778 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 179. 



spectrum of the nebulae, can hardlj' be accepted 

 as fair to that eminent investigator and pioneer 

 in that line. 



An interesting account is given of the ap- 

 pearances of the temporary stars, or ' Novie,' 

 with their spectroscopic history, in which the 

 observations of the author properly take a 

 prominent place. Chapter XIV. is entitled 

 ' How the hypothesis has fared,' referring more 

 particularly to the bearing of the recent work 

 on Nova Aurigse upon the meteoritic hypothe- 

 sis. The last quarter of the work discusses the 

 problem of stellar classification. The principal 

 contention of the author is that a spectral classi- 

 fication should provide both for stars that may 

 be growing hotter as well as for those that may 

 be growing cooler. The implication is that the 

 adoption of this principle requires the accept- 

 ance of the meteoritic hypothesis, an implica- 

 tion recurring in other parts of this work. The 

 necessity is, however, by no means obvious. 



In the diagrams to show the difference in the 

 spectra of stars considered by the author to be 

 of increasing, and those of decreasing tempera- 

 ture, it would seem quite possible to exchange 

 the labels under the cuts without seriously 

 affecting the plausibility of the reasoning. 



With that part of the final conclusion, already 

 quoted, that locates the sun in close spectral 

 proximity with Arcturus and Capella, no doubt 

 all astronomers will agree. 



The process illustrations of the book are not 

 in keeping with its otherwise admirable typo- 

 graphical appearance, and are distinctlj' inferior 

 to the excellent engravings in the earlier ' Me- 

 teoritic Hypothesis.' 



Edwin B. Feost. 



Astronomy. By Agnes M. Cleeke ; A. Fow- 

 LEE, A.R.C.S., F.R.A.S. ; J. Ellard Goee, 

 F.R.A.S., M.E.I.A. New York, D. Apple- 

 ton & Co. 



It is of supreme importance to a science that 

 the popular writing representing it before the 

 world of culture should be alike a graceful and 

 an accurate exponent of the special subject. 

 Astronomy seems in many instances to have 

 been not too fortunate in the character of the 

 literature promulgated as 'popular astronomy.' 

 The unfortunate experience of this science leads 



one then the more nervously to examine the 

 credentials of a new recruit, and the more 

 gratefully to welcome into popular astronomical 

 literature a book of the honorable purpose and 

 generally praiseworthy execution of the pres- 

 ent volume. 



' Astronomy ' is divided into four chapters. 

 In the first Bliss Gierke submits a concise re- 

 sume of the history of astronomy ; then follows a 

 chapter on spherical, practical and gravitational 

 astronomy expounded according to simple 

 geometrical considerations by Professor Fowler ; 

 the third, also by Miss Gierke, reviews concisely 

 our present knowledge of the solar system ; the 

 fourth and last is a concise treatise on the 

 sidereal heavens by Professor Gore. 



The prime question naturally suggested by 

 the tripartite authorship is whether a triple 

 responsibility is really necessary in connection 

 with a book whose aim is for the most part 

 popular. A superficial examination would also 

 incline one at once to challenge so ambitious a 

 combination of authors in a book of but 565 

 pages. Closer examination, however, seems 

 fully to justify the threefold authorship. As a 

 volume of ' The Concise Knowledge Library ' 

 it evidently aims both at great conciseness, 

 scientific accuracy and freshness; and hence 

 with the vast domain of astronomical science to 

 be condensed into a moderate-sized volume it 

 was clearly an advantage to have the work 

 thus apportioned among several writers, each 

 facile in the descriptive art and each faithful to 

 the cause of scientific astronomy. 



Considering the scope of the facts to be pre- 

 sented and the plan adopted, it would be bej'ond 

 expectation to find a performance of this sort 

 altogether blameless. Attempt at the required 

 conciseness, coupled with an assignment of spe- 

 cial subjects to each author under strict limita- 

 tions, has seemed to exercise too restraining an 

 influence. Subjects like modern astronomical 

 spectroscopy and celestial photography have, 

 taking the book as a whole, scarcely infused 

 their full inspiration. The extreme brevitj' of 

 the reference to far-reaching topics like ' tidal 

 evolution ' is almost tantalizing. Perhaps the 

 character whose absence one misses most is di- 

 rect discussion of astronomical methods and 

 results from the standpoint of the active ob- 



