Astronomy for All

Abstract

(1) THERE is astronomy to suit all tastes. We may go even further, for Sir James Jeans's book has the power to create a taste which in large part it satisfies. It embodies all the rare qualities of exposition for which the author is justly famous, and the treatment, even of subjects with which Sir James's pioneer work is not intimately concerned, bears the stamp of originality. The book is avowedly and actually one to be read for pleasure rather than for profit (although, needless to say, profit inevitably follows from the reading), and we may truthfully add, in the language usually employed in describing literature of this class, that there is not a dull page from start to finish. About fifty of the pages are occupied by excellent reproductions of the finest of astronomical photographs, and, indeed, the book as a whole appeals more to the senses than to the mind. It originated in a series of wireless messages to the ear, and it carries the reader in a magic rocket through space and time, inviting him the while to use his eyes. Maps of the sky, with descriptions of the constellations and tables of simple data, are added as souvenirs of the journey.

(1) The Stars in their Courses.

By Sir James Jeans. Pp. xi + 188 + 47 plates. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1931.) 5s. net.

(2) Astrophysik auf atomtheoretischer Grundlage.

Von Prof. Dr. Svein Rosseland. (Struktur der Materie, herausgegeben von M. Born und J. Franck, Band 11.) Pp. vi + 252. (Berlin: Julius Springer, 1931.) 21.20 gold marks.

(3) The Stars of High Luminosity.

By Cecilia H. Payne. (Published for Harvard College Observatory.) Pp. xiii + 320. (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.; London: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., Ltd., 1930.)

(4) Flights from Chaos: a Survey of Material Systems from Atoms to Galaxies; adapted from Lectures at the College of the City of New York, Class of 1872 Foundation.

By Harlow Shapley. Pp. vii + 168. (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.; London: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., Ltd., 1931.) 12s. 6d. net.

(5) Man and the Stars.

By Harlan True Stetson. Pp. xiii + 221 + 31 plates. (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.; London: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., Ltd., 1930.) 12s. 6d. net.