Richard Hinckley Allen (1838–1908)

This book is drier than stale toast, but I find it fascinating and inspiring. It also has far more detail than a typical astronomy textbook on this particular subject; for example, I'd always thought that Aldebaran was Arabic for "Eye of the Bull," thanks to one of my star guides, but according to this tome, it really means "The Follower," as in rising after the Pleiades. It may be known as the Eye of the Bull but that is not the Arabic translation of the word. If you just thought "who cares" to yourself then this book is not for you.

Since this book contains few illustrations, it pairs well with a book of star charts such as The Observer's Sky Atlas by Erich Karkoschka.… (mehr)

This is the classic book on the names of stars. It is organized alphabetically by constellation name and then the stars are listed (roughly) according to their Greek (Bayer) letters. This is a fantastic distillation of star knowledge from the ancient mythology of many civilizations, from classical, scientific and modern literature, up to the 1880's. The transliteration of Chinese and Arabic, of course, does not conform to modern standards but that is something the reader can easily live with. When questioned for the derivation or meaning of a star name, this is my first port of call. It also provides a useful index to the bibliography of observations of stars.… (mehr)