"The compelling introduction in Cosmos invites examination of the connection between art and science. The volume comprises a series of richly illustrated chapters, each focused on a particular aspect of astronomy. Olson and Pasachoff devote two-thirds of the book to the sun, moon, eclipses, comets, and meteors--objects that have inspired artists in their work. The authors selected important examples from a trove of images that persuasively demonstrate the postulated relationship. Later chapters introduce images from instruments of the details of planets, nebulae, and even the moons of the solar system, images made possible as science developed. The book concludes with a collection of recent images. The emphasis throughout is on the images, and the narrative offers informed comments about selected paintings. The illustrations span millennia, which enables the authors to illuminate the fascinating morphing of astrology, the original science of the heavens, into astronomy, the current scientific view of the cosmos.

Highly recommended.".