A Source Book in Astronomy (Rare, 1929)

This source book provides a comprehensive survey of the most important contributions to the field of astronomy and across decades and centuries, from Nicolaus Copernicus (1545) through to Sir George Darwin (1897). It is a “must have” for those seriously interested in the history and development of astronomy.

About the author:

“Harlow Shapley (November 2, 1885 – October 20, 1972) is notable for his groundbreaking 1918 work using Cepheid variables to estimate the size of the Milky Way Galaxy and the sun’s position within it as well as in 1953 proposing the “Liquid Water Belt” theory, now known as the concept of a habitable zone.

He wrote many books on astronomy and the sciences. Among these was Source Book in Astronomy (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1929—co-written with Helen E. Howarth, also on the staff of the Harvard College Observatory), the first of the publisher’s series of source books in the history of the sciences.” [Royal Astronomical Society of Canada]