Garrett Serviss wrote with a firm understanding of the science of the period. He was also graced with a delightful imagination and unequaled power of poetic expression in describing the wonders and mysteries of the universe.
A few of the topics covered:
* The strange unfixedness of the `fixed stars.'
* The slow passing of the constellations.
* The assembly of stars in immense clouds, swarms, and clusters.
* The starless gaps in the Milky Way.
* The marvelous phenomena of new, or temporary, stars.
* The amazing forms of the whirlpool, spiral, pinwheel, and lace, or tress, nebulae.
* The strange surroundings of the Sun.
* The mystery of the Zodiacal Light and the Gegenschein.
* The extraordinary transformations of comets and their tails.
* The prodigies of meteorites and masses of stone and metal fallen from the sky.
* The cataclysms that have wrecked the moon.
* The problem of life and intelligence on Mars.
* The problematical origin and fate of the asteroids.
* The strange phenomena of the auroral lights.
