The book “In the Kingdom of Stars and Luminaries. Observational Astronomy for Everyone” is a lifetime edition of the teacher Emelyan Ignatievich Ignatiev, a graduate of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Kiev University. His goal was to help a wide range of readers get acquainted with the science of astronomy.
The book presents its material in an accessible manner. It contains 150 drawings, an alphabetical list of constellations, and special tables and maps. All the proposed ways of stargazing do not require special equipment. The author teaches the reader to observe celestial bodies with just the naked eye.
The book uses Russian pre-reform (pre-revolutionary) spelling. It features chapters on planets and stars, observing the sky at different times of the year, the Milky Way and the Zodiac belt. The book contains elementary mathematical formulas, which are highlighted in a special font and a footnote saying that they are aimed at more advanced readers. The book was first published more than a century ago, but continues to be relevant to this day.
The book “Science of Heaven and Earth” received awards from the Academy of Sciences and the Russian Astronomical Society. Emelyan Ignatiev is considered a classic of mathematical edutainmen.
In his books, he collected fascinating exercises and puzzles that encouraged both children and adults to think outside the box.
One of Ignatiev’s most popular books, “In the Realm of Savvy”, has been reprinted many times and has become a favorite among several generations of readers. Other books by Ignatiev include “The Mathematical Textbook”, “Mathematical Games, Entertainment and Exercises”, “Logarithms for Beginners”.
The book “Science of Heaven and Earth” was published by the St. Petersburg publishing house “Novoye Vremya” (“New Time”), which belonged to the journalist and playwright Alexei Suvorin. In 1876, he took a large bank loan and bought the newspaper Novoye Vremya. Soon he opened his own printing house and bookstore. By the turn of the twentieth century, Suvorin published about a thousand books. One of Suvorin’s most important literary discoveries were the works of his friend Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, which were published in large editions and sold throughout Russia.
