Preface
Thewriterofthefollowingpages,throughouthis
activelife,hasbeenaclosestudentofnature,andthe
starryuniverseallaboutushashaditsfull shareof
hisattention. Hehasgathereda fineassemblage of
mostentertainingfacts;andthereader,whetherabe-
lieverintheBibleornot,willbeinterestedinobserving
thattheastronomyoftheBibleisfarinadvanceofthe
timeinwhichitwaswritten,foronlyaftersomeofthe
latestresearchwithtelescope,spectroscope,andcamera,
have seemingly obscureandmeaningless passages of
theBiblebeenunderstood.
Dr.Reedhasbeenapopularwriterformagazines,
aswellasofbooks;andoneofhismajorthemeshas
beentheastronomyoftheBible. Thepopularityofhis
astronomy magazinearticles, andthe urgentdemand
thatmanyofthembeprintedoverandoveragain,has
ledtothepreparationofthisbook.
Vibrantinthepagesthatfollowisthesentimentof
theinspiredpoetthat"the heavens declaretheglory
of God; andthefirmamentshoweth Hishandiwork.
Dayunto dayutterethspeech, and night untonight
showethknowledge. Thereisnospeechnorlanguage
;
theirvoiceisnotheard. Theirlineisgoneoutthrough
alltheearth,andtheirwordstotheendoftheworld.
Inthemhath Heset atabernacle forthesun." Ps.
19:1-4.
TheinvisibleGod,whosegloryistoobrightforsin-
ful,weakenedmortaleye,maybeclearlyseenthrough
7