I was recently dragged to a car boot sale (I think it's called a garage sale in the States),by my daughter, and while mooching around, found a copy of "The Story Of The Heavens", by Sir Robert Stawell Ball,and first published in 1886.The copy I found was the 1893 edition, and was on sale for a very affordable 50 pence (about 80 cents!)It is a wonderful book, with 18 colour plates, and numerous photographs and illustratios, including some of nebulae which he observed with Lord Rosse's 72" reflector.I was so fascinated by the book that I looked up a few biographical details on Sir Robert. He was the Carl Sagan or Patrick Moore of his time, taking astronomy out of the cloistered world of the academic world and into the lives of ordinary people, he lectured at schools, colleges, working men's clubs, in fact anywhere he could get an audience. In 1865 he took on the position of tutor to the Earl of Rosse's 3 children, mainly for the chance of observing time at the "Leviathan of Parsonstown", as the great reflector was called. In later life he became the Irish Astronomer Royal, and received many accolades including a knighthood in 1886. His style of writing was very poetical, although the science was still there in large quantities. I'd like to quote 2 passages from his book to give an indication of his style. The first is very topical, as it describes the transit of Venus which he observed on the 6th December 1882. The last sentence is, I think particulary moving. "Before the phenomena had ceased, I spared a few minutes from the somewhat mechanical work at the micrometer to take a view of the transit in the more picturesque form which the large field of the finder presented. The Sun was already beginning to put on the ruddy hues of sunset, and there, far on its face, was the sharp, round, black disk of Venus. The intrinsic interest of the phenomenon, its rarity, the fulfillment of the prediction, the noble problem which the transit of Venus enables us to solve, are all present in our thoughts when we look at this pleasing picture, a repetition of which will not occur again until the flowers are blooming in the June of AD 2004" He has this to say on the Sun, "His gracious beams supply the magic power that enables the corn to grow and ripen. It is the heat of the Sun which raises water from the oceans in the form of vapour, and then sends down that vapour as rain to refresh the earth and to fill the rivers which bear our ships down to the sea. It is the heat of the Sun beating on the large continents which gives rise to the breezes and winds that waft our vessels across the deep; and when on a winters evening we draw around the fire and feel its invigorating rays, we are only enjoying sunbeams which shone on the earth countless ages ago. The heat in those ancient sunbeams developed the mighty vegetation of the coal period, and in the form of coal has slumbered for millions of years, till we now call it into activity. It is the power of the Sun stored up in coal that urges on our steam engines. It is the light of the Sun stored up in coal that beams from every gaslight in our cities. For the power to live and move, for the plenty with which we are surrounded, for the beauty with which Nature is adorned, we are immediately indebted to one body in the countless hosts of space and that body is the Sun" They don't write 'em like that any more! All in all I think my 50 pence was well spent, I might even allow myself to be dragged to the next garage sale my daughter wants to go to..You never know, I might pick up a first edition of the "Principia" for a pound!!
The Story of the Heavens (1886)
Started by
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, Nov 08 2004 08:49 AM
10 replies to this topic
#2
dgs©
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Posted 08 November 2004 - 11:26 AM
50p! 
I guess you got lucky first time out. I hope that find hasn't used up your years allotment of luck. 
I guess you got lucky first time out. I hope that find hasn't used up your years allotment of luck.
#4
Guest_**DONOTDELETE**_*
Guest_**DONOTDELETE**_*
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Posted 08 November 2004 - 07:20 PM
Great find, I wish my trips to the garage sales were as fruitful. All I ever see are old clothes and old dishes.
#5
Fiske
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Posted 10 November 2004 - 06:20 PM
Mike:
Congrats on your find -- a real treasure. I haven't spared much time for garage sales in recent years, I must say. Your story inspires me to stop by the next few I come across.
Congrats on your find -- a real treasure. I haven't spared much time for garage sales in recent years, I must say. Your story inspires me to stop by the next few I come across.
#6
Tom L
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ISS
Posted 10 November 2004 - 08:47 PM
If the author has moved you, it is a rare find indeed! From the sound of his passage, he had a passion...please let us know if the book follows in the same vain.
#7
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Posted 11 November 2004 - 10:00 AM
Tom..The whole book is written in the same vein, his passion for astronomy and his determination to spread that passion is evident in every page. Although some of his theories are outdated now (His firm belief that the Moon's craters were all formed by volcanic action, the possibility of tropical life on Venus, and some sort of intelligent life on Mars for instance), the whole book is a masterpiece of prose. I only wish I could share it all with you, though at 550 pages, my typing fingers would be a little tired out I think!If the author has moved you, it is a rare find indeed! From the sound of his passage, he had a passion...please let us know if the book follows in the same vain.
#8
wilash
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Fairy Godmother
Posted 12 November 2004 - 09:07 AM
Actually, the book is fairly easy to find. Books printed before 1900 tend to be expensive - $100 - $150. The 1905 and 1910 printings can be around $30.
#9
wilash
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Fairy Godmother
Posted 13 November 2004 - 04:57 AM
mikelewis, if your book has foxing, wrap it is plastic and leave it in the freezer for 24 hour. That should kill it.
#10
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Posted 19 November 2004 - 10:44 AM
Thanks for the tip wilash, it really worked!!mikelewis, if your book has foxing, wrap it is plastic and leave it in the freezer for 24 hour. That should kill it.
#11
Jim Shaffer
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Posted 28 November 2004 - 01:27 PM
I have numerous antique astronomy books. If you don't need them in mint condition, they can often be bought quite cheaply on eBay. It's always fun to find ones that refer to M31 as a nebula, or call Uranus "Herschel", or include the planet Vulcan.
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