J. Brit. Astron. Assoc., 106, 4, 1996
Clock Tower Press (PO Box 5010, Leighton Buzzard, Beds. LU7 0ZZ), 1996. ISBN 1-85142-093-2. Pp v + 104, £11.95 (pbk).
reviewed by Hazel McGee
Few readers of this Journal will not at some time have been asked 'Isn't there an eclipse of the Sun in England soon?', or 'I'm sure I saw an eclipse when I was a child – when was that?' These particular answers may be easy: but armed with this book, you need never be at a loss again.
BAA member Sheridan Williams has used the power of modern computers to compile tables, maps and diagrams that provide complete data for all annular and total solar eclipses visible from anywhere in the British Isles during the first 3000 years AD. The compact size of the volume, for such a task, is a tribute to the author's explanatory and editing skills. In addition to the tables, there are chapters on basic eclipse facts, observing and photographing eclipses, and the Saros. 1999, and the less well-known annular eclipse in northern Scotland in 2003, each have their own chapter. For 1999, there are maps of the complete track of totality, from Newfoundland to India.
A delightful sequence describes and gives a map for each eclipse visible from these islands throughout the 3000 years. We learn, for example, that in the year 849, 'only the Shetland Islanders saw this one... and hopefully only one month from midsummer, had clear skies.' In 594, 'it must have got surprisingly cold as totality approached...' And for 2681(!), 'a superb eclipse... it is ideally placed for the whole population of Scotland to sit back in deckchairs for the spectacle of the millennium.' This informal, empathic style gives the book an unusual human quality, which is enhanced by snippets of poetry and appropriate historical quotations. There is also a summary of all total eclipses visible (anywhere in the world) until 2015. For as the author repeatedly affirms, 'having once seen a total eclipse, you will surely want to see another'. Four pages of coloured photographs round off the book, and go some way towards explaining to a novice why this truism is so notoriously correct.
The casual style ensures the book's appeal to all, and there is ample detail of continued value to the more experienced eclipse-watcher. There is a useful bibliography and list of contacts. I searched in vain, however, for an acknowledgment of the computer programs used for the work: perhaps the author wrote his own (as a former computer science lecturer he is clearly capable of it), but if standard packages were used, it would be good to know what they were.
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