Sun, Moon and Earth

Provides more than just "pure scientific data" on the heavenly bodies, this volume explores the interesting relationships between them. For instance, the question is posed: why is the moon in just the correct position with just the correct size to cause the "eclipse effect"? This book gives plenty of mathmatical support, but you can read it through even if you have just a cursory exposure to the math and still be fascinated by the findings.

Sun, Moon and Earth by Robin Heath is a short introduction to understanding the relation between the three celestial bodies in the title. The astronomy and geometry are written for a layman's level, without being too dry or technical, but not childish either. Heath details how the earth moves about the sun, with seasons and the calendar, as well as two types of lunar cycles, equinoxes, solstices, eclipses, etc. The book details how our calendar works and offers some interesting alternatives. There's even a short chapter about Stonehenge, which can be further explored in another volume by the same publisher. I found it fascinating how much megalithic astronomers knew about the sun and moon cycles, especially the geometry, but then again, they didn't have much else to do and light pollution was almost non-existent then. Imagine what the sky looked like in 3000 BC! The book is full of cool illustrations and tables and overall is well put together.

I was looking for something that wouldn't be too technical to give an overview (but not too superficial) about the movement of the sun, moon and earth. This was it! It talks about solstices and equinoxes, eclipses, lunar rhythms, cycles (long cycles and shorter ones), time/tide, the dance of the moon, wobbles, etc. It was just enough to provide a foundation of understanding and appreciation for what is going on around us.

Beautifully done. This book explains the strange coincidence of the sun and the moon seen from earth. It should be read by everyone who takes the sky for granted so that they can appreciate just how special our location is.