Reviews for The Transit of Venus: The Brief, Brilliant Life of Jeremiah Horrocks, Father of British Astronomy

The average rating for The Transit of Venus: The Brief, Brilliant Life of Jeremiah Horrocks, Father of British Astronomy based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-05-15 00:00:00 Prakash Sharma Very interesting story of a very brief life of an astronomer of seventeenth century. His achievements before his untimely demise at the age of 22 leaves one spell-bound. As the author says if Newton had not survived beyond this age (God forbid!) he would be practically unknown. Though the book is strictly a biography, it contains enough scientific details to make it enjoyable to anyone interested in astronomy. The only problem is the language. The book reproduces passages written in old english that is difficult to follow. A delightful book otherwise.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-07-30 00:00:00 Michael Chico The subject is relatively interesting (though doing a biography of a dude who died at 21 and whose papers were mostly lost is...bold) but the writer is not very good. His opening paragraph is confusing because he doesn't mention the year. There are weird, awkward sentences. The author quotes large chunks of 17th century scientific prose instead of paraphrasing. More figures and a more creative explanation process probably would have helped.