Eclipses of the Sun and Moon

Abstract

THE chief importance of this book for most readers will lie in the full discussion that it offers on the knowledge as to the physical state of matter in the outer layers of the sun that has been derived from eclipse observations. Naturally there are interesting chapters on the causes and the prediction of eclipses, on the Saros, on lunar eclipses and on the secular accelerations of sun and moon. These chapters cannot contain much new material, but they do give useful references, especially for the last-named subject. We note here one gap in the chapter on the prediction of eclipses that might well be filled in future editions: a reference, at least, might have been given to Dr. Comrie's corrections for a small difference in position in the site of an eclipse camp from the one for which complete data may have been calculated in advance. This would add to the usefulness of the book for an observer on an eclipse expedition.

Eclipses of the Sun and Moon

By Sir Frank Dyson Dr. R.v.d.R. Woolley. (International Series of Monographs on Physics.) Pp. viii + 160 + 12 plates. (Oxford: Clarendon Press; London: Oxford University Press, 1937.) 15s. net.