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Star Tales

Star Tales

Revised and Expanded Edition

by Ian Ridpath
Hardback
Publication Date: 01/01/1989

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Every night, a pageant of Greek mythology circles overhead. Perseus flies to the rescue of Andromeda, Orion faces the charge of the snorting Bull, and the ship of the Argonauts sails in search of the Golden Fleece. Constellations are the invention of human imagination, not of nature. They are an expression of the human desire to impress its own order upon the apparent chaos of the night sky. Modern science tells us that these twinkling points of light are glowing balls of gas, but the ancient Greeks, to whom we owe many of our constellations, knew nothing of this. Ian Ridpath, award-winning astronomy writer and popularizer, has been intrigued by the myths of the stars for many years. Star Tales is the first modern guide to combine all the fascinating myths in one book, illustrated with the beautiful and evocative engravings from two of the leading star atlases: Johann Bode's Uranographia of 1801 and John Flamsteed's Atlas Coelestis of 1729. This classic book, now in a revised and expanded edition, presents additional information on the constellations with new and enchanting illustrations. For anyone interested in the stars and classical mythology, for anyone who is an armchair astronomer, this is the perfect gift.
ISBN:
9780718826956
9780718826956
Category:
Myth & legend told as fiction
Format:
Hardback
Publication Date:
01-01-1989
Language:
English
Publisher:
James Clarke & Co Ltd
Country of origin:
United Kingdom
Pages:
224
Dimensions (mm):
234x156x19mm
Weight:
0.44kg
Ian Ridpath

Ian Ridpath is a full-time writer, broadcaster and lecturer on astronomy. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a member of the Association of British Science Writers.

A former editor of Popular Astronomy, he is a regular contributor to Astronomy Now. Ian Ridpath's many books include Collins Guide to Stars and Planets, Gem Stars and The Monthly Sky Guide.

He is also the editor of the highly respected Norton's Star Atlas - a must-have publication for most practical astronomers - and the Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy.

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