The Under-Standing of Eclipses 2016

This book starts with a careful explanation of the groundwork — the motions of Earth, Moon, and Sun that cause eclipses — in order to lead up to the sublimity of the experience. There are double-page spreads for examples of the kinds of eclipse—

A lunar eclipse
A partial solar eclipse
An annular eclipse
A broken-ring eclipse (1984 May, southeastern U.S.A.)
An annular-total eclipse
A globe-skimming eclipse
A geometrically tight eclipse (2015 March, ending at the north pole)
A high-latitude eclipse
An ideal eclipse (1991 July, Hawaii and Mexico)

The central section is a complete description of the eclipses of 2017: two lunar, two solar, climaxing with the August 21 total solar eclipse that will sweep from Oregon to South Carolina (as shown on the book’s cover).

Some of the features:

Large globe pictures, and many other illustrationsA deep exploration of the “saros” and other intricate patterns woven by eclipses across spans of time”Flick movies” of an annular eclipse and a total eclipse along the tops of the pagesEclipse stories (about 40)

8½ x 11 in., 96 pages, many illustrations. 1991; 2nd edition 1991; 3rd edition 2004; 4th edition 2013; 5th edition 2016. ISBN 978-0-934546-74-4.
$25.95

Questions? Contact the author.

“If you can get to the eclipse path . . . this brief book will be well worth carrying. If you stay at home, follow the score here to grasp these harmonious but silent rhythms” —Scientific American

“Not since Richard A. Proctor of the last century has there been an author so attuned to the numerous geometrical nuances of the celestial clockwork” —Sky & Telescope

“What a wonderful book for teaching purposes! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book on eclipses that even approaches its usefulness” —Dan Green, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory