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Heavenly Errors by Neil Comins, Columbia University Press, £18.95, ISBN
0231116446

MOST people’s knowledge of astronomy is rife with misconceptions. It is
widely and wrongly believed that the Moon doesn’t spin, that a comet leaves a
trail only directly behind itself and that black holes are holes in space. Such
howlers aren’t the preserve of the astronomical laity. The overwhelming majority
of newly minted Harvard graduates surveyed in 1988 didn’t know why the Earth has
seasons.

At the University of Maine, Neil Comins has evolved a whole new teaching
style by concentrating on the common mistakes people make about astronomy and
putting them right. Using this approach, he has co-written a successful
textbook. He’s also set up a useful web site (www.umephy.maine.edu/ncomins)
where you can check how many common astronomical misunderstandings you share and
find out the reasons for your errors. Few of us emerge from the site
unchastened.

In Heavenly Errors, Comins makes a good case for his teaching
technique, getting off to a fine start by bombarding us with bloopers. Most
inexpert astronomers will not get through this first chapter without realising
that they have long believed a lot of nonsense.

Alas, it’s mainly downhill from there. Comins spends far too much time trying
unsuccessfully to explain why astronomical mistakes are so common, why they are
hard to supplant, how to avoid them—and the problems they lead to. Most of
this is high-school psychology, embarrassingly trite and superficial.

So stop reading after chapter 1 or visit the website. The book is
misconceived.