Abstract
IN a country which stretches, as Dr. Mohn reminds us, to the 71st degree of north latitude, the times of sunrise and sunset, with the accompanying phenomena of twilight, have a wider significance than with us. There the calendar has to be consulted to find the day when the sun will first appear above the horizon, while the amount of light received when the sun is a definite d-stance below the horizon has a distinct economic value. Even the azimuth at which the sun will rise or set is not altogether a negligible quantity. Considerations of this kind have led Prof. Mohn to submit the question of twilight to a very close investigation, and to furnish tables which will enable an inhabitant of these northern regions to gauge very accurately how much direct or reflected sunlight he may expect. No doubt Prof. Mohn is well advised from a practical point of view, but in some respects his tables seem to aim at a greater degree of accuracy than can be of service. In such questions as the effect of temperature on refraction, or the amount of reflected light, the variables arising from clouds and state of the sky generally would upset the nicety of the calculations. But so far as the convenience of the tables is concerned, and the thoroughness with which the theory is presented, there is nothing left to be desired, and it is not surprising if those who have not lived in a country where the economy of the winter light is a matter of importance fail to appreciate the necessity of this accuracy.
Dœmringen i Norge.
By Prof. H. Mohn. Pp. 76. (Christiania: Jacob Dybwad, 1908.)
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Dœmringen i Norge . Nature 78, 568 (1908). https://doi.org/10.1038/078568a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/078568a0