Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation

This book is intended for geophysicists, astronomers (especially those with an interest in history), historians and orientalists. The culmination of many years of research, it discusses, in depth, ancient and medieval eclipse observations and their importance in studying Earth's past rotation. This was the first major book on this subject to appear in the last twenty years. The author has specialised in the interpretation of early astronomical records and their application to problems in modern astronomy for many years. The book contains an in-depth discussion of numerous eclipse records from Babylon, China, Europe and the Arab lands. Translations of almost every record studied are given. It is shown that although tides play a dominant long-term role in producing variations in Earth's rate of rotation - causing a gradual increase in the length of the day - there are significant, and variable non-tidal changes in opposition to the main trend.

“"This book is impressive, both at a first glance and under more detailed examination, for it represents a masterly synthesis of scientific and historical research. There is an immense amount of work represented in its pages - both that by many scholars dating back thousands of years to Hipparchus and Ptolemy and that by author F. Richard Stephenson himself; the searching for records fo observations, translation, interpretation, organization, and analysis represent many, many years of work synthesized into a single volume. This is a book that every serious library should have and that eclipse and earth-rotation experts will want to consult." Daniel W. E. Green, Earth Science History”

'It will certainly replace earlier books as the standard text in this long-established field.' The Observatory 'In this book the sources are comprehensively and lucidly discussed. For serious geophysicists the book is necessary reading. For the rest of us the sheer breadth and depth of research into ancient sources for practical modern purposes must surely be an inspiration.' Clockmakers's Times 'The comprehensive nature of the work makes it an excellent reference.' D. E. Hogg, Choice '[The author] is to be commended for this work of careful synthesis'. Henry Innes MacAdam, IBS

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