Jean-Pierre Verdet (born 1932) is a French
astronomer,
historian of astronomy
Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences, dating back to antiquity, with its origins in the religious, mythological, cosmological, calendrical, and astrological beliefs and practices of prehistory: vestiges of these are still found in ...
and
mathematician.
Biography
Jean-Pierre Verdet is a
Bachelor of Mathematics.
Doctor of Science at
Paris Diderot University (1975). In 1963, he entered the
Paris Observatory
The Paris Observatory (french: Observatoire de Paris ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its histor ...
, where, after studying the
solar corona, he inaugurated
infrared astronomy in France, then studied the radiation of the planets in this
wavelength domain. He later became head of the Department of
spherical astronomy at Paris Observatory. He has regularly taught the
MAS
Mas, Más or MAS may refer to:
Film and TV
* Más y Menos, fictional superhero characters, from the Teen Titans animated television series
* Más (Breaking Bad), "Más" (''Breaking Bad''), a season three episode of ''Breaking Bad''
Songs
* Más ( ...
of
celestial mechanics at the Observatory, a higher education institution which is authorized to issue
doctorates.
He left the Observatory in 1976, he devoted half of his activity to the history of
ancient astronomy with the multidisciplinary team he had assembled at the Observatory, to translate
Latin,
Greek and
Arabic astronomical texts. In the field of
history of astronomy
Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences, dating back to antiquity, with its origins in the religious, mythological, cosmological, calendrical, and astrological beliefs and practices of prehistory: vestiges of these are still found in ...
, in addition to scholarly works, he has authored many books for general public, especially for youth. He was a member of
Pierre Marchand’s team that helped to create
Gallimard Jeunesse
Gallimard Jeunesse is a French publisher of children's books. It is a subsidiary of Éditions Gallimard.
It is the publisher of the French versions of '' Harry Potter'' by J.K. Rowling, the catalogue of Roald Dahl, ''The Little Prince'' by An ...
. He wrote (1987), a heavily illustrated
pocket book for
Gallimard’s encyclopaedic
collection
Collection or Collections may refer to:
* Cash collection, the function of an accounts receivable department
* Collection (church), money donated by the congregation during a church service
* Collection agency, agency to collect cash
* Collectio ...
"
Découvertes", which has been translated into fourteen languages, including English. He has published more than 30 books at Gallimard.
In 1991, he collaborated in the astronomical organisation , with Daniel Kunth and
Hubert Reeves on a TV show at
France 2. The show lasted 4 hours.
In 2016, the Budget Prize of
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres was awarded to Michel-Pierre Lerner, and Jean-Pierre Verdet for their 3-volume critical works of
Nicolaus Copernicus’ ''
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium''.
For this same publication, which is the first critical work of ''De revolutionibus orbium coelestium'' that translated into French with commentaries, the Alexandre Koyré Medal 2015 of
International Academy of the History of Science was awarded to this team work.
Selected bibliography
* ''The Air Around Us'', Moonlight Publishing, 1986
* ''Le ciel, ordre et désordre'', collection «
Découvertes Gallimard
(, ; in United Kingdom: ''New Horizons'', in United States: ''Abrams Discoveries'') is an editorial collection of illustrated monographic books published by the Éditions Gallimard in pocket format. The books are concise introductions to pa ...
» (nº 26), série Sciences et techniques. Éditions Gallimard, 1987, new edition in 2001
** UK edition – ''The Sky: Order and Chaos'', ‘
New Horizons
''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research ...
’ series. Thames & Hudson, 1992
** US edition – ''The Sky: Mystery, Magic, and Myth'', "
Abrams Discoveries" series. Harry N. Abrams, 1992
* ''The Earth and Sky'', Scholastic, 1992
* ''Earth, Sky and Beyond: A Journey Through Space'', Dutton Juvenile, 1995
* ''Penser l’univers'', collection «
Découvertes Gallimard Texto » (nº 2). Éditions Gallimard, 1998
;Collective work
*
Nicolaus Copernicus, translated by J-P Verdet and others, ''De revolutionibus orbium coelestium / Des révolutions des orbes célestes'', Les Belles Lettres, 2015
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verdet, Jean-Pierre
1932 births
20th-century French astronomers
Historians of astronomy
French non-fiction writers
Living people