Hindsight and popular astronomy - Whiting, Alan B. (World Scientific, 2011)
Includes bibliographical references (pages 261-262) and index
Preface; Contents; 1. One Question and Two Ironies; 2. Positions, Orbits and Calculations; 3. Sir John Herschel, Treatise on Astronomy, 1833; 4. Sir George Biddell Airy, Popular Astronomy, 1848; 5. Heat, Light and Three Bodies; 6. Sir John Herschel, Outlines of Astronomy, Tenth Edition, 1869; 7. Simon Newcomb, Popular Astronomy, 1878; 8. Sir Robert S. Ball, In the High Heavens, 1893; 9. Simon Newcomb, Astronomy for Everybody, 1902; 10. Things Get Strange: Quanta and Relativity; 11. Sir James Jeans, The Universe Around Us, First Edition, 1929
There are many books that endeavor to bridge the gap between scientists and laymen, yet too many overemphasize the presentation of scientific findings as hard facts and end up alienating readers from the critical thinking processes involved in science. Whiting attempts to break away from the norm in this revolutionary review of popular astronomy books written from 1833 to 1944. He examines these important works by acknowledged authorities in the field to see how they have stood the test of time. Where the luminaries have failed, he looks for clues that the layman reader could have used to rais