Astronomy for Amateurs
Public-domain ebook
Astronomy for Amateurs
Language: en8,937 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Astronomy·Science - Physics
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #25267.
About this book
Camille Flammarion’s Astronomy for Amateurs is a concise, twelve‑chapter guide that opens with a lyrical “Introduction” celebrating the sublime beauty of the night sky. The book begins by inviting the reader to contemplate the heavens on a quiet spring evening, then moves swiftly into a panoramic survey of constellations, stars, planets, comets, eclipses and the methods by which celestial distances are measured. Flammarion frames his exposition with a series of richly detailed illustrations, ranging from the Great Bear and the Milky Way to precise diagrams of planetary orbits, providing a visual roadmap that accompanies the text’s systematic treatment of astronomical phenomena.
The work reflects the early‑20th‑century French popular‑science tradition, blending poetic reverence with rigorous description. Flammarion’s voice is both didactic and inspirational, addressing a broad audience while explicitly encouraging women to engage with the subject. Readers who appreciate a blend of scientific detail, historical anecdotes about women astronomers, and a literary tone that evokes the wonder of stargazing will find this text both accessible and intellectually satisfying.
Who appears in Astronomy for Amateurs
- Paul RenaudMiddle‑aged French gentleman, dark hair, trimmed beard, spectacles, 1900s academic coat
- Madame C.R. CavaréElegant French lady, early‑forties, coiffed hair, high‑necked silk gown, pearl necklace
- James Gordon BennettOlder American publisher, silver‑gray hair, moustache, three‑piece suit, pocket watch
The opening · free to read
Madame C.r. Cavare
ORIGINAL MEMBER OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF FRANCE CHATEAU DE MAUPERTHUIS
MADAME: I have dedicated none of my works, save Stella--offered to the liberal-minded, the free and generous friend of progress, and patron of the sciences, James Gordon Bennett, editor of the New York Herald. In this volume, Madame, I make another exception, and ask your permission to offer it to the first woman who consented to be enrolled in the list of members of the Astronomical Society of France, as foundress of this splendid work, from the very beginning of our vast association (1887); and who also desired to take part in the permanent organization of the Observatory at Juvisy, a task of private enterprise, emancipated from administrative routine. An Astronomy for Women[1] can not be better placed than upon the table of a lady whose erudition is equal to her virtues, and who has consecrated her long career to the pursuit and service of the Beautiful, the Good, and the True.
CAMILLE FLAMMARION.
OBSERVATORY OF JUVISY, November, 1903.
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