| ||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details
|
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Duncan Steel's handsomely produced pocket hardback, illustrated throughout by evocative engravings, illustrations and early photographs, harks back to an era when astronomy was a popular pursuit, and not yet the preserve of computer-laden university departments. It is, essentially, a book of celestial mechanics, using the solar eclipse of August 1999 as a peg from which to hang any number of fascinating astronomical stories: how archaeologists and historians use eclipses to calibrate local calendars; how eclipse cycles can be mapped as woven patterns, revealing their regularity, so that, long before the necessary physical theories were developed, "various individuals of genius, living in societies possessing careful records of past celestial events, were able to interpret those records and deduce the lengths of the years and months to a matter of minutes and seconds"; finally, how findings from eclipses and the occultations of stars by the moon and planets revealed much about the nature of both. There is much of historical, as well as astronomical significance in Duncan Steel's Eclipse. French astronomer Jules Janssen, for example, in 1870 "was so desperate to get to Algeria to observe an eclipse that he escaped from Paris in a balloon, drifting over the heads of the Prussian troops who had the city under seige". --Simon Ings
Product Description
Ever since biblical times, eclipses have caused a sensation. Ancient civilizations saw them as signs of divine displeasure or augurs of good fortune. This work explains eclipses, their science and their significance to humankind.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
|
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon U.K.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
