Editorial Reviews
Book Description
Modern astronomy is a wonderful revelation to astronomers. They are awed when sky-gazing and discovering new heavenly bodies or objects in the heavens. We think about it as a dull subject of science. Here Jermain G. Porter, Ph.D. writes from material he collected during the course of many years' lecturing to college classes, and from R.H. Allen's encyclopedic work on Star Names and their Meanings.
He presents this material in a legendary lore of the heavens, the intimate connection of the stars with literature in poetical quotations from such famous writers as Tennyson, Longfellow, Milton and others to attract the unprofessional reader. He takes you all over the world from India, Egypt, Greece, the Druids and Stonehenge, Phoenix, Scandinavia, the Peruvians with their splendid, golden temples in Cuzco to the Roman and English Cathedrals. He explains why the position of altars is possibly linked to a religious explanation.
It is interesting to learn about the moon, the stars, other celestial bodies, their connection to the zodiac signs according to myths and fables, and their special characteristics. Just as the Orion star brightens a winter day you are captivated by the splendor and brilliance of these stories and how gods and goddesses are depicted in them. You understand the change of weather on earth in relation to the movement in heaven. On a philosophical note, as some stars die, others fade away and return or new stars are born, is it not amazing that we can find meaning to life as we study the heavens?
The Stars in Song and Legend,Jermain G. Porter,Albrecht Durer,University Press of the Pacific,0898750547,Astronomy - General,Science,Science/Mathematics,Astronomy, Space & Time
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