Evening star., 1925-10-06
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
I. G.. NJ.
THE EARTH AND THE STARS.
Charles G. Abbott. ID. Van Nos

trand Co.
The blazing eyes Of 10000 speeding
miniature moons, innumerable,
two by two across the way
from each other along the city streets
until in the distance they merge to
a. single firef1y glow: myriads Of
twinkling rainbow lights that from
roof and tower Hash nightly In gay
and fantastic saraband OF utilitarian
ca II and appeal-these. 10 the majority
of city dwellers are sky, moon and
stars.
ertheless. there is above the city,
uplifted, an actual sky,
a canopy Of velvet depth across which
fields of stars are gathered, bright pat
terms of ordered design, shining in a
radiance of jeweled splendor. And
to realize this panorama Of the
heavens one has not to betake him.
self to distant. mountaintop nor to
remote desert stretches. Instead, he
has but to step only a little way apart
from the luminous turmoil of the city
streets. .-.
Let's get out under the stars. This
is the time and here is 4 way-wise
man to keep US company. 1t is this
very month, this month Of October,
lldl lli OuT IdltluuC anu lOIISltuuc
spreads a beautiful and interesting
drama of the heavens with. apparent
ly. direct reference to the convenience
of terrestrial onlookers. For this is,
in fact. an early bedtime performance,
beginning soon after sunset and clos
ing betimes in obedience. no doubt, to
some celestial curfew bell
DR.. Abbott has the gift Of simple
speech. He has the equal gift of know
ing the things that are important TO
his purpose from the clutter of non
essential details in which every sub,
ject ia more or less obscured. BY
way of such leadership. we, therefore
stand under this October sky faced
upon something like a familiar and
homelike scene in the great drama
staged and ceaselessIy going on over
head. The sun.-father Of the family
Ing Is Mercury. clearly bound for bed
md sleep, already dimmed with
drowsiness. Higher up in the darken-
ing vault is Venus. still fascinated
by the spell of her own effulgence,
not ready yet for the doubtful benefits
OF obscurity. And over there Is
Jupiter. and yonder Saturn. Not this
October. but in a not too distant one.
the militant Mars will glow ruddily. an
evening star as these now are Not
stars at all. any of them. Planets,
rather. luminous through the largess
OF their leader, the sun, generous to
the world by means of borrowed light
alone. Outside this immediate family
OF the heavens, so peculiarly our own
other stars shine in a sweep.
ing gesture Of splendor and power.
Overhead is the white star. Vega To
4 h0 sylo
stands and to the southwest the red
Antares. yonder the paling Affair.
Not even half-sketch, this, of one
scene even out Of the celestial drama
that October stages SO splendidly and
which this author sets out here in a
vivid exempliflcation of the yearly
round Of the stars in their courses
A clear invitation to come out under
the stars, the first movement of this
study most certainly is
y
We sit right down by the roadside
in the crisp October night, still watch,
ing the opening wonders overhead,
while DR.. Abbott tells us a story. He
calls ii a bird 's-eye view Of astro
nomical history up TO the beginning of
the twentieth century" 1t is. never.
theless. in effect, a story about the
men who have set the heavens in
order for their better runderstan ndins
by lesser men. Here are stories of
and Ptolemy, Of coperni.
Gus. Calico. kepler. Tycho Brahe,
Newton and others and others Hp to
the present hour. He tells how each
Of these men built upon the work of
his predecessors. correcting at this
point, going straight ahead, at that
one. inventing strange devices for
bringing the heavens clearly within
the range of human sight. creating
new sciences. evolving new theories of
the universe-an onward march to-
ward q mighty objective. An limo
waiting and revolutionary movement
this, more often than
otherwise set up against the antag.
onisms of dogma, against the pro.
nouncements of high authority. A
deeply interesting point in this recita
is that which sets off the earlier in
vestigators from these latter.day
ones. Where the older scientist was
engaged upon such studies of the
heavenly bodies as pointed to the
relativftfes of place and distance and
movement applied generally to the
universe and specifically to the earth
itself, the new scientist is preoccupied
with the substance of the stars-as
he is preoccupied with the nature nd
OF the universe itself-wit h
their 'inherencies Of power. with their
individual reactions and effects. with
their universal affinities and influence
Many interesting experiences with
this leader follow. There is the init
mate projection of the earth itself and
her neishbor. the moon" There is
a study Of, THE Suns Family. the
Solar System" and of Our Star. the
sun Solar eclipses engage us for
an hour- The sun as a source Of heal
ana power and life absorbs us, for a
much longer time. The story of the
has place here. And some.
thing like fairy tale reveals the con.
stellations and discovers the origins
of their strange namings across the
sky. These. but a few of the topics
relevant to the theme itself which this
author has brought forth to give a
comprehensive view of the earth in
its relation to the universe. Not all
OF them are of equally easy grasp on
the part OF the reader. Many of them
involve deeper application than a
mere sitting out under the October
sky, than a mere taking in of inter.
eSting tales by prime story teller.
Some OF them dema nd study, but the
study Is worth the effort. since it is an
essential part Of better understand
Ing of the whole. And in every case
there is the communicable habit of
the author himself. Simple speech,
Big topics. Freedom from confusinR
details. A readiness with familia r
facts as illustrative material. IIlumi-
mating anecdotes bringing the remote
near. making concrete the abstra ct
And, above all, an authoritative knowl.
edge or the matter in hand. So.
whether YOU are student or simply the
interested and intelligent reader, Won
can hardly do better than TO put your.
self next to The Earth and the
SuDnOSe Dr Ahhott hip,caJf 4, H.. !.