Phænomena
Giles Sparrow
Thames & Hudson £50 • HB
Johann Doppelmayr’s original Atlas Coelestis was first published in 1742, bringing together (as the introduction to this new volume explains) astronomical theories and areas of interest important to the European Enlightenment. Phænomena, Giles Sparrow’s wonderful tribute to Doppelmayr’s important work, is stunning, enormous and filled with the most amazing illustrations.
The book is broken down into 30 sections - one for each plate of Doppelmayr’s original atlas - each giving a brief history of the ideas presented therein. Often these contain explanations of Doppelmayr’s astronomy and are full of terms included in a glossary at the back of the book. To take one as an example, plate 27 shows the paths
