Overview

On the surface of the Sun, spots appear and fade in a predictable cycle, like a great clock in the sky. In medieval Russia, China, and Korea, monks and court astronomers recorded the appearance of these dark shapes, interpreting them as omens of things to come. In Western Europe, by contrast, where a cosmology originating with Aristotle prevailed, the Sun was regarded as part of the unchanging celestial realm, and it took observations through telescopes by Galileo and others to establish the reality of solar imperfections. In the nineteenth century, amateur astronomers discovered that sunspots ebb and flow about every eleven years—spurring speculation about their influence on the weather and even the stock market. Exploring these and many other crucial developments, Pierre Sokolsky provides a history of knowledge of the Sun through the lens of sunspots and the solar cycle. He ranges widely across cultures and throughout history, from the earliest recorded observations of sunspots in Chinese annals to satellites orbiting the Sun today, and from worship of the Sun as a deity in ancient times to present-day scientific understandings of stars and their magnetic fields. Considering how various thinkers sought to solve the puzzle of sunspots, Sokolsky sheds new light on key discoveries and the people who made them, as well as their historical and cultural contexts. Fast-paced, comprehensive, and learned, The Clock in the Sun shows readers our closest star from many new angles.

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Reviews

When on leave at the University of Adelaide, Pierre Sokolsky, a pioneer in observing cosmic rays by the streak of fluorescence they leave in the atmosphere, became fascinated with sunspots. In The Clock in the Sun, he takes us on two grand tours covering the history of astronomy and the physics of the sun with sunspots as a central theme. The result is a text suitable for a “physics for poets” course, but for me a weekend of fascinating reading. -- Francis Halzen, Vilas Research Professor and Gregory Breit Professor, University of Wisconsin–Madison The Clock in the Sun rekindles in me a spark of what my ancestors must have felt when they worshipped the Sun. Sokolsky methodically reconstructs the mystery and history of sunspots and reignites curiosity for our phenomenal solar time-keeper. -- Jamie Zvirzdin, author of <i>Subatomic Writing: Six Fundamental Lessons to Make Language Matter</i>

The Clock in the Sun is a one-of-a-kind history of our understanding of the Sun—and how it has often defied authorities' predictions. Sokolsky beautifully traces this story over nearly a thousand years and across the world, ranging from observations of sunspots through clouds and colorful wisps during solar eclipses to the Nobel Prize-winning research that has led us to believe we finally grasp how the Sun functions. -- Peter L. Biermann, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy Pierre Sokolsky, a pioneer in observing cosmic rays by the streak of fluorescence they leave in the atmosphere, is fascinated with sunspots. In The Clock in the Sun, he takes us on a grand tour covering the history of astronomy and the physics of the sun, with sunspots as a central theme. The result is a book suitable for general readers, and for specialists, a weekend of fascinating reading. -- Francis Halzen, Vilas Research Professor and Gregory Breit Professor, University of Wisconsin–Madison The Clock in the Sun rekindles in me a spark of what my ancestors must have felt when they worshiped the Sun. Sokolsky methodically reconstructs the mystery and history of sunspots and reignites curiosity for our phenomenal solar timekeeper. -- Jamie Zvirzdin, author of <i>Subatomic Writing: Six Fundamental Lessons to Make Language Matter</i> The Clock in the Sun catches the pulse of our favorite star as well as that of our intellectual history with it. Interested readers of all levels will have something to learn and enjoy. * Open Letters Review *

The Clock in the Sun rekindles in me a spark of what my ancestors must have felt when they worshipped the Sun. Sokolsky methodically reconstructs the mystery and history of sunspots and reignites curiosity for our phenomenal solar time-keeper. -- Jamie Zvirzdin, author of <i>Subatomic Writing: Six Fundamental Lessons to Make Language Matter</i>

The Clock in the Sun rekindles in me a spark of what my ancestors must have felt when they worshipped the Sun. Sokolsky methodically reconstructs the mystery and history of sunspots and reignites curiosity for our phenomenal solar time-keeper.--Jamie Zvirzdin, author of Subatomic Writing: Six Fundamental Lessons to Make Language Matter

Author Information

Pierre Sokolsky is an experimental particle astrophysicist. He is distinguished professor of physics and astronomy emeritus at the University of Utah, where he was also dean of the College of Science. Sokolsky is a fellow of the American Physical Society, a Guggenheim Foundation Fellow, and a recipient of the American Physical Society's Panofsky Prize in High Energy Physics.

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