General Astronomy

Abstract

PROF. YOUNG is so well known in this country through his researches in solar physics, that he needs no introduction to our readers. The title of his latest work is very comprehensive, but we may at once say that it is not more so than the book itself. Every branch of the subject is touched upon more or less, although no particular branch receives very extended treatment. It is essentially a book for students, “and is meant to supply that amount of information upon the subject which may fairly be expected of every liberally educated person.” For an intelligent reading of the book, only the most elementary knowledge of mathematics is necessary, but, as pointed out in the preface, the mental discipline and maturity which usually attend the later years of College life are assumed. The student is warned at the outset that astronomy, notwithstanding its important practical applications, is in the main a subject of intellectual pleasure rather than an economic one.

General Astronomy.

By Prof. C. A. Young (Boston, U.S.A., and London: Ginn and Co., 1888.)