“Drawing on rich, compelling sources, The Astronomer's Chair is an original, provocative, and fascinating work.”
David Kaiser, Germeshausen Professor of the History of Science, MIT
“This creatively illustrated study by an eminent historian uses a seemingly mundane theme, depictions of astronomers' seating, to reveal with startling insight and expert craft the complex cultures of comfort, attention, and discipline that governed nineteenth-century stargazing.”
Simon Schaffer, Professor of History of Science, University of Cambridge
“The Astronomer's Chair takes us on an interdisciplinary journey through the history of science, design, imperialism, and material culture. With this book, Omar Nasim models thrilling new directions in intellectual inquiry.”
Aviva Briefel, Edward Little Professor of the English Language and Literature and Cinema Studies, Bowdoin College
“A fascinating book that underscores how, in visual culture, it's often pictures of those who explore science that best communicates the nature of their work.”
Marvin Heiferman, curator and author of Seeing Science: How Photography Reveals the Universe
“An excellent example of the kinds of insights that can result from an interdisciplinary cultural history and illustrates how looking at mundane objects can reveal illuminating entanglements between science and society more broadly.”
H NET Humanities
“The Astronomer's Chair is an inspiring study, and, indeed, a cultural history, which directs attention to the dense net of far-reaching interdependencesand relations that surrounds even the most mundane objects of science.”
Journal for the History of Astronomy
“Written with passion and curiosity... Starting from the analysis of an ordinary object, it well describes how much scientists are influenced by their social and cultural context.”
Isis
“In addition to the beautiful illustrations and rich examples, what captivates is the elegance with which Nasim narrates a cultural history of an object that seems simple at first glance.”
The British Journal for the History of Science
“[The Astronomer's Chair] encourages us all to consider new technologies and material objects as visual apparatus.”
Visual Studies
