Page:The Friendly Stars by Martha Evans Martin.djvu/17

 INTRODUCTORY NOTE

HE stars are here marshalled before us in a new and engaging manner; not as austere unchanging beacons of the universe; not as mere material for vivifying the results of profound mathematical analysis; but rather as they must have seemed to the herdsmen of old, and as they should appear to all who love the open air—rising constellation after constellation, nature's kindly reminders of the seasons as they come and go.

This the author has accomplished without sacrifice of scientific accuracy; that the grace of attractive form has been attained the reader will himself perceive. The book will serve a useful purpose, and help to arouse a wholesome popular interest in the stars; it is a pleasure to commend it to the reader's favor.

Columbia University, February, 1907.