A. Pannekoek

First published in 1938 by a leader of the Council Communism movement, Anton Pannekoek's Lenin as Philosopher offers a classic left-wing interpretation and critique of Lenin's philosophical accomplishment and its relationship to the development of Leninism as perhaps the dominant political theory of the twentieth century. Providing a detailed discussion of the philosophical background to the Machist controversy which occasioned Lenin's Materialism and Empirio criticism, Pannekoek's study still stands as one of the most forceful and politically astute discussions of the topic available. Published here for the first time in an annotated and scholarly edition, this masterpiece of Marxist criticism is accompanied by a lengthy new introduction expanding and assessing Pannekoek's discussion and arguing for the continuing relevance of Lenin's thought for Marxism in the new millenium.

A carefully reasoned history of astronomy clearly the work of a man who loved his subject. "The Times" (London) "Literary Supplement. "Few histories of astronomy offer the special human dimension of this book. For Professor Pannekoek (University of Amsterdam), the history of astronomy consists of the growth of man s concept of his world. The study of the cosmos became an essential part of the history of human culture, an adventure of the mind. In this well-balanced account of that adventure, the author is at pains to relate the development of astronomy to the social and cultural background in which it is nurtured. Thus, the effect of changes in political conditions, the influence of geography, and the growth of industry and of communications methods are clearly and incisively described. Dr. Pannekoek begins with an unusually detailed account of astronomy in ancient times, including Babylonian sky-lore, Assyrian astrology, the Ptolemaic worldview, Hellenistic astronomy, the epicycle theory, and Arabian astronomy. The growth of astronomy after Copernicus constitutes the second part of the book, acquainting the reader with the epoch-making work of Kepler and Newton and the astonishing developments of celestial mechanics during the eighteenth century. Part III begins with Herschel, the gifted amateur whose observations opened up new horizons, and ends with Eddington s pioneering studies of the internal constitutions of stars. Comprehensive, well-written and full of small, revealing details that attest to the scope and depth of the author s learning, this splendid survey belongs in the library of every astronomer or anyone interested in the grand mystery of the cosmos and man s attempts to penetrate it."

Dieser Buchtitel ist Teil des Digitalisierungsprojekts Springer Book Archives mit Publikationen, die seit den Anfängen des Verlags von 1842 erschienen sind. Der Verlag stellt mit diesem Archiv Quellen für die historische wie auch die disziplingeschichtliche Forschung zur Verfügung, die jeweils im historischen Kontext betrachtet werden müssen. Dieser Titel erschien in der Zeit vor 1945 und wird daher in seiner zeittypischen politisch-ideologischen Ausrichtung vom Verlag nicht beworben.