A scheme of the Solar System with the Orbits of the Planets and Comets belonging thereto (also known as Whistons scheme of the solar system)
From The universal geographer: or, compleat atlas containing all the known countries in the World, laid down from the latest observations and discoveries, communicated to the Royal Society of London, and Academy of Sciences at Paris.
John Senex
London: Robert Sayer, ca. 1760
Engraving
From the collection of the University of Michigan Map Library
John Senex (1678-1740) was a successful London cartographer, engraver, and publisher of maps and books. In addition to producing many terrestrial maps and globes, he took a keen interest in astronomy and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1728.1
Senex was well connected within the elite world of British scientists, and some of his maps were produced in partnership with such 18th century luminaries as Charles Price, James Maxwell, Edmond Halley and William Whiston.2 It is Whiston — a prominent English theologian who succeeded Isaac Newton as Lucasian Professor at Cambridge in 1702 — who is credited with creating the “scheme of the solar system” shown at right.
Although several versions of this diagram were published, those produced by Senex are the most impressive, ensuring their continued popularity. Senex’s widow Mary continued his business after his death in 1740, and his maps were still being reprinted in the 1760’s by Robert Sayer and John Bowles. Warner (1979) quotes an advertisement for this map by John Bowles, from 1768:
A Scheme of the Solar System, with the orbits of the planets and comets belonging thereto, described from Dr. Halley’s accurate table of comets, founded on Sir Isaac Newton’s wonderful discoveries. By William Whiston, M.A. Price 3s.3
The map is intended to convey the relative distances, sizes, and orbital periods involved in the motions of the Solar System’s planets and major comets. The collaborative nature of Senex’s mapmaking practice is particularly evident here, as the map makes use of Halley’s observations and Newton’s theories and mentions the work of Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed. It is impressive for its level of textual and artistic detail, each orbit being formed by a line of text that describes the corresponding planetary body. The surrounding text proclaims the correctness of the Copernican system and describes the motion of each of the planets in greater detail.
1, 2 Kanas 205.
3 Warner 1979 244.
