legohelmet's review
3.0
The Day the World Discovered the Sun covers the historical adventures involved in, and the build-up surrounding, the 1761 and 1769 transits of Venus.
It was posited by Edmund Halley that by using these transits it would be possible to calculate the distance between the Earth and Sun to a 98% certainty and so it proved, unfortunately Halley died before the transit occured.
The book details, in addition to the myriad far-flung voyages to record the transits (Vienna, St. Petersburg, Mexico, Baja California, Siberia, Paris, arctic-circle Norway, South Pacific islands, Barbados, Cape Town, Tierra del Fuego, Copenhagen, Jakarta, Cadiz, Rio de Janeiro) the critical leaps in progress made in oceanic navigation, and in astronomical calculations such as the precise distance from the earth to the sun, during this fruitful period.
As well as about the transits its the people involved and the sheer obsession to record the transits.
i didnt feel it was the most gripping of books, whilst interesting it didn't fully engage me.
It was posited by Edmund Halley that by using these transits it would be possible to calculate the distance between the Earth and Sun to a 98% certainty and so it proved, unfortunately Halley died before the transit occured.
The book details, in addition to the myriad far-flung voyages to record the transits (Vienna, St. Petersburg, Mexico, Baja California, Siberia, Paris, arctic-circle Norway, South Pacific islands, Barbados, Cape Town, Tierra del Fuego, Copenhagen, Jakarta, Cadiz, Rio de Janeiro) the critical leaps in progress made in oceanic navigation, and in astronomical calculations such as the precise distance from the earth to the sun, during this fruitful period.
As well as about the transits its the people involved and the sheer obsession to record the transits.
i didnt feel it was the most gripping of books, whilst interesting it didn't fully engage me.
panthor's review
3.0
I really wanted to like this book. However it was as dry as the hardtack on Captain Cook's Endeavour.
The epilogue is well worth reading, however. If you read nothing else it should be the epilogue.
The epilogue is well worth reading, however. If you read nothing else it should be the epilogue.
evamadera1's review
1.0
I found the title intriguing but from the moment I opened the book and read the first few pages I knew that this book would not live up to the "hype" of the title. In other words, it's a rather horrible book. (That, of course, is my personal opinion.) In no particular order, here are the problems I have with this book. One, the language is far too fancy. It's as if Anderson had a thesaurus (virtual or hard copy) open next to him while writing the book because he felt compelled to never use the same word twice unless he absolutely had to. Two, the book lacks a clear thesis/organizing principle which makes every subsequent chapter self-defeating. The reader is left for the length of the entire book wondering what the author is trying to prove. Three, Anderson introduced far too many historical actors into the narrative. The list of names mentioned, however briefly, could form a full length chapter of its own. Anderson introduced most of these characters simply to give gratuitous background information for the main narrative before never mentioning these people again. Four, Anderson also felt the need to share every background detail no matter how extraneous. (Hence the vast number of "characters.") In a book supposedly about the attempt to track Venus' transit, one does not need to know about the marriage of some obscure researcher's sister whose new husband had some tangential relationship to science. (I am not making that one up. I simply cannot remember those rather meaningless details.) Five, Anderson named this book poorly. Although the sun was involved in this journey of scientific discovery somehow, the sun was not the object of study. The book's subject is Venus' transit and journey's to prime viewing locations to track said transit. Six, the conclusion is ultimately unsatisfying which considering the second point mentioned above could be predicted from the beginning.
I do not recommend this book at all. This is a book that would get less than one star if that could be given.
I do not recommend this book at all. This is a book that would get less than one star if that could be given.
radina's review against another edition
4.0
This book took a few chapters to really grab me, but it did eventually reach the level of page turning that I was promised by the book jacket. My only wish is that the author had told each of the 3 transit journey stories sequentially instead of interleaving them. I realize the appeal of ending every chapter on a cliffhanger, but as a reader the constant changing of perspective and characters was jarring. However, this was an enjoyable and educational read on the whole.
jessicareads's review
3.0
I ended up skimming parts of this book, but overall it was a good read. Lots of detailed information about the various missions sent out to observe the transit of Venus. It was such an important moment in our understanding of the universe that I would recommend learning more about it, either with this book or a documentary. Fascinating all around.
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