Books with author Garrett P. Serviss

What Froude says of history is true also of astronomy: it is the most impressive where it transcends explanation. It is not the mathematics of astronomy, but the wonder and the mystery that seize upon the imagination. The calculation of an eclipse owes all its prestige to the sublimity of its data; the operation, in itself, requires no more mental effort than the preparation of a railway time-table. The dominion which astronomy has always held over the minds of men is akin to that of poetry; when the former becomes merely instructive and the latter purely didactic, both lose their power over the imagination.

PREFACE THE specific things undertaken in this book are: First, the presentation of a set of star-charts, ac- companying and illustrating the text, and containing the constellation figures, so that the reader may see those strange forms that the imaginations of men for thousands of years have drawn in the sky. The charts also contain all the stars that have received distinctive names, and with these all the other stars that the unaided eye readily perceives. The sixth- magnitude stars are visible to ordinarily good eyes, but they are inconspicuous. The charts are reduc- tions from Heis's Atlas Ctclestis. A chart of the southern sky has been added to cover the constellations not visible from our latitudes. Second, the march of the constellations across the sky, resulting from the annual revolution of the earth in its orbit, is followed from month to month, and they are presented in the text according to the times of their successive arrivals near the meridian, the north and south line of the sky. Of course they are not visible only when on or near the meridian; but some system must be followed in describing them, and this arrangement, recognizing the sequence of the months, and presenting them when, upon the whole, they are best placed for observation, seemed prefer- able to any other. The appearance of the constella- tions, as viewed with the naked eye, is described, their histories and mythologies are given, and the stories of their chief stars and star groups are detailed. For the convenience of those who have telescopes, some of the double stars and other interesting tele- . scopic objects in each constellation are described and their positions indicated. ...

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Curiosities of the Sky is a classic astronomy guide by Garrett Serviss. What Froude says of history is true also of astronomy: it is the most impressive when the Cosmos transcends explanation. It is not the mathematics of astronomy, but the wonder and the mystery that seize upon the imagination. The calculation of an eclipse owes all its prestige to the sublimity of its data; the operation, in itself, requires no more mental effort than the preparation of a railway time-table. Contents: The windows of absolute night -- Star-clouds, star-clusters, and star-streams -- Stellar migrations -- The passing of the constellations -- Conflagrations in the heavens -- Explosive and whirling nebulae -- The banners of the sun -- The zodiacal light mystery -- Marvels of the aurora -- Strange adventures of comets -- Meteors, fire-balls, and meteorites -- The wrecking of the moon -- The great Mars problem -- The riddle of the asteroids.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The ancient astronaut theory has a long and winding history based, in large measure, on the fertile interaction of speculative fiction and speculative history. Its roots can be traced to Victorian era pseudoscience, including Theosophy, speculation about the existence of Atlantis, and mystical investigations of the Great Pyramid of Egypt. Science fiction played its role, too. Sometimes too well. Edison's Conquest of Mars (1898) drew on all of these themes to deliver one of earliest science fiction stories to present extraterrestrial beings as ancient astronauts. In the novel, Martians came down to the earth in prehistory, built the pyramids and the Sphinx, and abducted humans to use as slave labor-all claims suggested in the work of twentieth century ancient astronaut theorists. Serviss' novel may not have inspired the ancient astronaut genre, but it is a fascinating example of how the ideas available in popular culture repeatedly combined to produce the same idea time and again.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

•This unique Science Fiction classic is re-born with nearly 150 photographs of the Moon, the Planets and other pertinent subject matter. The reader will very much enjoy this pictorially enriched classic.Thomas Edison in outer space? A steampunk retelling of history? Martian invaders? Yes, it’s all here in this sci-fi classic written in 1898. This unique edition is illustrated by nearly one hundred and fifty photographs from Earth to the Moon to Mars and back, as the famous inventor and his ragtag crews stave off an alien invasion. Great fun!

Originally published in 1915, 'Pleasures of the Telescope - An Illustrated Guide' contains a complete series of star maps, drawn specially for the use of the amateur - showing all the stars visible to the naked eye, as well as some stars that can only be seen with optical aid. The latter have been placed in the maps as guide posts, to assist those who searching for the often faint and inconspicious stars, mentioned in the accompanying text. Many old works such as this are increasingly hard-to-come-by and expensive, and it is with this in mind that this book is being republished now in an affordable, modern edition complete with a specially commissioned new introduction on the subject.