Starry Night: Astronomers and Poets Read the Sky [Paperback]

David Levy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2001

Over the centuries the starry night sky has inspired poets and scientists alike, and though the fruits of these inspirations take very different forms, they often enrich each other. Acclaimed science writer David Levy, the co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, has written this wonderful jewel of a book to celebrate the complementary visions of human wonder and curiosity that are expressed in the separate disciplines of poetry and astronomy. Levy, known for his infectious enthusiasm, traces the works of the greatest poets-Shakespeare, Milton, Keats, Shelley, and others-to show how they were influenced not only by the beauty of the heavens but by their times, celestial events, and moreover by the discoveries of such great scientists as Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton.How strong is the connection between literature and science? Levy says, "To think that science and poetry are two disciplines that are properly divorced from each other is to lose sight of what each is about and what their common goal is. In their highest forms, both are avenues of inquiry into the human condition and its relationship to the Universe. Knowing what that Universe is and how it is structured is fundamental to each."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Astronomer Levy (author of last year's Shoemaker by Levy) is best known as the co-discoverer of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which slammed into Jupiter in 1994. This diminutive book brings together poems that mention the night sky, photographs of astronomical objects and Levy's musings on how comets, astronomical conjunctions and contemporary scientific paradigm shifts influenced poets through the ages. Levy dates the writing of poems like Keats's "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" and Gerard Manley Hopkins's "I am like a slip of comet" to demonstrate convincingly how astronomical references are made to specific comets which, until recent centuries, were regarded as heavenly portents as they burst across the relatively unchanging night sky that these poets must have seen. This is a very personal volume, reflecting Levy's favorite authors; yet it must be said that Levy's interest in poetry hasn't progressed much beyond his youthful, rather conservative, enthusiasms Milton, Tennyson (though the chapter on In Memoriam is particularly fine), Thoreau and Frost. Walt Whitman's Shakespearean and very pertinent "Year of meteors! brooding year!" is conspicuously absent. The space Levy devotes in the last chapter to Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 would have been better allocated to some 20th-century poets who explored unknown regions of poetic discourse in their musings on the heavens: Hart Crane, for example, in the "Cape Hatteras" section of The Bridge, or W.H. Auden's seminal "Out on the lawn I lie in bed/ Vega conspicuous overhead." Taken on its merits, this engaging little album can be recommended for an enjoyable few hours of bedtime reading, with perhaps a stroll out under the stars afterward to marvel at the grandeur of the heavens. Illus. (Mar.)Forecast: This attractive little volume is the perfect gift for all starstruck poetry lovers. It should sell nicely now and in the future.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The beauty of the night sky and the discoveries of astronomers have inspired writers for centuries. Originally published in Canada as More Things in Heaven and Earth (Wombat Bks., 1997), this book by the discoverer of comets (including Shoemaker-Levy 9) also a popular astronomy writer (Comets: Creators and Destroyers, LJ 6/1/98) surveys depictions of astronomy and celestial phenomena in European and American literature from Chaucer ("A Treatise on the Astrolabe") to the contemporary poet Mary Lozer ("Thirsting"). Of necessity the treatment of most authors is brief, although Levy devotes particular attention to works by Shakespeare, Tennyson, Thoreau, and Hopkins (whose poem "I Am Like a Slip of Comet" was the focus of the author's graduate thesis). A selection of photographs of astronomical subjects, many taken by the author, rounds out the book. There are a number of omissions in the index (some authors and poems cited in the text are not listed) that one hopes will be corrected in the finished copy. Recommended for larger collections and for libraries serving astronomers, amateur or professional. Nancy R. Curtis, Univ. of Maine Lib., Orono
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (March 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573928879
• ISBN-13: 978-1573928878
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,853,690 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.