Wednesday 31 August 2011

Stargazing

The Stargazer's Guide
By Emily Winterburn

Photo by Yvonne

Yet another synchronous charity shop find. I had bought this book for a friend in America, and after a recent 'planetary collision' with him, I found myself thinking about the book. No surprise then, when it turned up under my nose in mint condition. I took it as a sign from the cosmos.

It's a lovely book, written by Emily Winterburn, the Curator of Astronomy at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London. The book guides you through the night sky in relation to the months and seasons, and includes myths connected to the zodiac. The author also brings astrology into the picture, and in a way that is respectful to the subject: unusual for a scientist. I think she has a secret sympathy for the ancient wisdom of the planetary spheres.

"There we stay,
and watch the procession of the stars and planets
as our our bodies intertwine, like ribbons,
in this field of the night."

By SB 2007

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