Picturing Eclipses 1100-2000 C.E.
Peter D. Hingley
Royal Astronomical Society
Images of eclipses from historic printed books and
archive sources can illuminate the way people viewed the Universe in former
times, and form a rich source of historical illustration of great value
for the popularization of science. As part of the preparations for the
Total Eclipse of 1999 a search was made in the RAS Archives and Rare Book
collections for suitable illustrations and this has continued since. There
are also many "traveler's tales" both happy and sad of participants in
expeditions and through them we can share the bonhomie and good humor of
the participants, and some of the joys, disappointments and even tragedies
of those who participated.