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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 290 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 290 pagesAbout this book
What happens when the sky’s strangest stories meet the patient work of observation?
In Myths and Marvels of Astronomy, Richard A. Proctor explores the border between old beliefs and discoveries that sound like wonders. This collection of essays takes you through astrology, the pyramids of Egypt, comets and Saturn’s rings. An English astronomer writing for ordinary readers, Proctor asks where these ideas come from, why people hold them, and what observation reveals.
The questions are concrete: do the stars rule our lives, and does the Great Pyramid hide scientific knowledge in its measurements? Why do comets inspire fear? Proctor examines the claims without losing sight of the wonder that draws people to the heavens. His nineteenth-century perspective offers a guided look at how measurement slowly takes the place of guesswork.
What you’ll discover
- The roots of astrology Explore how watching regular movements in the sky gives rise to beliefs about human lives.
- Pyramids and hidden knowledge Follow Proctor as he weighs claims of deep scientific knowledge concealed in the Great Pyramid’s measurements.
- Comets and their fears Discover why sudden appearances and long tails make comets seem like warnings.
- Saturn’s remarkable rings Find a real celestial marvel that shows how discovery can be stranger than invention.
- Observation over guesswork Watch careful measurement challenge familiar stories while leaving room for wonder at the sky.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this book if you love strange stories behind science, ancient monuments, comets and hoaxes, or a lively Victorian guide to testing an idea against the facts.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Astronomy has a history of mistakes
- Wrong ideas can leave useful inheritances
- Selected coincidences do not prove design
- Visions can reflect what people know
- Other worlds may have different seasons
- Saturn's rings test competing explanations
- Predicting comets weakens fear of omens
- Claims need ways to check them
- Good questions outlast mistaken answers
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Myths and Marvels of Astronomy
by Richard A. Proctor · 1878
Astrologers name the weekdays, pyramid prophets measure inches, and a newspaper puts bat-men on the moon.
Challenging5–10 hours to read20 languages
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In short
Can the names of the days of the week come from astrology? Richard Proctor says they do, and he follows the trail from the planets to Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Myths and Marvels of Astronomy at a glance
- Reading time
- About 7 h 35 min6 h fast, 9 h slow
- Length
- 107,800 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1878by Richard A. Proctor
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Astrology gave birth to astronomy and the week
Proctor says only the most ignorant now believe in judicial astrology, the art of foretelling lives from the stars. Yet he will not treat it with plain contempt. Astrology stands to astronomy as alchemy stands to chemistry, a foolish mother of wise daughters.
The old belief was reasonable for its time. The moon plainly moves the tides, and the sun rules the seasons. If two bodies have such power, why not the others? The planets were given temperaments, metals, colors and trades.
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Astrologers name the weekdays, pyramid prophets measure inches, and a newspaper puts bat-men on the moon.
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Details
- First published
- 1878
- Language
- English
- Level
- Challenging
- Paperback
- 290 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 290 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 500 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print hardcover
- 500 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Delivery and returns
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Cite this edition
Proctor, Richard A. Myths and Marvels of Astronomy. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/myths-and-marvels-of-astronomy.
Proctor, R. A. (2026). Myths and marvels of astronomy. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/myths-and-marvels-of-astronomy (Original work published 1878)
Proctor, Richard A. Myths and Marvels of Astronomy. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/myths-and-marvels-of-astronomy.
@book{proctor2026myths,
author = {Proctor, Richard A.},
title = {Myths and Marvels of Astronomy},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/myths-and-marvels-of-astronomy},
note = {First published 1878}
}
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What is Myths and Marvels of Astronomy about?
It is a set of twelve essays by Richard Proctor on the odd side of astronomy. They cover astrology, the Great Pyramid, comets, hoaxes, phantom planets, and constellation origins, along with marvels such as new stars and Saturn's rings.
Who was Richard A. Proctor?
He was a British astronomer and popular science writer who died in 1888. He wrote on Saturn, the moon and star maps, and he explained astronomy to ordinary readers in clear language.
Is the lunar hoax in the book a true story?
The hoax is real as a historical event. In 1835 the New York Sun printed a made-up account of discoveries on the moon, attributed to Sir John Herschel. Proctor describes it and explains how it deceived many readers.
The author
Richard A. Proctor
1837–1888 · English astronomer and science writer
Richard Anthony Proctor was an English astronomer and writer. He was born in Chelsea, London, in 1837 and died in New York City in 1888. His astronomy books included Other Worlds Than Ours (1870) and Myths and Marvels of Astronomy (1878). He founded the science magazine Knowledge in 1881.
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