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EDITORIAL INFORMATION

Astronomy, the oldest of the sciences, has a history which goes back thounsands of years. Civilizations throughout the world recorded events which they observed, including eclipses of the sun and moon, and the behaviour of meteors, comets and stars. These observations contain a wealth of information which is a of great importance and interest to the modern day astronomer.

A Chronicle of Pre-Telescopic Astronomy presents a chronological record of all types of account of astronomical discoveries and events from all nations, from the earliest times to the year AD 1609, the year in which the telescope was first used. As such, it provides a unique history of mankind's changing view of the Universe. Useful biographies of the major figures are given, including details of the conflicts and rivalries between astronomers, and between astronomers and the authorities.

A Chronicle of Pre-Telescopic Astronomy will be of great value to all modern day astronomers. Amateur astronomers and all those interested in the history of astronomy will also find it a fascinating source of information. The index of some 1000 names, together with an extensive subject index, make this an specially accesible and valuable work. The referencing of every entry in the work facilitates further investigation of the literature, making A Chronicle of Pre-Telescopic Astronomy an absorving and enduring reference source.

(Extracted from the back cover).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Contents.

-Introduction.

-Acknowledgements.

-Chronicle of Astronomy.

-BC.
-AD.

-References.

-References by Author.

-Name Index.

-Subject Index.

OUR REVIEW

We often tend to think that before the telescope was invented, Humanity could have advanced little in the astronomic sciences. Yet this is not the case. Hetherington offers us irrefutable, staggering proof of the amount of things that had been observed, studied and registered before the year 1609, and he also makes us aware of the many discoveries, works, hypotheses and other surprising facts that have been taking place during the centuries prior to the invention of the telescope.

This certainly is a reference book, consisting in numerous entries established in a chronological order, rather than a mere historical text which happens to be easy to read. In actual fact, the amount of information presented here is so huge that we probably will have never ever heard the slightest news about some of the things reflected in the book. What matters most, perhaps, is the fact that the author has bothered to situate in each entry its corresponding bibliographical reference, so that it always is possible to check it and get further information about it. In a word, this amounts to a most excellent work, very useful for the researcher in the history of astronomy, even if the book perhaps lacks some sort of graphic design or pictures which could have rendered the vision of the never-ending list of events somewhat more pleasant to read.