What do Emily Dickinson, slave revolts, Babylonian Kings, and Monticello all have in common? A solar eclipse. Whether it was deciding on the location of a grand home (or castle), inspiring poetry, timing battles and revolts, or planning expeditions, eclipses have inspired fear and fascination. Solar eclipses allowed Ptolemy to determine the length of the Mediterranean and helped Einstein establish his General Theory of Relativity. Preliterate societies recorded eclipses on turtle shells found in "The Wastes of Yin" and on the Mayan "Dresden Codex." Eclipses were later instrumental in the creation of longitude and allowed Hubble to understand the expansion of the Universe (and disprove another theory of Einstein's in the process). John Dvorak, the acclaimed author of Earthquake Storms and The Last Volcano, examines this amazing phenomena and reveals the humanism behind the science. With insightful detail and vividly accessible prose, he provides explanations as to how and why eclipses occur—as well as insight into the eclipse of 2017, which was visible across North America.
- 336 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
Mask of the Sun
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Information
Topic
Physical SciencesSubtopic
Science HistoryTable of contents
- Cover
- Title
- Contents
- Prologue: New York, 1925
- One: The Heretic and the Pope
- Two: The Invisible Planets of Rahu and Ketu
- Three: Saros and the Substitute King
- Four: Measuring the World
- Five: The Waste of Yin
- Six: A Request to the Curious
- Seven: The Annulus at Inch Bonney
- Eight: A Simple Truth of Nature
- Nine: Eclipse Chasers
- Ten: Keys and Kettledrums
- Eleven: The Crucifixion and the Concorde
- Twelve: Einstein’s Error
- Thirteen: The Glorious Corona
- Epilogue: Illinois, 2017
- Appendix: An Eclipse Primer
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Sources
- Index
- Also by John Dvorak
- Copyright
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Yes, you can access Mask of the Sun by John Dvorak in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Physical Sciences & Science History. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.