Historical eclipses and Earth's rotation (Q2726427)

The study of the Earth's rotation is a branch of science with sound and valuable ancient and mediaeval roots, as based on astronomical observations performed in various parts of the globe, in various early cultures of mankind.NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEThe central topic of this impressive volume -- the first one issued in the field in the last 20 years -- refers to the long-term variations in the length of the day (i.e., changes in the Earth's rate of rotations). Its author, F. Richard Stephenson, from the University of Durham, realized a fascinating work, indeed.NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEIt is quite difficult to select which chapter might be more interesting, so the reviewer can only list the titles of the main sections into which the book has been divided, as follows: Variations in the length of the day: a historical perspective; Tidal friction and the ephemerides of the Sun and moon; Pre-telescopic eclipse observations and their analysis; Babylonian and Assyrian records of eclipses; Investigations of Babylonian observations of solar eclipses; Timed Babylonian lunar eclipses; Untimed Babylonian observations of lunar eclipses: horizon phenomena; Chinese and other East Asian observations of large solar eclipses; Records of eclipses in ancient European history; Eclipse recordings from mediaeval Europe; Solar and lunar eclipses recorded in mediaeval Arab chronicles; Observations of eclipses by mediaeval Arabs.