Includes bibliographical references (p. 349-362) and index.
Contents
1. Prelude : the beginning of telescopic astronomy and the background of British astronomy and artistic traditions -- 2. The heavens on fire : the eighteenth century -- 3. The comet-crazed century opens -- 4. The triumph of realism -- 5. Donati's comet, the watershed -- 6. The origin of comet (and meteor) photography -- 7. The triumph of the imagination -- 8. Comets and the new century -- Epilogue : comets and the new millennium.
