With this guide to the stars for beginners, first published in 1952 and by now a classic, H. A. Rey created a revolution in practical star recognition. He swept out the confusing allegorical or geometric shapes that have frustrated so many would-be stargazers and, instead, presented the constellations in shapes that correspond to their names. The artist's imagination is here combined with the scientist's accuracy, bringing the whole celestial family to life.
"All I did," Mr. Rey said, "was draw straight lines between the stars of a constellation in such a way that the resulting shape makes sense. What surprises me is that nobody had done it before. The basic idea is so simple."
The Stars is an established classic for the space age with its ever-growing interest in astronomy. In addition to detailed drawings of all constellations, it contains 40 charts showing the sky throughout the year, not only for our mid-northern latitudes but as far north as Alaska and as far south as Australia and New Zealand. Its scope is thus worldwide.
A section on planets describes their particular characteristics, and a series of tables indicates their specific locations throughout the year. The final section of the book explains some fundamental principles of astronomy to those who want to know more about the stars than how to recognize them.
