Astronomy for Beginners

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About this book

An imagined solar system using a globe, seeds and fruit gives a sense of the scale in Hereward Carrington's introduction to astronomy. His short handbook moves from the Sun and its planets to the Moon, comets, nebulae and the stars. Early sections distinguish astronomical observation from astrology, while the opening explains his aim of making scientific ideas understandable with technical terms kept to a minimum.

Brief sections let readers follow a single topic or move through the wider survey. Carrington discusses how telescopes reveal stars within the Milky Way, how stars are grouped by brightness, and how observers compare their light. The contents also extend to eclipses, tides, calendars and the measurement of time and space. Readers interested in the history of popular science can see how this writer explained the heavens through everyday comparisons and compact accounts of observation.

About the author

Hereward Carrington

Hereward Carrington (1880-1959) was a British-born American investigator of psychical phenomena and a strikingly prolific author. A member of the American Society for Psychical Research, he studied mediums including Eusapia Palladino and wrote widely on spiritualism, fraud detection, conjuring, and the paranormal, as well as diet and fasting.