In the case of Cetus, the whale, he turned that mammal's tail into its face, even though the star Deneb Kaitos is located there Arabic for the southern tail of Cetus. It makes one wonder who had the more fertile imagination: those cultures who actually invented the constellations all those many centuries ago, or Rey himself?įor Ursa Major, Rey made the end of the Big Dipper's handle - long regarded in mythology as the tail of the Great Bear - into its nose! But for his book, Rey for the most part has ignored these ancient legends and performed radical surgery on virtually all of the constellations, seemingly to conform solely to his ideas as to what a particular star picture should look like. There are, however, many legends and mythological stories that date back thousands of years explaining the creation of the constellations. I first came across a copy of Rey's book when I was 10 years old and was immediately intrigued by a number of his clever creations, such as the Gemini twins holding hands (most often used in advertising the book). Many people swear by Rey's patterns, claiming they are easier to learn and see in the sky. Indeed, this book has been extremely popular, going through a number of printings and selling hundreds of thousands of copies. But 70 years ago, Hans Augusto Rey (1898-1977) devised a different methodology of identifying the constellations using his own stick-figure star patterns and introducing them in "The Stars: A New Way to See Them," a guidebook published in 1952 and revised several times ever since. Rey (opens in new tab)Īs I noted for the Golden Guide's "Stars," there were pictorial images of the person, creature or object that a constellation represented. "The Stars: A New Way to See Them" by H.A. Written in easy-to-read language, it is ideal for use at home, as well as to take along on a vacation or a camping trip. If you're just starting out with astronomy as a hobby, this little handbook is perfect for anyone who wants to enjoy the wonders of the night sky. Nonetheless, the book contains a lot of valuable information and observing tips regarding the sun, moon, planets and stars, as well explanations for unusual atmospheric phenomena such as the sun's red color at sunrise and sunset, rainbows, lunar and solar haloes as well as the aurora borealis or northern lights. There are 23 maps that show constellations as lines connecting the principal naked-eye stars, traced within pictorial images of what each star pattern supposedly represented.Īdditional charts and diagrams help, although the four seasonal star maps which are used to locate these stars are a bit confusing. This book was an immense help to me in identifying the brightest stars and constellations at a very young age. Baker also authored two other excellent books, " When the Stars Come Out (opens in new tab)" and " Introducing the Constellations (opens in new tab)," both published by Viking Press.Īugmenting the text by Zim and Baker are 150 beautiful color paintings rendered by James Gordon Irving (1913-2012), whose paintings were exhibited at the American Museum of Natural History and the National Audubon Society in New York City. The latter was once head of the University of Illinois Department of Astronomy and was also the author of what is still considered a classic among college textbooks on astronomy (" Introduction to Astronomy (opens in new tab)," Van Nostrand publishers).
The book was written by naturalist Herbert S.