The Story of Eclipses

What an eclipse is, what the ancients made of them, and the record of every notable one from Thales to the twentieth century, with the expeditions sent to observe them. George Chambers was an amateur astronomer of the productive sort and wrote the standard popular handbooks of his day. The chapter on eclipse superstitions is the entertainment; the tables at the back are why the book was kept. Fifty-four plates range from Donato Creti's astronomical scenes to Caspar David Friedrich's The Sea of Ice, matching the book's sweep from ancient sky-watching to the expeditions that chased the shadow.