Ebook: Mask of the sun: the science, history, and forgotten lore of eclipses

Prologue : New York, 1925 -- The heretic and the Pope -- The invisible planets of Rahu and Ketu -- Saros and the substitute king -- Measuring the world -- The waste of yin -- A request to the curious -- The annulus at Inch Bonney -- A simple truth of nature -- Eclipse chasers -- Keys and kettledrums -- The crucifixion and the Concorde -- Einstein's error -- The glorious corona -- Epilogue : Illinois, 2017 -- Appendix : an eclipse primer.;Eclipses have stunned, frightened, emboldened and mesmerized people for thousands of years. They have been thought of as harbingers of evil as well as a sign of the divine. An amazing phenomena unique to Earth, they have provided the key to much of what we now know and understand about the sun, our moon, gravity, and the workings of the universe. Dvorak provides explanations as to how and why eclipses occur-- as well as insight into the forthcoming eclipse of 2017 that will be visible across North America.