Alan W Hirshfeld: 2 books

In the dramatic tradition of the best-selling Longitude, Parallax charts the historical path of observational astronomy's most daunting challenge: measuring the distance to a star. The greatest scientific minds applied themselves in vain to the problem across the millennia, beginning with the...

This lively and entertaining history of the long struggle to measure the distance to the stars will appeal to general readers as well as amateur and professional astronomers. Readers will encounter fascinating historical characters, from ancient Greeks to19th-century scientists. Well illustrated, with contemporary pictures plus extensive notes on further reading.