In this post, we will see the book Astronomy For Entertainment by Yakov Perelman.

About the book

Astronomy is a fortunate science; it needs no embellishments, said the French savant Arago. So fascinating are its achievements that no special effort is needed to attract attention. Nonetheless, the science of the heavens is not only a collection of astonishing revelations and dar­ing theories. Ordinary facts, things that happen day by day, are its sub­ stance. Most laymen have, generally speaking, a rather hazy notion of this prosaic aspect of astronomy. They find it of little interest, for it is indeed hard to concentrate on what is always before the eye.

It is this daily aspect of the science of the skies, its beginnings, not later findings, that mainly—but not exclusively—form the contents of Astronomy for Entertainment. The purpose of the book is to initiate the reader into the basic facts of astronomy. But do not take it as a primer, since our presentation differs essentially from any text-book. Ordinary facts with which you may be acquainted are couched here in unexpected paradoxes, or slanted from an odd and unexpected angle, solely with a view to excite imagination and quicken interest. We have tried to free the theme as far as possible from the professional “ter­minology” and technical paraphernalia that so often make the reader shy of books on astronomy.

Books on popular science are often rebuked for not being suffi­ciently serious. In a way the rebuke is just, and support for it can be found (if one has in mind the exact natural sciences) in the tendency to avoid calculations in any shape or form. And yet the reader can really master his subject only by learning how to reckon, even though in a rudimentary fashion. Hence, both in Astronomy for Entertainment and in other books of this series, the author has not attempted to avoid the simplest of calculations. True, he has taken care to present them n an easy form, well within the reach of all who have studied mathematics at school. It is his conviction that these exercises help not only retain the knowledge acquired; they are also a useful introduction to more serious reading.

The book contains chapters relating to the Earth, the Moon, planets, stars and gravitation. The author has concentrated in the main on materials not usually discussed in works of this nature. Subjects omit­ ted in the present book, will, he hopes, be treated in a second volume. The book, it should be said, makes no1attempt to analyze in detail the rich content of modern astronomy. – Yakov Perelman

 Unfortunately Y. Perelman never wrote the continuation he had planned for this book, as untimely death in warbound Lenin­ grad in 1942 interrupted his labours. Later several minor changes were made to bring this book up to date.

Translated By A. Shkarovsky
Edited By J. Gibbons

Many thanks to @hawakajhonka for making this book available

Note this is a completely new, cleaner scan than the one earlier.
You can get the book here and here.

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