Abstract
IT is an excellent sign that among recent works dealing with astronomy there have been some in which methods of teaching the elementary parts of the subject have formed a notable feature. The book under notice is to be regarded as one of this class, as the author, a wellknown American astronomer, has endeavoured to “concentrate attention upon those parts of the subject that possess special educational value.” The importance of observations with simple appliances is strongly insisted upon in the preface, but from this point of view the book is distinctly disappointing. It is true that in the earlier chapters an attempt is made to introduce practical exercises, some of them observational and others involving the construction or study of drawings; but this admirable beginning is by no means consistently followed up. In fact, the greater part of the book does not strike us as being other than a general outline of the chief facts and principles of astronomy suitable for ordinary reading, except that at intervals the reader is expected to pause and answer a question, such as “What is the magnitude (of Algol) 43 days after a minimum?” The practical method, however, might well have been further adopted; a telescope of adequate power for the demonstration of many phenomena, such as the sun's rotation, can be cheaply and easily constructed, and graphical exercises might have been more frequently introduced with advantage. We notice, also, that the use of a globe in illustrating celestial motions is not mentioned at all. Nevertheless, so far as it goes, the practical work described will be of great value to students, and will doubtless encourage them to further efforts in the same direction.
A Text-book of Astronomy.
By Prof. George C. Comstock. Pp. viii + 391. (New York and London D. Appleton and Co., 1901.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
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A Text-book of Astronomy . Nature 64, 424 (1901). https://doi.org/10.1038/064424a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/064424a0