8 NATURE STUDY REVIEW (10:1— Jan., 1914 



read as the map of a country and the ponstellations are as easily 

 learned as the states of the union. If, by means of these few- 

 brief articles, it will be possible to slay this mathematical monster 

 a real service will be rendered to astronomy. Furthermore, if 

 some of my readers can be induced to try this science as a Nature- 

 Study, then some of the present generation of children will come 

 into their own by having the entire physical universe to think 

 about instead of merely this small globe on whose surface we live. 

 : The study of astronomy has a very distinct value in any scheme 

 of education. For one thing, it develops the powers of observa- 

 .tion. No one who will note the diurnal rotation of the sky, the 

 movement of the moon and planets among the stars, etc., will 

 fail to find his powers of observation strengthened. In the 

 second place the study of astronomy will aid in the development 

 of the imagination. Thus, for example, in trying to picture such 

 simple things as the relative sizes of earth and sun, the annual 

 revolution of the former about the latter, the revolution of the 

 moon about the earth, etc., the imagination is brought into play 

 continuously. This also applies to the constellations and the 

 myths connected with them. There are the mighty Hercules, 

 Perseus and Andromeda, the good ship Argo and many others 

 connected with the lore of the ancients. Thirdly, the reasoning 

 powers are brought into play in explaining such elementary 

 matters as the phases of the moon, why the sun is high in summer 

 and low in winter, the seasons, eclipses and the like. The various 

 faculties mentioned are of course all used to a greater or less 

 degree in considering any one of these subjects and since they are 

 the principal ones developed by all nature-study it must be ad- 

 mitted that astronomy meets the main requirements. 



One of the most serious difficulties in the way of having astron- 

 omy taught in our schools lies in the fact that so few teachers 

 know anything about it. In a subsequent article we shall consider 

 the preparation necessary for the teacher and suggest simple 

 courses of reading which will give some insight into the mysteries 

 of the starry realms. Another difficulty arises because of the 

 necessity of carrying on certain observations such as constellation 

 study after dark. This difficulty, however, is less real than might 

 appear at first sight and suggestions will be offered on teaching 

 the constellations by blackboard work in the daytime and having 

 the children do their night work at home. If it proves impractic- 



