Das Weltgebäude, Eine gemeinverständliche, Himmelskunde

Abstract

TEN years ago we read the first edition of this work with considerable satisfaction, and the examination of the second edition has been interesting, since it shows how much astronomical science has advanced in the interval, and demonstrates the necessity of frequent revision of popular text-books of this character. In some respects the work has already fallen behind—inevitable from the time required to pass such a book through the press—and though an appendix is not a convenient form for supplying the most recent information, it might have been adopted here with advantage. If we may trust the index and a very careful scrutiny of the text, there is no reference to the eighth satellite of Jupiter. On the same grounds we think that justice has not been done to the energy and success with which Prof. Hale has pursued his investigations, and the references to Sir David Gill are meagre. Altogether the revision does not seem to have been made with sufficient thoroughness; there has been too great a reluctance to sacrifice the material prepared for the earlier edition, with the result that the author has retained references to earlier work which has been superseded by the employment of larger means and greater experience. But though one may regret that in some particulars the work might be improved, it still possesses very high claims to consideration. The main facts are presented in an admirably attractive manner, leaning perhaps, where opportunity offers, to the sensational side; but nevertheless the description is trustworthy, likely to captivate the amateur, and gain recruits to the study of astronomy.

Das Weltgebäude, Eine gemeinverständliche, Himmelskunde.

By M. Wilhelm Meyer. Zweite, umgearbeitete Auflage. Pp. xii + 691. (Leipzig and Vienna: Bibliographisches Institut, 1908.) Price 16 marks.