INTRODUCTORY

Astronomy is one of the oldest of the sciences—as it is one of the most fascinating! The early Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians and Chaldeans were, as we know, great astronomers, and, considering that they were compelled to make their observations without the aid of telescopes, some of their conclusions are truly remarkable in their accuracy. Men must always have gazed at the stars, and wondered at their number and their beauty; yet it is only within the past three or four centuries that accurate ideas as to the nature, size and structure of our Universe have come into being. No subject is so calculated to impress upon man his own relative insignificance as astronomy—to show him that the speck of matter upon which he dwells is so small that it cannot even be seen, from a relatively short distance in space! How puny and absurdly trifling seem his bickerings and his disputes, his wars and his hates, his jealousies and his failures, when viewed from the standpoint of infinite time and infinite space; mere struggles upon an ant hill, which, a few million years from now, will be uninhabitable, while the sublime immensity of Nature will proceed as if nothing had happened!

Yes, astronomy is a fascinating and romantic study, and the following little book is an attempt to summarize, very briefly, the most important findings of modern astronomical science upon this question. I have endeavored to make the subject as simple as possible, and to avoid all terms of a technical character, unless these are fully explained. It is my hope that the reader may be enabled to gain a fairly clear and accurate idea as to the nature and constitution of our Universe by a perusal of this little book.

ASTRONOMY FOR BEGINNERS