An Astronomical Handbook for 1937

Abstract

IN addition to the standard astronomical ephem-erides, such as the “Nautical Almanac”, there are published each year a few handbooks which supply, for the non-technical inquirer, astronomical tabular matter and information that is generally wanted concerning the aspects of the heavens. The 1937 edition of Flammarion's “Annuaire Astronomique” (Paris: Ernest Flammarion, 1937. 14 francs) has for some years reached the status of a modest textbook, and is an excellent example of what a nontechnical ephemeris should be. An important feature of this compilation, which runs into 450 pages, is the large number of tables and diagrams, many of them conveying at a glance some fact of astronomical or of geophysical interest. This annual handbook, which is carefully revised each year so as to include the latest observations of note, should be of real use to those requiring an elementary guide to the study of the heavens.