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William Collins
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Copyright © J. P. McEvoy 1999
First published in Great Britain in 1999 by Fourth Estate Limited
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Illustrations by Mark McEvoy
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Source ISBN 9781841151847
Ebook Edition © MARCH 2017 ISBN: 9780007480302
Version: 2017-03-01
For Emily, Muirenn, Joel
and the baby arriving with the eclipse
in August 1999
CONTENTS
The Babylonians, Chroniclers of Eclipses
The Saros Cycle: the 6585-Day Coincidence
Ancient Predictions of Eclipses: Controversies
The Sun’s Surface: Victorian Solar Eclipses
The Last Eclipse of the Millennium
Darkness at Noon: Baja Mexico, 11 July 1991
Stretching over 1,300 km south of the California state line between San Diego and Tijuana is a peninsula of mountains, deserts and plains ending at one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Fine golden sand for miles and miles slopes into the azure Sea of Cortés and the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula, called Baja California, is actually part of Mexico. In the heat of the summer of 1991 I arrived, planning to view my first total eclipse of the Sun.
The morning of 11 August is bright and clear. Amid the palm trees and cactus plants all along the beach, tripods are being set up in the sand, an army of straw hats and Bermuda shorts appear as far as the eye can see. Everyone is buoyant. Not a single cloud in the sky, though still a few hours