Books: A bright planet, but a dark star; The Transit of Venus By Peter Aughton WEIDENFELD & NICOLSON pounds 18.99 (210pp) pounds 17.99 (free p&p per order) from 0870 079 8897.(Features) From: The Independent (London, England) | Date: June 4, 2004| Author: | COPYRIGHT 2004 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information) Copyright information

Byline: John Gribbin

Jeremiah Horrocks's claim to fame is that, in 1639, he was the first person to observe a transit of Venus. These rare events occur in pairs at intervals of more than 100 years, when Venus passes across the face of the Sun as seen from Earth. The next one is due on Tuesday 8 June, which provides the peg for Peter Aughton's biography of Horrocks.

Since Horrocks died in 1641, aged only 22, the material for a biography is thin indeed. In order to stretch his book even to a modest 200 pages, Aughton has been forced to include a lot of rather tedious ...

Find more facts and information related to the article "Books: A bright planet, but a dark star; The ..."