Mask of the Sun: The Science, History and Forgotten Lore of Eclipses
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.10 (966 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1681776685 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 336 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-04-03 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Originally trained as a lunar scientist, John Dvorak, PhD, spent twenty years operating a large telescope at Mauna Kea for the Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii. His writing has appeared as cover stories for Scientific American, Astronomy and Physics Today. His books include Earthquake Storms and The Last Volcano, both available from Pegasus Books.
They have been thought of as harbingers of evil as well as a sign of the divine. 8 pages of photographs. Eclipses are an amazing phenomenaunique to Earththat have provided the key to much of what we now know and understand about the sun, our moon, gravity, and the workings of the universe.Both entertaining and authoritative, Mask of the Sun reveals the humanism behind the science of both lunar and solar eclipses. Always spectacular and, today, precisely predicable, eclipses have allowed us to know when the first Olympic games were played and, long before the first space probe, that the Moon was covered by dust.Eclipses have stunned, frightened, emboldened and mesmerized people for thousands of years. Eclipsesone of the rarest and most stunning celestial events we can witness here on Earthhave shaped the course of human history and thought since humans first turned their eyes to the sky.What do Virginia Woolf, the rotation of hurricanes, Babylonian kings and Einstein’s General Theory Relativity all have in common? Eclipses. They were recorded on ancient turtle shells discovered in the Wastes of Yin in China, on clay tablets from Mesopotamia and on the Mayan “Dresden Codex." They are mentioned in Homer
The Eclipse, History and mankind. The Eclipse has changed history caused peace and war. Created predictions of change, death of leaders and births of leaders and terror and confusion and blindness for those who viewed and studied this cyclical phenomenon. This book is a thorough discussion of the Eclipse and mans understanding over time. A great book for someone interested in astronomy, stars history and learning.. Like the "Sun Like the "Sun, Moon Earth" book discussed earlier, this volume does a great job of presenting eclipse information that is usually hard to come by in an exciting and dynamic manner. I really like it! But it too suffers from too many little errors, both because of poor editing and simply incorrect data. A good eclipse primer. This book was filled with eclipse history, science, and the adventures of the eclipse chasers. I live in the pathway of the 2017 eclipse and it provided a good basis for getting the most out of the event. It won't be the first eclipse I will have seen but this time I am provided with more background information.
A splendid introduction to all aspects of eclipses; for all readers interested in science. ” - Library Journal (starred)“Dvorak is a great storyteller with a keen eye for details. Riveting.” - The Wall Street Journal praise for John Dvorak“Unarguably the best, the most comprehensive, and compellingly readable book about the great fault that will one day affect all our lives. Furthermore, he does an excellent job of conveying the wonder of eclipses, describing both their historical-cultural value and the inspirational effect they have on people. &nbs