The Sun is so powerful, so much bigger than us, that it is a terrifying subject. Yet though we depend on it, we take it for granted. Amazingly the first book of its kind, CHASING THE SUNis a cultural and scientific history of our relationship with the star that gives us life.
Richard Cohen, applying the same mix of wide-ranging reference and intimate detail that won outstanding reviews for By the Sword, travels from the ancient Greek astronomers to modern-day solar scientists, from Stonehenge to Antarctica (site of the solar eclipse of 2003, when penguins were said to sing), Mexico's Aztecs to the Norwegian city of Tromso, where for two months of the year there is no Sun at all. He introduces us to the crucial 'sunspot cycle' in modern economics, the religious dances of Indian tribesmen, the histories of sundials and calendars, the plight of migrating birds, the latest theories of global warming, and Galileo recording his discoveries in code, for fear of persecution.
And throughout, there is the rich Sun literature -- from the writings of Homer through Dante and Nietzsche to Keats, Shelley and beyond. Blindingly impressive and hugely readable, this is a tour de force of narrative non-fiction.
- 704 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Half-title page
- Also by Richard Cohen
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Dedication page
- Contents
- List of Illustrations and Illustration Credits
- Preface
- Sunrise on Mount Fuji
- PART ONE THE SUN BEFORE SCIENCE
- 1 Telling Stories
- 2 Celebrating the Seasons
- 3 The Three Thousand Witnesses
- 4 Terrors of the Sky
- PART TWO DISCOVERING THE SUN
- 5 The First Astronomers
- 6 Enter the Greeks
- 7 Gifts of the Yellow Emperor
- 8 The Sultan's Turret
- 9 The Earth Moves
- 10 Strange Seas of Thought
- 11 Eclipses and Enlightenment
- 12 The Sun Dethroned
- PART THREE THE SUN ON EARTH
- 13 Sunspots
- 14 The Qualities of Light
- 15 Beneath the Beating Sun
- 16 Skin Deep
- 17 The Breath of Life
- 18 The Dark Biosphere
- PART FOUR HARNESSING THE SUN
- 19 The Heavenly Guide
- 20 Of Calendars and Dials
- 21 How Time Goes By
- 22 The Sun in Our Pocket
- PART FIVE INSPIRED BY A STAR
- 23 The Vital Symbol
- 24 Drawing on the Sun
- 25 Negative Capabilities
- 26 Talk of the Day
- 27 Busy Old Fool . . .
- 28 The Rising Star of Politics
- PART SIX THE SUN AND THE FUTURE
- 29 Over the Horizon
- 30 Under the Weather
- 31 The Impossible and Beyond
- 32 The Death of the Sun
- Sunset on the Ganges
- Acknowledgements
- Sources
- Index
- Note on the Author
- Plates
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Yes, you can access Chasing the Sun by Richard Cohen in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & World History. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.