The starry sky within

Anna Henchman

Why I looked at this book

I'm interested in citizen science, and I'm looking to this book to understand whether in the past it was considered natural to try and keep up with the latest scientific developments. More specifically was there an expectation in literary culture to follow modern science and less of the idea of two cultures? I'm not sure, however, how much this book is aimed at the general reader.

First impressions

To start with I was a worried that the book might be a bit academic, and that the reader would be assumed to be familiar with the works being discussed, but as I got further into the book I decided this wasn't the case. The first chapter contrasts different viewpoints - the 'God's eye view' and the 'View from the centre' and I felt that this was well written and understandable.