of the Immensity, Magnificence, and transcendent Grandeur of God; but also affords the sublimest and most satisfactory Entertainment to the Understanding and Mind of Man” [1].