And There Was Light

by Rudolf Thiel, Richard Winston (Translator), Clara Winston (Translator)

Translated from the German "Und Es Ward Licht"

History of Astronomy from ancient time to the present (i.e. to 1956).

Genres: Science, Astronomy, Nonfiction

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

Reviews

[Kathleen Jowitt]

An ambitious work, tracing the history of astronomy from the beginning of recorded history to the time of publication. It's been overtaken by events, of course, but Thiel's humility in positioning this book within that history means that it's still very much worth reading. The personalities are portrayed with affectionate humour, the theories with respect.

[Gail]

I think some this book is a bit dated since it was published in 1956. I enjoyed the early history and the illustrations.

[Kenneth]

Assigned reading for the one semester Astronomy class I took in college back in the day. A comprehensive history of astronomy from ancient times to the present (i.e. the mid-1950's).

[Natasha Hurley-Walker]

Enjoyable history of astronomy book. The historical stuff is well-written, although extremely European-centric. No mention of the great astronomical developments in the Middle East during Dark Ages Europe, very little mention of China, nothing of the Australian Aborigines or the navigating tribes of the Pacific (although perhaps little was known back then). Everything is pretty much accurate until the summary of the last five years prior to publication: then it's all moonbases and Mars colonies.

In summary, easy to read and informative, but written from a very biased viewpoint in time and space.

[Frank Ashe]

An excellent history of astronomy. One of my father's books I devoured when young.