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EDITORIAL INFORMATION

The twentieth century has been a remarkable epoch in the affairs of men, and this is no less true of astronomy, at once the oldest and most modern of the sciences. Professor Zdenêk Kopal has lived and practised astronomy throughout this efflorescense of his subject and has entitled his book Of Stars and Men, for he has delighted in the company of both throughout his life. The reader is invited to share with him the story of his birth, his education, his work and his travels; and to join with him in contemplating the history and possible future of his subject, and of civilisation itself.

(Extracted from the dust-jacket)

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Contents.

-Preface.

-1- The Roots.

-2- Awakening.

-3- Lehr- und Wanderjahre.

-4- The American Years.

-5- The Manchester Years.

-6- The Binary Stars.

-7- Astronomy of the Past and in the Future.

-Index.

OUR REVIEW

The autobiographies of the great scientists and researchers always have a special interest. Kopal, a Czeh astronomer who has lived through the times of growth of this science during the last 50 years, who has partaken in adventures such as that of the lunar exploration, and who has collaborated with such important personalities as Russell, Shapely, Urey and Eddington, no doubt has a lot to tell in this book. And certainly, a review of his life discovers before our eyes a great number of surprising episodes, lived in the first person, and transmitted with an exceptional ingenuity. Kopal, a professor emeritus of astronomy at the Manchester University, subtitles his work with the phrase Reminiscences of an Astronomer, and actually this is what we will find in it: a multitude of anecdotes, many of them prompted by the travelling character of the protagonist, as a product of his enormous interest in ancient astronomy and the civilizations that sponsored it.

The book, which is illustrated with some of the photographs from the private collection of the professor, although written some years ago, still maintains its initial freshness, and no doubt will attract all the lovers of the history of science.