Astronomers mark time: discipline and the personal equation

@article{Schaffer1988AstronomersMT,
  title={Astronomers mark time: discipline and the personal equation},
  author={S. Schaffer},
  journal={Science in Context},
  year={1988},
  volume={2},
  pages={115-145}
}
It is often assumed that all sciences travel the path of increasing precision and quantification. It is also assumed that such processes transcend the boundaries of rival scientific disciplines. The history of the personal equation has been cited as an example: the "personal equation" was the name given by astronomers after Bessel to the differences in measured transit times recorded by observers in the same situation. Later in the nineteenth century Wilhelm Wundt used this phenomenon as a type… Expand
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