SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 



281 



SCIENTIFIC LITERATUKE. 



THE STARS. 



Professob Newcomb, in the last 

 issue of the 'Science Series' (Putnam), 

 sums up our present knowledge of the 

 stars. The greatest problem which can 

 engage the human mind is the struc- 

 ture and duration of the Universe. 

 This is the problem which the author 

 proposes in the fourteenth chapter, and 

 which he discusses throughout the rest 

 of the volume. The early chapters 

 may be regarded as forming an intro- 

 duction to this far-reaching investiga- 

 tion. To present a popular statement 

 of the facts of astronomy is no simple 

 task. This the author keenly appre- 

 ciates, for in the preface he admits that 

 he has failed to satisfy himself. Never- 

 theless, no one could be better prepared 

 to undertake the work than Professor 

 Newcomb, and the outcome cannot fail 

 to meet with general praise. The 

 author possesses that rare style, which 

 comes from a perfectly clear conception 

 of the subject, and a good command of 

 plain English. He can be exact with- 

 out the use of technical language. 



Among the important subjects, which 

 are discussed in the volume, are the 

 surveys of the stars, which are now in 

 progress. These surveys are of differ- 

 ent kinds. There are the cataloguing 

 and numbering of the stars, which are 

 still actively carried on, and by new 

 and novel methods, due to the introduc- 

 tion of photography. To count and fix 

 the positions of the stars is, however, 

 not enough. There must also be photo- 

 metric surveys, to determine the exact ! 

 brightness, and other surveys for the 

 systematic study of the spectra, the 

 parallax, and the motions of the stars. 

 There must also be careful surveys of 

 the nebulae. A most interesting investi- 

 gation is that of the motion of stars 



ill the line of sight, a study which has 

 reached a wonderful precision at the 

 Lick Observatory, with the great re- 

 fractor and its spectroscope. This has 

 thrown much light on the subject of 

 double and variable stars. Other sub- 

 jects of special interest are the great 

 numbers of variable stars, which are 

 found packed into a few dense clusters, 

 and the life histoiy and changes of a 

 star. At present, owing to the in- 

 completeness of the surveys and other 

 f-tudies no entirely satisfactory dis- 

 cussion of the structure of the Universe 

 is possible. The subject, however, is 

 treated in an extremely clear and inter- 

 esting manner, and all the conclusions 

 are drawn, in regard to the Universe, 

 which the present state of the science 

 permits. 



ALASKA. 

 A NOTABLE book on Alaska has 

 recently left the press of Doubleday, 

 Page & Company (New York) in the 

 form of a report on the Harriman Alaska 

 Expedition of 1900. This expedition 

 was organized by Mr. E. H. Harriman 

 as a means of obtaining definite infor- 

 mation concerning the characteristics 

 and resources of the Alaskan coast and 

 interior; and through the cooperation 

 of the Washington Academy of Sciences 

 a strong scientific character was im- 

 pressed on the work. The personnel in- 

 cluded a 'scientific party' of twenty- 

 five specialists, several of them eminent 

 in their respective lines; and every 

 possible facility for original work was 

 afforded these specialists in the course 

 of the voyage and land journeys, so 

 that important records and collections 

 were obtained. The preparation of 

 the material for publication was un- 

 dertaken largely by members of the 

 Washington Academy, and the papers 



