Catching up with the Sun

摘要

To humankind, the Sun is the most important body in the Universe. It has been deified and associated with fecundity and eroticism, it pervades literature, art and film, and it influences our daily moods. Studies of the Sun motivated revolutionary changes in scientific thought in the twentieth century - including quantum mechanics and general relativity - and today its workings still constitute a most important branch of astronomy and astrophysics. To write yet another work about our nearest star is arnformidable challenge that author Richard Cohen takes up with aplomb. Chasing the Sun paints a fascinating and far-reaching scene that incorporates nearly all aspects of solar phenomena.