TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have beencorrected after careful comparison with other occurrences withinthe text and consultation of external sources.
More detail can be found at the end of the book.
PRACTICAL TALKS BY
AN ASTRONOMER
PRACTICAL TALKS BY
AN ASTRONOMER
BY
HAROLD JACOBY
ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF ASTRONOMY IN
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1902
Copyright, 1902, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
Published, April, 1902
TROW DIRECTORY
PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY
NEW YORK
PREFACE
The present volume has not been designed asa systematic treatise on astronomy. There aremany excellent books of that kind, suitable forserious students as well as the general reader;but they are necessarily somewhat dry and unattractive,because they must aim at completeness.Completeness means detail, and detailmeans dryness.
But the science of astronomy contains subjectsthat admit of detached treatment; and as manyof these are precisely the ones of greatest generalinterest, it has seemed well to select several, anddescribe them in language free from technicalities.It is hoped that the book will thus prove usefulto persons who do not wish to give the timerequired for a study of astronomy as a whole, butwho may take pleasure in devoting a half-hour[vi]now and then to a detached essay on some specialtopic.
Preparation of the book in this form has madeit suitable for prior publication in periodicals;and the several essays have in fact all beenprinted before. But the intention of collectingthem into a book was kept in mind from thefirst; and while no attempt has been made atconsecutiveness, it is hoped that nothing ofmerely ephemeral value has been included.